best/minimum sump size for new reef tank

[Saltydoc246]

I'm planning to build a reef tank, 30" tall, 30" deep, and 60" (5 ft) long. I've heard bigger is better for sump size for optimal filtration and water chemistry stability. Any suggestions? Is 30" height too ambitious from a reef tank maintenance perspective?
Thank you!
Peter

 

[billdogg]

Something in the 75g range would be fine. If the sump is too tall it makes getting into it for maintenance difficult (skimmer cleaning, etc)

 

[mcgyvr]

While "bigger is better" can apply one of the whole points to a sump is to have a place to run all the equipment you want out of sight..
So decide what you want in the sump (skimmer, fuge,reactors,etc..) and make sure its large enough for that..

More water = larger changes are required to mess with parameters but IMO when you already have a good amount of water make the sump just large enough to house the equipment you need..

 

[Saltydoc246]

Thank you good advice

 

[sde1500]

Also needs to be large enough to handle the amount of water siphoned by the return when power goes out. Or you flood.

 

[rocsec1]

Bigger can be better but make sure you leave enough room to get into there to do the maintance, more water is better, takes longer for things to go bad, but more water means more money needed.

 

[SycoCell]

Make sure it's big enough to house all of your equipment - and future equipment. I like the quality of my RS-200, but it's not nearly big enough for my 120g and unfortunately, I can't take it out of my stand with the system up and running..

 

[Ron Reefman]

Are you saying the reef tank is 6' x30"x30", or is that the sump?

I had a 6'x24"x24" 180b tank and I grew to dislike the 24" tall. My current tank is 5'x24"x20" and I like the shorter tank MUCH better.

If you were talking sump size, how big is the tank???? Sumps are best done as big as you can get. Usually that is 50% to 90% of the tank size and still fits in the stand.

My 125g came with a 45g sump and I'm currently building a bigger one to use all the space in the stand and it will be 70g and include a refugium.

 

[RobZilla04]

IMO get the larges sump you can fit. First it will add water volume. Second you'll have plenty of space if you decide to add equipment in the future.