10 Gal sump for 29 gal?

[kylebacc]

Hey,

I am going to be building a stand for my 29 gal, which is now on an old solid computer desk in my room (hey, I'm 16 ) and I was wondering about a sump. I realize my tank is a bit small to be putting a sump on but it just seems like it would be nice from all the things I hear about them.

I'm just going to ask a bunch of questions that I need to figure out...I'm still trying to work out just exactly how a sump works. So here we go!

I use two HOB filters to filter my tank right now...if I add the sump, can I just put them on the sump? Will they work the same? Just as well?

What protein skimmer should I get? (I need one either way)

Do I have to section of the sump? It's kinda small for all that.

Can I put my heater in the sump?

How do I set up the whole flow system? Here is what I am imagining in my head as to how it works... I would silicon a piece of glass in the back right corner of the tank so that I have the corner cut off, then, I have slits at the top of that piece of glass to let the water flow over into that "area". I have a hole in the side bottomish of the tank behind that glass, so the water that flows over, goes out the hole falls down through some pvc straight into the 10 gal below. Then I have all the filters, heaters, skimmers, bubbly things and some rock for bio down there. And then on the other side of the 10 gal, I have a pump that pushes the water back up and into the tank again?

Does that sound right? How do I drill the glass? From what I understand only the bottom of the tanks are tempered so its ok to drill the side? How to I attach the PVC to the tank opening? What pump should I be using to push the water back up? And how do I direct the return flow once in the tank again?

Thanks in advance!

Kyle

 

[neilster1]

No setup is too small for a sump... the more water the better, so I'd go as large as you can.

As far as plumbing, instead of drilling the tank you can get a hob overflow.. you would need a single-output. Most of the off-the-shelf overflows of this type are rated at about 300gph. The return pump needs to be sized such that it doesn't overtake the overflow - be sure to account for head loss. Hint: The mag5 outputs 300gph with four feet of head pressure and can be further reduced with a ball valve between it and the output hose.

heater can go in the sump.. on skimmers there are as many opinions as there are fish in the sea.. the common ground here is that you shouldn't buy a seaclone as a skimmer.

 

[tcarola154]

Make sure your return line to the tank either has a swing check valve or it is high enough to the point where backflow wont be an issue. (a lot of people dont think about this until it is too late)

As for the HOBs, you can use them if you would like (I doubt they would work on the sump because normally sumps have too low of a water line). Just make sure you have some sort of mechanical filtration to remove small particles in the water, so your water looks crystal clear.

 

[aznbob]

Why not get a 20 gallon? I have a 29 gallon with a 20 gallon sump. The 20 gallon fits perfectly in my stand.

 

[20 20]

DIY 15 gallon sump, which I use on my 29 gallon reef:

That's a Coralife 65 Superskimmer, and a Mag5 return pump. That pic is about 4 months old, it looks a bit different now, with a lot of quick-growing cheato in the fuge, with some LR rubble, a few snails, and a small peppermint shrimp.

 

[neilster1]

Great looking sump! I'm planning on converting my wet/dry to be more like this. How are you liking the CSS?

Not intending to hijack the thread.. I think kylebacc could benefit from the discussion..

 

[20 20]

Well, since it's the first skimmer I've owned, I have nothing to compare it to, but once I got it set up and 'adjusted', it seems to be pulling a decent amount of dark skimmate, so I'm happy with it.

 

[kylebacc]

As for the HOBs, you can use them if you would like (I doubt they would work on the sump because normally sumps have too low of a water line). Just make sure you have some sort of mechanical filtration to remove small particles in the water, so your water looks crystal clear.

What kind of mechanical filtration would I put in instead? thanks!

 

[neilster1]

Your skimmer would suffice for mechanical if you have enough live rock for biofiltration.. in the picture he has a 180 micron bag tied to the end of the overflow hose, the overflow likely has a sponge prefilter.

 

[canyon15]

I've got a 10 gal sump on a 20 gal DT. IMO its not overkill and its great for many reasons!

 

[kylebacc]

my skimmer? Really? For the whole tank filtration? and what is a 180 micron bag? Bag of what? hehe sorry I'm a bit new to this. And what is the sand on the right for? And what overflow would you recommend? That's different from the siphon thing right? Becuase I don't like the idea of a siphon running my system...

 

[20 20]

The 180 micron bag is the bag you see on the bottom of my drain line. 180 micron is the size of the 'holes' in the bag. 180 is fairly large, a 100 micron bag/'sock' is more common. And yes, there's a foam prefilter on my overflow. It's a Hurricane Quietflo-600 overflow. A HOB overflow like mine is most definately a siphon, as are all HOB overflows.

 

[kylebacc]

Ok well what are the changes of the siphoning failing or something? How sure are you of your system never overflowing? I can just see the siphon stop for some reason and the pump keep going...

 

[20 20]

If the siphon breaks, and the pump keeps going, the water that's in the return section of the sump will get pumped into the main tank, and that's it. There's enough room in the main tank to handle that amount of water (I think), but if not, it won't be much that overflows. The biggest issue if the siphon breaks is the pump will burn up. I'm not worried about the siphon breaking, however, the Hurricane overflow works real well. The more important issue is the power going out. When that happens, the siphon still works, and the water keeps draining. The water will keep draining until the siphon breaks, through the overflow, AND the return line. The overflow's siphon will break when the water level in the main tank reaches the bottom of the 'slots' in the part of the overflow that's in the main tank. I've got a small hole drilled in the return plumbing, just under the normal operating water level of the tank, so the siphon in the return line will break when the water level gets below that hole. You just need to make sure that you're sump will handle the water that gets drained from both the overflow and the return line until the siphon breaks. Easiest way to test that is to get your system up and running, and then pull the plug on your pump, and watch.

 

[kylebacc]

Oh ok...I understand now. Yea, I didn't even think of the siphon from my return line lol!