New Help Building a Sump

[localboy8o8]

hello all,

I dont know nothing about saltwalter (i was more of a freshwater guy)...My g/f's into this and for her B-Day, she said she wanted a sump for her tank....she already had a overflow box and a magdrive 5.

i made the pvc piping that would go from the tank to the (would be) sump...but i'm stumped on how to make the sump part. I dont know what it should look like and what i need to make it (she has a rubbermaid storage container/box to use)...she has a 40 gallon cube.

and FYI, please dumb it down for me...

-thanks
localboy8o8

[R-3]

Rubbermaids are cheap and easy. Use it! Now all you need is a return line back to the tank and thats it. Hope this helps. Later Ryan

[oldbrownies]

or get a cheap 10 gallon tank

[H20cooled]

I'd skip the rubbermaid and go with a 10 or 20 gallon tank, you can find them used if you look around and they are really easy to outfit for a sump.

[impur]

A sump is just another tank inside the stand. The display drains to the sump. The thing that makes a sump so great is that you can have all your equipment in there, effectively eliminating it from the display, and it also provides more volume. More volume = less parameter swings. Most ppl have a skimmer, some sort of chemical filtration like carbon, a heater, some use a section of the sump for a refugium, and finally a return pump. I do all my dosing in the sump, for example if i need to raise alk or calcium i'll add that supplement into the sump. My calcium reactor also drains into my sump, as does my auto topoff for replacing evaporated water.

The rubbermaid tub would work fine. An actual tank such as a 10 or 20 gal might be better. You can add baffles to the tanks much easier, the baffles will help eliminate any microbubbles from getting back into the display.

Hope that helps! Welcome to the site!!! Ask away if you have any other questions



Miles

[impur]

Here is the right side of my sump. Heater, pH probes, temp probe, float switches for auto topoff, and intake for return pump

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/upgrade/P1010141.jpg

Left side contains my skimmer and is were my display drains into the sump

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/upgrade/P1010064.jpg

Simple eh?

[vanz]

Dude...you're from Hawaii, correct? A few of us are from there. I just got my sump set up for my 29g just recently. You're welcome to check it out. It's a 10g glass tank with acrylic baffles that was purchased from lowes. Perfect fit. Just some sanding on the sides and fits right in and just glue it down with sealant. No cutting. Only like a buck something a piece. Impur helped me out with it.

Skimmer on left with the water entrance > baffles for microbubbles > refugium > return pump. My sump is small so I couldn't fit a heater in there. So it goes in the display. It's a stealth heater so it's barely noticeable.

[impur]

Doesn't the heater fit like in between the baffles? Thats where i put mine when i had my 10gal sump.

[vanz]

How big was your heater? My heater is the stealth 200, it's like almost the length of the tank.

[mister crabs]

i personally would run two smaller heaters just in case one goes out at least your tank wouldnt be unprotected. and then they would fit

[impur]

I have a 300w via aqua titanium, its only like 12-14" long.

[mister crabs]

i think he only has a 10 gal sump so with chambers it wouldnt fit

[180Brandy]

Where is your sump going to be? Underneath the tank or in the garage?

[vanz]

yeah, no way that stealth was going to fit between the baffles diagonally. Maybe if I had a couple of the smaller wattage ones, then possibly. I didn't think the stealth was going to be that big, and I needed a new one since my other one couldn't heat up the entire tank when I added the sump. Oh wells, it doesn't bother me since my background is black so it blends right in. And I feel it being safer on top because if the return pump goes out, the main tank will go without heat.

[static]

I also live in beaverton I can help you build it if you need or here is a simple desighn for one.
http://www.melevsreef.com/acrylics/sumps/sump_52g.html
And here is mine
http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p147/staticx_album/mytank1.jpg

[localboy8o8]

sorry about the super late replys...with Finals, sickness, X-Mas shopping, and the power/Comcast loss, its been a hectic few weeks.

the sump is going to be under the tank/in the tank stand.

the design that she wanted it to look like is something like the one Static made.

i'll try to get the dimensions of the container this Wednesday (weekend for me) and hopefully figure out where how to make the design from there. i'll even take pictures of her tank too.

She also has a smaller tank that's not being utilized anymore (she was using it for live rocks and quarentine), now she uses a hexagon tank (dont know the size off the top of my head)...

and thanks for all the help so far. hopefully i'll get this done by New Years.

[loke]

bump!
lol, jon, wheres my sump??? (wife)

[defigart]

Hello all,

Ok I know this is a WAY nooby question, but someone mentioned a "Calcium Reactor". What is that?

Doran
so new to salt my tank isn't set up yet

[impur]

A calcium reactor is a container that holds media, usually coral skeletons. CO2 is injected into the water traveling thru the reactor which drives the pH of the water down, about 6.5ish range is what we go for depending on the brand of media. The lower pH of the water dissolves the coral skeletons, replenishing alk/calcium to the tank.

Here is my DIY reactor, minus the media. One inlet for water, then co2 near the pump, and the exit to the tank is just below the union

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/impur/P8160340.jpg

[defigart]

Is this a required item for a reef tank? Or something that makes maintaining the ecosystem easier?

Doran

[dsoz]

By the way, welcome. I hope to see you at some future meetings. You don't even need a tank to go to them.

Calcium reactors help, but are not required. I do not have one. Its purpose is to help keep the calcium levels high. Calcium is important for corals that build hard skeletons, just like we need calcium for strong teeth and bones. When the corals use the calcium in the water, a calcium reactor replaces the calcium. This can be done by doing water changes (salt mix includes calcium) which should be done often anyway, or dosing with a calcium product. A reactor will help keep the levels more constant.

I hope this helps :)

dsoz