sump size...?
 

Feeling like a newbie here :redface: but......is there a rule of thumb for sump size to tank size? I've always had an Oceanic sump for most of my tanks...I have a custom sump for a couple but just because they worked out well for the tanks I have, and have never really thought about it.

Tank in question is a 6 foot 210g....AND where to get "said" sump? I see the Eshopps sumps but boy are they small.....and am just a bit unsure. Would you have a custom sump built or would you just get an "off the shelf".

PLEASE give me your input and advice....I thank you in advance!!

go buy a standard tank try a 90g for that size and put your own balk heads in it and then you have a custom sump. Just make sure the section for the skimmer is the right size the first time. Oceanic sumps are just this they put their own little plastic piece in and bulk heads. and if you want it to be a drilled sump they take out on end panel and put in a thicker panel and drill it. They some times make their bulk heads to fit without the plastic and when they install it the bulk head puts outward pressure on the sides. The sump breaks some times, you are better off just putting the glass bulk heads against the glass sides. This way there is More room for flex and movement. I have fixed a couple of these sumps and I never put the plastic pieces back in.

Bill

It's not so much the volume as having the room for the skimmer, reactors, etc. and of course there is the available space if you plan to put it in the cabinet. I have a 45 gal DIY sump on my 180 and an Eshopps on my 150, I love the Eshopps but its a little crammed. The best way to maximize space on the Eshopps is to drill for a bulkhead and run an external pump. I still prefer it over my DIY.

Its just a place for hiding equipment and increasing water volume so I'd say you can have whatever size you want, it doesn't need to be huge. Most people have a larger sump for a larger tank because of the footprint it creates underneath the tank.

I bought a 70gal for my 180, it was the right price at the right time. I didn't want to go over 250 gallons total volume though and considering neither tank is truly full, I'm at about 220 gallons. I was thinking of waterchanges at the time and what I could reasonably get done.

I've got a 90 gallon sitting here, you just need to put baffles in it (or not, I run my sump without baffles). It does have a hole in the bottom though that would need to be covered with a glass plate or something. I'll give you a good deal :wink:

I pretty much agree with what everyone else here is saying. What ever you have room for for any given applications is fine. It is just a place to put unsightly equiptment and to increase water volume. "The solution to pollution is dilution" I have always done custom sumps, even the oceanic i got from you I cut their baffle out and put my own design in. It gives you the oppurtunity to set your own water levels and chamber sizes to what is required for your specific equiptment.

Yup. Best way to go Sarah. Buy yourself a cheap stock tank and customize to your needs. A few pieces of glass for baffles is cheap and an easy enough operation. Just make sure to cut the glass a little narrower than the tank itself.

So long as it's big enough to catch water from your plumbing when the power goes out you're good to go.

I believe he said he was looking at a 210g tank which is 6 foot long so a 90g tank that is standard is 4 foot gives you 2 feet of extra room for a shelf or 2 for putting your chemicals and dry good on. In the 90g you can section off a area that comes to 10 g for your ATO water. Now you you guys see where I am going with this everything in one area. you can make a sump with a fuge on top that uses only 1/3rd of the area and under you Ty-wrap some egg crate together for things like sponges to grow on and mini feather dusters, this polishes the water for you. I have a acrylic sump built that employ-es this idea and looks good tanks up less space and I have no worries of overflow. it is 20 inches deep but only 10 of it is for the sump and the top 10 for the fuge which only take up 1/3 rd the area on top. that leaves almost 20g for over flow.
I have not installed the sump yet but did a wet run of it and it works well.
Bill

"he" is a "she"....LOL

...thank you very much everyone...I just use mine for putting unsightly stuff in, and running reactors...but never really thought about what the "proper" size is...the tank I am setting up at work has no room for a large sump as it's a strangely built cabinet with a closed loop on each side.....but it is 10 feet long (and another build altogether!!!!)....the 210g is another project.....keep the ideas and info coming, oh, and if anyone is volunteering to build me one...I'm totally open to that! LOl

my bad to assume he/she but I refer to everyone and thing that is indistinguishable from he or she as he fish,motorbikes included; cars are shes though. I don't really intend to insult but it does happen, sorry.
Bill