SUMP
- Thread starter shanefee
- Start date
^^ it all depends on what you're planning on keeping inside... Since you have a few extra inches to play with, will you plan on fitting an insump skimmer? (The only skimmer that fit in my sump was the tunze.. Small footprint, but it isn't very cheap... I paid mine 450$.
Also, do you know the size of your return pump? ( the return chamber is where you'll be needing to add water because of evaporation... The smaller this area is, the faster the water level will drop, so you'll have to make sure you keep the water level in that area high)...
Get me those measurements, and I'll draw it up.
for reference, here's an updated pic of my sump.
from left to right.
- chamber with skimmer + intake for the hangon reactor. Also keep my heaters in here.
- fuge area with chaeto and deep sand bed
- return pump, reactor drains into here, and I have a filter sock with carbon connected to the pump... (from reading suggestions from members on this site, it would prob. be smarter to put the sock connected to the drain of the 1st chamber, except, it's too tight an area for me to get to, and seeing how the sock has to be cleaned often enough, I put it in the returm pump)...
My fuge is 24 wide by 20 deep by 16 high.
-
Also, do you know the size of your return pump? ( the return chamber is where you'll be needing to add water because of evaporation... The smaller this area is, the faster the water level will drop, so you'll have to make sure you keep the water level in that area high)...
Get me those measurements, and I'll draw it up.
for reference, here's an updated pic of my sump.
from left to right.
- chamber with skimmer + intake for the hangon reactor. Also keep my heaters in here.
- fuge area with chaeto and deep sand bed
- return pump, reactor drains into here, and I have a filter sock with carbon connected to the pump... (from reading suggestions from members on this site, it would prob. be smarter to put the sock connected to the drain of the 1st chamber, except, it's too tight an area for me to get to, and seeing how the sock has to be cleaned often enough, I put it in the returm pump)...
My fuge is 24 wide by 20 deep by 16 high.
-
Wait.. what? You put a filter sock on your return pump? That will burn up your return pump pretty quickly restricting the intake like that.. My sock is an EXTREMELY tight fit in my 15G sump, I have a Phosban Reactor+pump, 2 heaters, HOB Remora Skimmer, and a ViaAqua pump for my chiller all in the 1st chamber with the sock.. but the sock is such an important piece I make it work.
****!! Really? maybe that's slowing down my suction, which is also contributing to that film on the top . .. once again, thanks Ace. . . I'll change it tonight. .
Ya, with pumps you never want to restrict the intake of the pump, that will make it burn up quickly. You can restrict the output of the pump all you want and it will just make the pump run slower and take less electricity, but you can't restrict the intake on pumps because they just try and work harder to suck in the water.
I bet that will definitely help with the film.. but so will 2 minutes of work just removing your Koralia, turning off your Tunze for a couple minutes, place your Koralia on the opposite side of your tank and just blow the film into your overflow. Should clean it up in no time. Maybe the return getting fixed will help with the film, although I still think you will need a power head placed on the side you took that picture from permanently to avoid it from happening again.
I bet that will definitely help with the film.. but so will 2 minutes of work just removing your Koralia, turning off your Tunze for a couple minutes, place your Koralia on the opposite side of your tank and just blow the film into your overflow. Should clean it up in no time. Maybe the return getting fixed will help with the film, although I still think you will need a power head placed on the side you took that picture from permanently to avoid it from happening again.
You will want about 500gph as the minimum. So figure in your head loss and you may have to buy a larger pump that what you planned on.
You should measure from pump outlet height to tank height. 4' is usually average amount of return hose needed. Now look at the pump flowchart and see if it can meet your needed flowrate.
You should measure from pump outlet height to tank height. 4' is usually average amount of return hose needed. Now look at the pump flowchart and see if it can meet your needed flowrate.
I noticed that Ace's sump the bulkheads open at the bottom and Cheech's open at the top. Would the bulkheads opening at the bottom be better than at the top because then it would force the water to travel through the sand and other various components in the main chamber?
The way Cheech's sump is setup is a better method than the way mine is setup. Having the tall baffle for the 3rd chamber and making the water go over the top will allow you to keep the water level constant in the first 2 chambers and only the 3rd chamber will drop in water level as water evaporates. This is really important for things like skimmers, although an ATO can usually keep the water level pretty accurate, which is what I do. If I didn't have an ATO though I would have to manually dump in fresh water 1-2 times a day to keep the water level good in my sump.
