LARGE Sump ideas....

[Chaloupa]

Everyone with a LARGE tank and LARGE sump....I need ideas for my 300g....I want an exterior sump that is large and functional..but have no ideas. I have been over Melev's site many many times, have looked at stuff on the other sites...but figured I'd try here too. PLEASE..if you have a LARGE sump (ie 100g) could you post pics of yours, what you like about it and what you would change if you could do it again? I really appreciate it!

[Dez]

I have a 100 gallon sump with quite a few baffles in it. I bought it used and what I would do differently is maybe not even have any baffles at all. I like having all the room in the world to do whatever I please. But I only paid $100 for it so I can't complain. It is made of acrylic so it has "euro" style cross bracing in a couple of places accross the top which limits me in what I can do as well.

In a baffle-less sump I would have the drain going into a small bucket or something with a bunch of holes in it. This would help with the bubbles and debris and sort of act like a settling chamber. If a fish goes down the overflow then it's in the bucket. I do not like having a strainer at my drain. I'd rather the fish go down the drain then for it to get gummed up and have to clean out the strainer often.

All said and done though, to me a sump is a sump - something to house all your equipment. You have the right idea by going BIG - means you can add lots later.

Hope this helps.

[abcha0s]

I also have a 100g sump on my 300g display. I posted some of my thoughts Here (http://www.canreef.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=534769&postcount=11). There are some pictures of the sump if you read forward a bit. Shameless plug for my thread, but it's a lot easier then retyping what I already wrote.

I really only had a few requirements.

1. Able to hold any water that back siphoned in a power failure.
2. You really do need baffles before the final chamber to trap micro bubbles and contain the evaporation.
3. Flexible. My plans might change.

I think I'd summarize by saying that simple is better. The more complex you get with the design, the more fixed your configuration will be.

- Brad

[mike31154]

I don't have a sump at all, but do hope to have one in the future. In any case, I saw a thread just the other day, don't recall whether it was this forum or another, but it dealt with adding volume by having one or more plastic 55 gal + drums. The idea was to add the drum as a detritus collector but apparently not much settled in there. The flow would be relatively slow through the drum since it's some sort of add on to the regular glass or acrylic sump with all the gear in it. Just a thought. That way you can have a smaller 'visible' sump while adding volume with large drums. You'll need some real estate of course, preferably a basement set up I reckon, although even a single large sump will take up plenty of room.

[mseepman]

You should try talking to Jay (the tank builder from Elite) He does some pretty thorough sumps that really look like they flow well from chamber to chamber. Maybe someone could post a pic from the sumps on the floor at Elite to give an idea. I would take a pic of the one he built me but it's not ready until later in August.

[fkshiu]

Ever consider one of those massive Rubbermaid stock tanks or troughs? Although they're usually used to house koi in aquarium applications I have seen several sump examples.

[whatcaneyedo]

I like my 140gal stock trough with everything basically thrown in. Its not very efficient in terms of directing water from the overflow through the filters but it is very easy to work with and didn't cost much.

[Chaloupa]

Thank you all for the input.

I do want to have a glass sump....I want it to be viewable by customers so that they can better understand what a sump does....but I want it to be functional..that's all. No huge refugium or anything, just big and functional. So I think we'll just go simple and "safe". Was hoping to get a few pics of others sumps...but.......

Oh, and the tank is located in my store...so real estate is still at a premium!!! Must look good, even though it will be in a cabinet.....it will be made to look good, be functional and hide all the junk!!

[ElGuappo]

Thank you all for the input.

I do want to have a glass sump....I want it to be viewable by customers so that they can better understand what a sump does....but I want it to be functional..that's all. No huge refugium or anything, just big and functional.

Oh, and the tank is located in my store...so real estate is still at a premium!!! Must look good, even though it will be in a cabinet.....it will be made to look good, be functional and hide all the junk!!

IMO the fuge is the only functional part of a sump... everything else is just added on for function. (ie Reactors etc).. i would have 3 chambers.. inlet, fuge and return.. the inlet section would be big enough to house my skimmer and what ever else i wanted to add that needed a pump for operation....return would house return pump and probes and other small extras (no pump required. for the reason of micro bubbles)


If i had a shop and was doing this i would have the center of the sump viewble and a have a wicked fuge for customers to view... lots of different macro and do some small inverts like pompom crabs and sexy shrimp.. i have aways wanted to do somthing like this but just dont have the room..

just an idea that i think could work out great for a store..

[SeaHorse_Fanatic]

That's how I build my sumps. One big skimmer box section for downflow from display, water overflows into big refugium section, then goes under another baffle to a small return pump section. If the sump is 4', then I would go 18" for skimmer box, 2' for the refugium section & 6" for the return pump section (or have skimmer box & fuge same size - 21"). Only 2 baffles needed and lots of room for everything. You can add some egg crate or mesh to cover under the second baffle to keep small inverts and such from crawling into the return pump. I grow Prolifera and chaeto in mine, with lots of extra rubble and even a removable deep sand bed in a tupperware container (about 7" deep).

[Chaloupa]

That's how I build my sumps. One big skimmer box section for downflow from display, water overflows into big refugium section, then goes under another baffle to a small return pump section. If the sump is 4', then I would go 18" for skimmer box, 2' for the refugium section & 6" for the return pump section (or have skimmer box & fuge same size - 21"). Only 2 baffles needed and lots of room for everything. You can add some egg crate or mesh to cover under the second baffle to keep small inverts and such from crawling into the return pump. I grow Prolifera and chaeto in mine, with lots of extra rubble and even a removable deep sand bed in a tupperware container (about 7" deep).

Hey Anthony! Any chance you have a pic...I can visualize it better that way.

AND...I think I may be leaning to a refugium as El Guappo suggested. It could be a very interesting place for kids and grownups alike to view crabs etc as suggested....

[scherzo]

I just finished (well almost finished) an unfortunately sized sump. It was to have as much of it viewable as possible so I wanted to have most of the front of the tank as a fuge.

The sump is 48"W X 16"D X 24.5" High. NOT an ideal sump size. (height and depth aren't great) - 75-80 gallonish.

I'll try and post some pictures later but it is basically like Melev's large sump.
(http://www.melevsreef.com/acrylics/sumps/80/80g_sump.html) - his 80 gallon sump.

So in the first pic you'll see the drain section and on the right you have the fuge. The return section is in the back. The only thing different on mine is that the water flows from the fuge back into the bubble trap between the drain/skimmer section and the fuge.

This allows me to have a really really tall fuge section (full height of the tank) and then have it fall into the 12" high skimmer/ return section. I couldn't make the skimmer/drain section too high because of the operational high for skimmers and that I have a height limitation in my stand (as we all do). I'll have to use a stand for my skimmer.

Once again. so water volumes for me are roughly:
40 gallon fuge section
6 gallon return section
11 gallon skimmer/drain section

This is for a 90 gallon tank.

[MitchM]

I used my old 230g reef display for a sump when I upsized to a 320g display.
I keep the sump water level at a height so that when I turn off the pumps the overflow goes down the drain from the 230 sump and makes water changing simpler. In the past I have separated the various pumps from the rest of the sump by an eggcrate wall, but I only have a couple of large fish, LR and a DSB in there now so I have no eggcrate.
It has fairly slow flow in there so it could be great for macroalgae and LPS.
Water from the main tank enters at one end and returns to the main display at the other.

Mitch

[ElGuappo]

hope this gives you a better idea of what i mean..


well i just spent some time rearranging my sump to try and do what i mentioned earlier... i had to take apart my skimmer and put it back together in the sump but i made it fit. some piccs of what i got... i have a glass door on my stand so it works out pretty nice..

http://i442.photobucket.com/albums/qq145/ElGuappo78/P7301220.jpg

Left side..

http://i442.photobucket.com/albums/qq145/ElGuappo78/P7301224.jpg

Right side

http://i442.photobucket.com/albums/qq145/ElGuappo78/P7301225.jpg

Refuge... as you can see i have had to add weird baffes to keep the bubbles down... its due to the lack of a baffle and a hole in its place(see left side pic) so the flow is to fierce in one spot... i still have to add sand and i have some nice small pieces of LR that i just started to cycle so in a couple of monthes i hope to have a nice little refuge.

http://i442.photobucket.com/albums/qq145/ElGuappo78/P7301223.jpg

[fishoholic]

I have a pic. of my friend's 300g sump. The skimmer is external and it's beside the sump, however I didn't manage to get a pic. of the skimmer with the sump. His sump is in the basement and his tank is above it in the living room.

http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii53/Laurie_Morin/puffer/P3240242.jpg

http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii53/Laurie_Morin/puffer/P3240244.jpg