Sump Help

thomas.torode

thomas.torode

New member
I recently bought a Protein skimmer, return pump, and basic tubing for a sump.
I'm about ready to put everything together, but my main concern is if a 10 gallon sump is large enough for a protein skimmer and refugium, or if I should get a sump custom made to fit my stand which can only fit 2ft by 18 inches.

Skimmer: https://www.amazon.com/SCA-302-Gall...6EU/ref=sr_1_9?ie=UTF8&qid=1467853560&sr=8-9&

(Stock; 2 clarkii clown fish, 1 condy anemone, 1 damsel, lawn mower blenny, and 2 cleaner shrimp.)

Thanks so much!
 
I'm new here and in the process of setting everything up as well so I might not have the best info but I have been reading a lot of posts lately. How big is your tank? A 10g as a sump is very small from what I have been reading. You need to make sure that you have enough space in your sump for your overflow if the power ever goes out. The water will empty from your main tank and into the sump. There is a calculator on the main page that will help you out with this and give you a minimum recommended sump size and how much over flow you will have. I would suggest checking it out.

As for skimmer and fuge section it is possible but will be very small as you need a return section as well which would be a third chamber. The skimmer you bought is 9" x 9.5" which is half of your 10g sump (assuming its the standard 20 x 10 x 12. which would leave you about 10 inches for fuge and return section.

Just a few things I noticed and I hope this helps.

I had the same space issue with place for a sump under my tank so I am building a custom stand. It only cost me about 60$ of wood.
 
There's lots of variables. I doubt my skimmer would even fit in a 10 gallon tank, much less anything else in there. At first glance it looks like you might be under-sizing the sump, and over-sizing the skimmer.
What size is the Display tank?
 
Sonyardo said:
There's lots of variables. I doubt my skimmer would even fit in a 10 gallon tank, much less anything else in there. At first glance it looks like you might be under-sizing the sump, and over-sizing the skimmer.
What size is the Display tank?
Click to expand...

The main tank is 55 gallons.
 
There are 20 gallon tanks that are 24" long. 10 gallons just isnt much to work with and dealing with evaporation will likely be a nightmare in your return chamber without an ato. My suggestion is put the biggest tank you can possibly fit inside your stand. I have a 29 gallon sitting under my 65. And I have 5 gallons of top off sitting next to the stand. Make sure that the sumps height allows you to get things like the skimmer in and out of the sump as well. It wasn't something I gave much thought until I was all in, and my skimmer barely goes in and out with the collection cup removed.

But if you calculate how much water will drain into the sump, likely between 2 to 3 gallons for a tank that size, you are down to about 7 gallons workable volume in a 10 gallon sump. The way you work your baffles it will likely reduce the volume more. My 29 gallon has about 20 gallons of water in it. Which leaves plenty for the approximately 3 gallons that drain when the return pump shuts off plus plenty of room to spare.

If you are using a submerged return pump that can push water with 4 to 6 feet of head pressure you will need at least 7" height of water in the return chamber to stop it from sucking air. So that will be your low water mark. If you are topping off by hand be prepared to lose a 1 to 2 gallons/day of water to evaporation.
 
Go with as big of a tank that will fit in your stand. Best advice anyone can give you.

For my 80G I have a 30G sump that has about 20G of working volume. When my overflow drains down I gain about 5G in the sump.

You have to figure in equipment size, amount of water that will drain down in the event of a power out, or turning off the pumps for maintenance/feeding. With that said I highly doubt a 10G tank will be big enough for just equipment let alone a refugium or drain down of a 55.
 
Capsle said:
You need to make sure that you have enough space in your sump for your overflow if the power ever goes out. The water will empty from your main tank and into the sump. There is a calculator on the main page that will help you out with this and give you a minimum recommended sump size and how much over flow you will have. I would suggest checking it out.

As for skimmer and fuge section it is possible but will be very small as you need a return section as well which would be a third chamber. The skimmer you bought is 9" x 9.5" which is half of your 10g sump (assuming its the standard 20 x 10 x 12. which would leave you about 10 inches for fuge and return section.
.
Click to expand...

The sump has water in it so it depends on how high the baffles are if you have any. You don't have to have 3 sections you could have none. All the baffles do is help keep the water height so he could get away with one. Also you can stop some of the back flow from the return side by drilling a hole on the return pipe that is in the DT. Another option is a check valve. All that being said its best to go is big as you can but I have seen people use this size tank your just not going to get a lot in it. A fuge is an option some people just run a sump. Other people run two sumps.
 
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I agree, get the largest one that will fit into the space you have for it. Be careful to make sure that you will actually be able to get in thru the door or the back and get it into position. The footprint measurement and actually getting into the stand are two different issues ;)
 
dustinkimpel said:
check out the sump in my sig on amazon, It's what i use along with the skimmer on my 55.

https://www.amazon.com/Esh-Sump-Ree...id=1467937998&sr=8-3&keywords=eshopps+75+sump

You can find them cheap from random websites online if you look hard enough.
Click to expand...

It would have been cheaper to buy a tank and make it into a sump. That was a waste of money. Don't know what size that sump is but lets just go crazy let's say you want a 55gall tank for a sump that's $55 then you go to a glass place for baffles that cost you $40 then we pick up silicone for $10 and a filter sock for $6 so we spent $111 to make a 55gallon sump and with a smaller tank it will cost you less. For my main sump which is a 20gallon long it cost me $65 to make it.
 
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Sonyardo said:
I agree, get the largest one that will fit into the space you have for it. Be careful to make sure that you will actually be able to get in thru the door or the back and get it into position. The footprint measurement and actually getting into the stand are two different issues ;)
Click to expand...

He can take the center brace off to put the sump in the stand then put it back on. That is if there is one but your right getting a tank in can be an issue.
 
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All that hassle... I like my silent eshopps warrantied sump for 150 bucks... slid right in place, had all the connections and was ready to go.
 
LoL
What hassle? Siliconing some baffles in place. I take it you bought one of those premade stands too. Most of which are junk. On top of that I bought all that stuff locally so no shipping. With the extra money I save I can put that toward fish or coral instead of a tank that no one is going to look at.
 
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Wait a minute that's a 12.5 gallon sump. To make a 10 gallon tank into a sump your looking at around $30 plus the going rate seems to be more like $180 on one of those sumps. Which shows my point it's a total waste of money. $150s saved to spend on fish and coral.
 
So here is the stand I am building. Still in progress. Only spent 70$ on the wood.
4b05ccba6e680863bac53f9efc28ebe0.jpg
7387bd3d28723c5766bcb02f2d21c00a.jpg
64731f22b7427c4c0913f8680cafe946.jpg



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
For what size tank is your stand? I wrapped mine in oak. For a 75 or smaller you don't need a center brace.



Old pic of inside the stand. Mine holds a 75gal DT

 
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