# Sump tanks



## Darthaardvark (May 28, 2009)

Its almost embarrassing to have been in the hobby this long and know as little as I do about sumps.

Basically I know its another tank that can be used as a refugium, a place to dose/ add ferts or inject co2, increase total volume, and be a wet/dry filter.

I know nothing of setting them up (I'm sure I can find a tutorial online when the time comes). What are your opinions of them and their merits? Are they necessary? If you have one, what do you do with it or through it?

feedback would be greatly appreciated

Thank you for your time and consideration


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## Sollo (Mar 10, 2009)

Hey - we really need help here! We have also gotten in way to deep (hehe) to NOT know about sumps. We have a 150 planted and it is due to turn into a 300 with a ~30 gallon overflow that we would love to drop into a 75 gallon sump ('cause we got the tank!) and it has an overflow built in and is drilled in the bottom. I just have not idea what it takes to get it back into the main tank or what the "sump" is going to do or even if that is what we are after. 

My goal would be to have the 300 overflow into the 30 before dropping into the 75 which would then be a planted grow out tank/breeding shrimp.

Oops - didn't mention their are also 17 Clown Loaches in the tank and they snack on the shrimp late at night and keep me from having any foreground grasses successfully. We are hoping with the jump to double in size we will have a better chance with the groundcover.

Any thoughts or suggestions welcome...

Thanks in advance - and we hope this is not hijacking Davey's post - it is not meant to!


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## wwh2694 (Aug 15, 2008)

I have a 90 gallon tall planted discus with a 10g sump. All my 3 filters and heaters are running in my sump. I use mag drive pump inline with a flex tubing to a PVC pipe back to the tank. My co2 and DIY auto doser are also in there. I like the sump coz when I have to clean one of my filter i dont have to turn off the main pump, the flow of water will still be flowing in the main tank. Also your water in the main tank would not go down from evaporation just your sump water. They said that the co2 will degass with a sump tanks, on my setup i didnt see any. My 4kdh indicator shows a color of yellow green which if great. My 10lb CO2 tank is been running since December and never refiled it yet. How big is the hole in your tank for return line the drain pipe. (1", 1/2")? The problem with the overflow and sump can be noisy. You have to set it up propely for it not to sound like a flashing toilet or a running river. In addition I use a Durso standpipe as my drain pipe search it in google for a diagram on how to do it.


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## TAB (Feb 7, 2009)

pros for sumps

place to hide "gear"

more water volume

you can use wet/dry filtration

place to grow more plants( if you use a reverse day night cycle you can see increases in O2 levels at night)

perfect place for a ATO output

cons

tend to lose co2 

can over flow ( if not designed correcly, its a easy fix)

noisy( once again designed correctly they don't)

more $$$$$


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## Darthaardvark (May 28, 2009)

Sollo said:


> Thanks in advance - and we hope this is not hijacking Davey's post - it is not meant to!


Not at all you've stimulated discussion in a way I couldn't, it is appreciated


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## Consigliere (Mar 22, 2009)

Darth,

The real limitation of a sump is the vision of the builder if you are willing to try to make one yourself. It allows you the perfect opportunity to manage all your equipment and exactly customize your setup to your specific needs. But this can be costly and time intensive. 

The best suggestion for understanding some of the great designs are available online in the saltwater forums. There are plenty of freshwater designs out there to look up as well but the saltys are ahead of the planted folks because of there really are no drawbacks for them.

The one thing to understand with sumps is that the amount of thought put in ahead of time will pay itself off 10x later on.


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## Darthaardvark (May 28, 2009)

Thanks for the tip, my current tank isn't really big enough to necessitate it right now, but I'm planning on going big in a couple years.
Some people like fancy cars and stuff, I like fancy tanks XD
So time and money isn't too much of a factor in the long run since I'll have more than enough time to save up and plan

thanks again


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## Sollo (Mar 10, 2009)

wwh2694 said:


> ... How big is the hole in your tank for return line the drain pipe. (1", 1/2")? The problem with the overflow and sump can be noisy. You have to set it up propely for it not to sound like a flashing toilet or a running river. In addition I use a Durso standpipe as my drain pipe search it in google for a diagram on how to do it.


The 75 we would use has a 1" drain that would have to pump back up to the 300 main tank.

We have two Rena XP-3's that we figured would also be running on the 300, one has the C02 diffuser inline. Thanks for all the tips from all...

TAB:

place to hide "gear" - This is great!

more water volume - This can't hurt!

you can use wet/dry filtration - Have no idea ?!?!?!

place to grow more plants - YES - #1 Reason to do this ! ! ! !

perfect place for a ATO output - What is ATO ?

tend to lose co2 - Maybe run directly into main tank ?

can over flow ( if not designed correcly, its a easy fix) - This woudl be a problem !

noisy( once again designed correctly they don't) - Have to figure this out !

more $$$$$ - Just take longer to set up !


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## TAB (Feb 7, 2009)

ato=automatic top off not really a "must have" for FW, but it makes life easier.

the best drain design is a modifed durso.
its where you use two stand pipes. one bent like a durso with a valve on it to adjust the flow. The other strait to act as a emergency overflow should the other get cloged.( must have if run this set up) here is a link...

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1310585&perpage=25&pagenumber=1

A wet/dry filter( AKA trickle) rather then explain it, here is a link... http://saltaquarium.about.com/cs/filtration/a/aa090298.htm ( 1st decent one I found on google)

how they tend to lose co2 is, the drains work like degassing towers. they tend to remove most of the CO2 desolved in the water.

its very easy to design a system where it won't overflow when the power goes out. here is even a calc to help you figure out how much extra space you need. http://www.reefcentral.com/calc/sump.php

231 cubic inchs = 1 gallon.


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## miwoodar (Jul 9, 2009)

Tab - the BeanAnimal overflow is the same setup I use on my reef. It works differently than your typical sump overflow in that the main line is full - it has no air/gas in it. I would think that this would be perfect to help eliminate degassing.


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## rbarn (Jul 5, 2009)

Yep, BeanAnimal multi stand pipe works like charm.
Also know as Herbie style standpipe system.

Requires 2-3 standpipes depending on safety factor you want built in
and is bubble free and dead silent.


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## miwoodar (Jul 9, 2009)

Herbie used two, Bean used three. The third pipe is the emergency drain...it's only used during start up and during catastrophies such as clogged strainers. If I had a Herbie, my tank would overflow before the main line reached equilibrium.


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## rbarn (Jul 5, 2009)

miwoodar said:


> Herbie used two, Bean used three. The third pipe is the emergency drain...it's only used during start up and during catastrophies such as clogged strainers. If I had a Herbie, my tank would overflow before the main line reached equilibrium.


BeanAnimal system I think is need more for high flow applications and reef tanks that have greater
chance of pipe clog's

Herbie style works perfect on my 60 gal and a Mag7. Bone dead quiet 

F' Canister filters !!!!!!!!! :whoo:


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