What size sump?

[bpledger84]

Ok my wonderful wife bought me a 46 gallon bowfront tank which is an up grade from my 29 gallon tank i have right now.... Was wondering what size sump would work for me. Any ideas??

 

[Scott B]

depends on what you want to put in there... a 20g sump would prob. fit underneath

 

[dublo8]

The biggest you can fit is the answer. What do I win?

 

[computeaholic]

I agree with dublo8. Your sump can't be too big. The real question you are asking is how stable do I want my water. I have a 75 gallon and I added a 30 gallon. When I upgrade to my 150 I plan on using a 75 gallon sump with a 30 gallon isolation/breeder tank all on my system. 20 is sufficient without a doubt. Mine future one will be over kill. However, the more water you have the more stable your system becomes.

 

[Chris27]

The limiting factors to sump size are the amount of water that drains out of the tank when the return pump is turned off, and the location of the sump when installed. That said, if the overflow is set high in the tank, and there are siphon breaks on the returns close to the running water level, a 20 Gallon would be a good choice.....that is if there is enough room under the stand where you intend of keeping the sump.

Running a seriously over-sized sump isn't necessary by any means, it's just always recommended per the pollution/dilution standpoint.

 

[bpledger84]

Thanks for all the feedback... Im having a stand built so ill just figure it in and make the stand to fit the sump.

 

[scarolina01]

I would suggest you use the old 29g as your sump. You could get some plexi-glass from Lowes or Home depot to make your baffles/dividers. That's what I did when I upgraded from my 29g to 65g and it's worked great.

 

[torero500]

I have a similar size tank (54 gallon) and I'm using a 20 Tall. Gave me enough room to get it in and out of the cabinet below, and I'm running 3 different chambers in it.