40B Big enough for my 190?

[gordonheimer]

I am trying to calculate if the 40B I have will be a big enough sump for my 190 (60x27x27). It will fit the equipment I have but I want to make sure it will handle a power outage. I want to avoid getting water on the floor. I did not want to put a 75 under the tank because I want to leave room for top off and an electrical panel. Any input? Thanks!

 

[shifty51008]

just make sure you have a good siphon break at the top of your returns and you should get much water flowing back down to the sump if the power does go out.

 

[Drae]

Check valves solve backflow issue easily. A 40 breeder is plenty big enough for your 190. A 75 gallon as a sump is a PIA because of the 20" hieght.

 

[gordonheimer]

cool, thanks guys! I was planning on doing a bean animal setup. I have three drains and two returns.

 

[Dbondaruk]

I had a check valve fail on me. I would not use one, drill a syphon break on returns or keep the water outlets right at the surface

 

[azjohnny]

Check valves solve backflow issue easily. A 40 breeder is plenty big enough for your 190. A 75 gallon as a sump is a PIA because of the 20" hieght.

I built a sump for my 180 from a 75 gal tank but the stand is 42" tall

Check valves will work if you keep them clean. I use a George Fisher Wye check valve that can be disassembled for cleaning. Install double union ball valves before and after the check valve so it can be removed from the piping

http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/georg-fischer-wye-check-valve.html

 

[Rancherlee]

At a normal 8-9" of water level a 40B should have at least 15 gallons of capacity to spare for power outages. Given a 60x27 surface on the display that gives you enough capacity for a little over 2" of water drop in the Display, plan accordingly! (little over 7 gallons per Inch in the main display)

 

[SloppyWhenWet]

I use a 40B on my 120 and hate it. I would rock a 75 all day. I think a large fuge is needed and and more room for over sized skimmer. Granted if you rock a horrible stand with sump under.

 

[SGT_York]

Without a refugium it could work, but will be maxing out your levels. You would be much better of with a larger sump.

I have a 40G b on my 120 and it is pushing it, albeit with a fug.

 

[jefathome]

I use a 40b on my 150 and it works just fine. Actually, the 40b is the common sump for a 150g display, a 90g Fuge and a 50g backup tank. So in essence I have a 40b for almost 300g worth of tanks. There are two "keys" to using a smaller sump though.

#1 - Return Pump
I've found that the bigger your return pump, the more water height you have over your display's teeth. Think about it this way... If you were using a dosing pump as a return and it went off, there would only be a few drops of water going down your drain. If it turned off then that is how much water would still be in the display "waiting" to drain into the sump. As pump size increases the amount of extra space in the sump you need does as well. Plus, I've found that most people over-size their return pump. All you need is a pump that is rated at about the same GPH as your skimmer.


#2 - Siphon Breaks
Keep them as high as possible so almost NO water back-flows