I come bearing queries. I have had a 30 gallon FOWLR tank for 2 years now and have got the basics of saltwater down. Now I'm planning on upgrading, and I need a little guidance along the way. Revisiting my marine books I decided I wanted to do a sump (I've been running a canister filter on the 30, which is a pain to have to rinse the filter media so often). I've also been doing some research online with sumps and DIY projects, but I'm still foggy in a few places. Here are my specs so far:
- 55 gallon tank, most likely going to be FOWLR still, but I might get into at least inverts in the future, if not corals
- protein skimmer with 530 gph powerhead. I read somewhere that the ideal turnover for the tank is 3 times an hour. Given that the listed gph is the ideal output of the model and not necessarily what it will turn out, I figure this should cover a 55. But is it overkill?
- A DIY set up of under-sand piping, which has two sections, each with a pump circulating water and coming out a little above the sand to increase water movement and avoid stagnant sand bed.
So this is what I've got so far, bare bones I know, but I just started this project a few days ago. I always wanted to try the under-gravel piping, and figured this would be a good time.
What I have for the sump is a 20 gallon glass tank that was lying around which measures 24" long, 15" tall and 12" deep. I was planning on this type of design:
Here come the questions, because I really want to fine tune this whole process before I end up crashing and burning.
- How tall should the partitions be for this size tank?
- Is 20 gallons a good size sump for a 55?
- Is there substantial benefit to drilling the side of the tank and adding a bulkhead for the inlet?
- Can the output of the protein skimmer be my return pump or should the water mix into the final chamber before returning to the main tank via a separate pump?
- If the skimmer can be used as the return pump, is the 530 gph enough to push the water back up to the tank?
- If not, would my current canister filter be enough and could I use that as the return?
- How would an overflow box at the top of the main tank play out here?
- Suggestions for lighting/UV sterilizer with the sump?
I'm brand new to sumps, so I'm still murky on some areas. Any advice and feedback would be greatly appreciated so I can do it right the first time through.
- 55 gallon tank, most likely going to be FOWLR still, but I might get into at least inverts in the future, if not corals
- protein skimmer with 530 gph powerhead. I read somewhere that the ideal turnover for the tank is 3 times an hour. Given that the listed gph is the ideal output of the model and not necessarily what it will turn out, I figure this should cover a 55. But is it overkill?
- A DIY set up of under-sand piping, which has two sections, each with a pump circulating water and coming out a little above the sand to increase water movement and avoid stagnant sand bed.
So this is what I've got so far, bare bones I know, but I just started this project a few days ago. I always wanted to try the under-gravel piping, and figured this would be a good time.
What I have for the sump is a 20 gallon glass tank that was lying around which measures 24" long, 15" tall and 12" deep. I was planning on this type of design:
Here come the questions, because I really want to fine tune this whole process before I end up crashing and burning.
- How tall should the partitions be for this size tank?
- Is 20 gallons a good size sump for a 55?
- Is there substantial benefit to drilling the side of the tank and adding a bulkhead for the inlet?
- Can the output of the protein skimmer be my return pump or should the water mix into the final chamber before returning to the main tank via a separate pump?
- If the skimmer can be used as the return pump, is the 530 gph enough to push the water back up to the tank?
- If not, would my current canister filter be enough and could I use that as the return?
- How would an overflow box at the top of the main tank play out here?
- Suggestions for lighting/UV sterilizer with the sump?
I'm brand new to sumps, so I'm still murky on some areas. Any advice and feedback would be greatly appreciated so I can do it right the first time through.
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