Sump down and to tha left

[icefish]

I'm setting up my 46g BF as my first reef tank. The Oceanic stand I have has very little room inside. Indeed without modifications I'm not sure I could get anything bigger than a 10g inside it.

I have a large closet with sliding doors located about 6 ft to the left of the tank location (perpendicular). So I figured I'd stick the sump there.

On the weekend when I was pricing tanks for the sump, I saw a 66g that was over 50% off, so I snatched it up.

So I'm looking for tips/suggestions on noise reduction/ninja plumbing tricks, given my setup.

Pump recommendations are most welcome. Budget is not a huge issue, and since this is in my office, I'll pay a premium for silence.

Thanks!

 

[Crown Royal]

Your first issue is head loss from the return pump. The sump is a bit aways from the main tank so your pump will have to struggle against that.

The quietest, most reliable pumps are Eheims. They're a little more expensive, but far superior in noise reduction, build quality, energy efficiency and maintaining head over the more common Magdrive pumps. marinedepot.com, I believe, has a headloss chart for Eheims so you can calculate your needs. Go for oversized as it's easier to throttle a pump back a bit.

Next is getting the water back into the tank. Most people use PVC. This is fine if the sump is directly below the tank, but given that it's down and to the left, this would necessitate more 90 degree elbows resulting in further headloss. Another option is the use of flexible PVC or "Spaflex". Harder to find and more expensive, Spaflex is much stronger and more reliable than the standard hoses found at your LFS and results in a less convoluted path back to your tank.

Getting water down into your sump presents another problem. It depends a lot upon your overflow (drilled or hang-on), it's size and placement. Generally speaking, people usually utilize Durso-type standpipes to muffle the noise of water exiting the tank and seek to place the drain pipe below water in the sump to lessen the noise of water crashing into the sump. There are a myriad of variations, but it depends on your setup.

Live rock and/or a filter sock is usually placed at the exit of the drain pipe to lessen microbubbles. Sump design also plays a big role in reduce microbubbles.