sump question

[sinister52]

i have a 210 what size sump should be on it right now it has a 35 i think im thinking of makin it bigger and putting it in my basement and it would be about 35 gallon and a 100 gallon tub.

would that be to big?

 

[artistreefer]

One thing you need to consider is the distance and height from the sump to the tank and then go from there. Some use a rule of thumb of moving 5 times the size of the tank through the sump(gallons per hour). So in your case approx. 1,000/hr so you wold have to find a pump that would handle this. When looking for the pump look at its pump curve and you can figure the head loss. There is also some caculators on this site that will help in figuring what sixe pump you will need. Hope this helps and good luck

 

[sinister52]

thanks but would a 35 gallon garbage can into a 100 gallon tub be to much for my tank. to use as a sump?

 

[artistreefer]

What are you going to use the 35 gallon can for, Imo the 100g tub would be all you need for a sump. There will be plenty of room for skimmer and all your equip.

 

[sinister52]

i was going to have all my overflows go into the garbage can then into the tub to help reduce bubbles form the overflows into the tub itself

 

[artistreefer]

I see, nice idea

 

[sinister52]

so that tub wouldnt be overkill

 

[artistreefer]

I would not think so, you could also set up a small area for frags if you section it off right and ad a light

 

[uztaryn]

You can't really get to big of a sump. You can always add things into the sump and expand your water volume with it. The more water you have the more forgiving the system becomes.

I would recommend just using the 100g tub and using the structure of your drains to reduce the bubbles. I use a 100g tub for a 125 tank and a 150 tub for my 500g tank and have them tied together.

I have nothing other than the drains and the tubs themselves and get no bubbles.

bubbles shouldnt be much of a problem when going down to the basement and then back up.

ditch the trashcan and just use the sump.

 

[sinister52]

where are u cutting in the holes in the tub at?bottom or mid or top of it

 

[uztaryn]

On my sump the drains just drain straight down into the sump with a S type turn before hitting the sump water. I let the pipe drop into the sump below the water level. I also use poly socks on the pipe that comes down.

I have two bulkheads in the lower portion of the sump (1 was there already from the factory) and one up high for an emergency overflow.

I have one go to a drain along with the emergency overflow drain at the top. The other goes to my return pump then out of the return pump to everything else it powers as well as the main display.

I also have a kent float valve plumbed in at my desired water level and us my RO/DI to auto top off the sump in the basement.

I have the sump filled with live rock and have flow in the sump to keep stuff from settleing on the bottom.

Hope that helps.

 

[sinister52]

so besides the emergancy hole the rest r on the bottom

 

[uztaryn]

Yep or at least pretty close to the bottom. You only need 1 more than the one that is already there.... that is for the outs...

As for in just drain straight in. I guess you could plumb them if you wanted but I wouldn't waste the money on the bulkheads if it were me.

 

[sinister52]

ok i think i was going to go straight in anyway from the tank to the sump.

if i only have one output for the return how would i control the flow throught the fuge side just with the value that goes into the fuge from the tank?

also should i divide the tub into two sides or just have the fuge in the whole tube?

 

[sinister52]

bump

 

[uztaryn]

Ok when you come down from the main tank... put in a T and branch off the drain into the fuge. Use a gate valve (savko.com) to adjust the flow into the fuge. Then drain the fuge into the sump.

I have all my fuges fed this way. Great growth, tons of macros, and I can adjust the flow rate into the fuges.

 

[sinister52]

so i should divide the tub in half then so the fuge is on one side and the other side is just the skimmer and line in? or get 2 tubs and make that one the fuge and drain it into the other tub?

i dont think i would need 2 tubs?

 

[uztaryn]

Well you want lower flow THROUGH the fuge than you want through the sump. You can have decent flow in the fuge but shouldn't flow as much THROUGH it.

I Recommend at least partitioning the two. Otherwise you won't get a true fuge effect. I think you would do much better putting a smaller fuge above the sump and split the line to feed into the fuge then drain the fuge back to the sump. I do a trickle through of water with the fuge and run a maxi jet in the fuge for recirc.

good luck.