SUMP

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shanefee

AC Members
Sep 6, 2007
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Hi all would i be able to make this tank in to a sump or would it be to small,the tank is 20inlong 12w 12h.The width has to be 12in wide.My main tank is 200L.ThanksDSC00286.JPG

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DSC00286.JPG DSC00287.JPG
 

excuzzzeme

Stroke Survivor '05
To be effective, the smallest you should make a sump is 1/3 of display tank size. Your tank is only 10-12 gallons and would not allow for the media required to support a 200 gallon tank. A 55gallon is more in line to support it. You need not only filtration material but also something to act as bio-media (of approximately 10gallons).
 

Ace25

www.centralcoastreefclub. com
Oct 3, 2005
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www.centralcoastreefclub.com
IMO any sump is better than no sump. You will just have the same problems I have with a sump too small for the tank, biggest being that you will always overflow your sump in a power outage if your return pump stops. The only way to make a sump that small work with equipment like skimmers and heaters is to fill it at least 2/3 full.. and just the inch or 2 of water in your display tank back siphoning until air hits your return outputs in the tank will be more water than the sump can handle. I have my power head and return pump on a huge UPS and will give me a good 6 hours of run time during power outages, enough time for me to remove 4-5G of water from the sump/display so if my battery dies before power returns it will not overflow the sump. If there is a power outage I don't need to be running my skimmer and heaters so I can drop the water level in the sump until power returns and not have any issues. I just have to make sure to unplug my ATO so when the power returns and the sump is low it doesn't fill it with freshwater. Once power returns I can replace the water I took out before and then plug the ATO back in.
 

BWI

M.A.N. Community Vendors
Feb 21, 2008
109
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Michigan,Toronto
www.bwiplumbing.com
the sump is not really for filtration, so i think you'll be ok. the sump really just helps make your tank look cleaner by getting all the heaters and such out of view. If you can put your skimmer and more rocks in the sump and have the right amount of rock to water you'll be fine.
 

Cheech

Global Moderator
Jan 13, 2000
3,452
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Montreal, Canada
I sketched out a sump/fuge setup with your size.

It is tight, but it can work. As was suggested, you have to make sure your sump will have enough space for water in case of a power outage. (by poking holes on the top part of your return on your main tank, you can stop the siphoning when it gets to that level)

In this sketch, you wouldn't be able to fit an in sump skimmer. you'd prob. need a hang on or an external one.


But, it should work.

 

Sploke

resident boozehound
Staff member
Oct 20, 2005
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South Windsor, CT
Real Name
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I'm with Ace - you could make that work. My big sump is only about 10% of the tank volumes (40gal sump running about 400gal of tanks) and it works great. Just get creative.
 

shanefee

AC Members
Sep 6, 2007
116
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Thanks for the replys everyone but i got a 24L 12W 15H of a mate so it will be a bit better then the other one.
 
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