Multi Tank Sump Systems

[dean9922]

Hi everyone. I'm new to this site and have been looking into building a sump system. I am starting a small fishroom tanks to go with my existing tanks. In the end I will have 5 discus tanks maybe a 6th 75 gallon added soon.

2- 75 gallon But will probably get one more 75
1- 90 gallon
2- 33 gallon tanks.

My question is, how big of sump do i need to have once the bulkheads are drilled and plumbed in and how big of return pump would I need to pump back to all the tanks. Would everything work better if tanks were side by side or does it matter if I have tanks stacked 2 high...Also I know that titanium heaters should be used. How many 500-800 watt heaters with a controller would i need to get my desired level of about 86 degrees. Also what size bulkhead and pipe/tube size would be best to use 1/2, 3/4 1 inch??? Any help would be appreciated...and thanks.

[BCOrchidGuy]

Dean the size of sump depends on the size of return pumps you go with and the size of bulkheads depends on how much water you want returned to the sump. A 500 gph return pump may lose a lot of head pressure when you are pumping it through an entire room but initially it still sucks a fair amount of water from the sump. If you are using this all for discus then you don't need a lot of water flow but the very smallest I would go with for returns is 1 inch pvc. The size and number of heaters depends on what the room temperature is, if the room temp is 70F and you want to raise it to 86F then you have to provide enough heaters to warm the tank volume by 16F. It may be easier to heat each individual tank rather than heat the sump water and then deal with cooling as its pumped through the room etc. As far as side by side or stacked tanks, I would go with side by side if you can, stacking tanks means keeping enough room between the bottom of the upper tank and the top of the lower tank to allow for working on both tanks with out banging your head PLUS you'll lose head pressure on your return pump if you go with stacked tanks.

Doug

[dean9922]

thanks BCOrchidguy......just getting into the whole sump thing and want to make sure I do it right.......there is ton's of info on the sites but a lot are not specific......thanks for responding
dean

[mark]

also should take into account the amount of water that might back flow from the displays in the event of a power outage, maintenance, etc when sizing your sump.

[dean9922]

thanks Mark.....that is the problem....i know nothing about this stuff...pump size, PVC size etc etc...lol
I need "lots" of advise....

[dean9922]

One more question...is it better to just run a sump system on maybe just 2 tanks instead of 5. Just a thought.....would prefer to incorporate the 5 tanks....

[zum14]

Just remember, the only problem with having a sump for all of your tanks is that if there is a sickness in one tank, all tanks will be pumped with the same water. The upside is more water volume for the entire system makes it more stable. Only one filter to clean for all tanks, water changes are from one area. Its a tough call. Ill be running 3 or 4 tanks on one "sump" but will also have a seperate system for quarantine or hospital.

[dean9922]

agreed zum14.....i would be using another 33 gallon for a isolation tank....have you done your tanks yet, and if so, what size of PVC and pump did you use....

[zum14]

Originally Posted by dean9922

agreed zum14.....i would be using another 33 gallon for a isolation tank....have you done your tanks yet, and if so, what size of PVC and pump did you use....

No not yet, im still a ways away from building anything, im still in planning. Basically figure out what kind of water turnover rate you want in your tank example- 50 gal tank, want 5 times an hr? get a pump that does 250-300gph then just figure out which pvc will handle your pump rates. Always sway to the larger side with the pipe for safety though. Check out the tank builds, theres a lot of guys with some neat sump setups on here.

[BCOrchidGuy]

Basically what you want to do is to fill your sump to the highest water level you want it to be in case of a power outage, have all your tanks plumbed and to the point where they are just about to overflow back to the sump. Turn on your pump and watch the sump to make sure it doesn't go dry before water starts to return to it. Use the formula Length x width x height then divide by 231 to get an approximate capacity that your sump will have to handle, then probably double that.

I'll try to explain that better. If your tank is 18 inches tall and you drill it and plumb it so the overflow gives you 1 inch between where the water starts to return and the top of the aquarium this is your height measurement. Standard 90 gallon tank is 48x18x24. Using the formula I suggested you'd find your tank volume is 89.7 gallons. Now we are more interested in the volume of water that the sump needs to hold so this time we are going to multiply 48x18x1, one because that is the difference between the top of the overflow and the top of the tank, it's the volume of water you need to handle. We get 3.7 gallons but because we're thinking safe lets round that to 5 gallons. Figure out what the total capacity you need to handle and then at least double it and you should have a reasonable idea of what your sump needs to handle but that doesn't mean your sump size, just how much water it needs to handle.

Doug