To sump or not to sump

[Saltie]

Hi, I have a question for the experts….

I am planning on upgrading my 50 gallon reef tank to an 80 gallon reef tank. I have an old 40 gallon tank that I am not using any more and can fit it in the stand under the 80 gallon.

My question is, should I set it up as a sump? If so, how?

I have never used a sump before. I have about 158 pounds of live rock, a protein skimmer, and a small hang on refuge.

[prow]

yes go with a sump. how, well that depends on your tank. is it drilled? is it a glass tank or acrylic?

[Saltie]

Hi Prow,

Thanks for the quick response. Neither of the tanks (80 gallon, 40 gallon) are drilled. I had them both set up as freshwater some time ago… both are glass. Although I have never used a sump, I know they are very beneficial and want to set it up, just don’t know all the mechanics. Additionally we have a lot of power interruptions here due to new construction. I do not want the sump to overflow….

[mandarin_watcher]

You can go with a sump, even if your tank is not drilled. You can use an overflow box to drain into your sump. Then you can use a submersible(sp) to return the water back into the tank. There are pro's and con's to this method to be well aware of before you do it. And you should talk to someone who has had experience with this. I just set up my 180 sort of this way. My tank was drilled. But I didn't want to drill my 75. Anyways..
Pro's:
If you decide down the road you want to change your sump, go back to freshwater, whatever, your tank is still intact.
If you are inexperienced with cutting, measureing, and plumbing with PVC in general, then this would be easier for the first time.
Con's:
As you stated you have alot of power outages, with this you would need to make sure to drill a pin hole just under your waterline. you will have back syfin(sp) but only until the water hits the pin hole then the air will break the syfin. But you must make sure you will have the extra room in your sump to handle those extra few gallons of water. I don't know about the overflow box. but I would assume it would be the same for that also.
Another issue with using an insump return pump, is everypump you have in your tank, and sump will add some heat to your water. So after you add your return pump, power heads, skimmer pump, then your lights, you could end up with a warmer tank than you would like, then comes the cost of a chiller. Just a few things I learned along the way, (the hard way)
my tank is running at 82.4-84.7. So now I need to figure the best way to cool it down some without having to get a chiller, I just don't have the $$.
(But I do have a question for you: How long do you lose power? How often? With loosing power for any length of time. the temp in your tank could fluctuate(sp) to much. That is not good for the fish or corals, then there is the lack of oxygen. also not good. All this could put stress on the fish. and you could end up loosing them. I only mention this, because I live in the St. Louis area, and two weeks ago we had some wicked storms come thru. Some people were without power for two days. and some for as long as nine days. And the tank looses varied. Some people who had power lost for only a few hours lost fish and corals, and there where a few that lost for 7 days, managed to loose only a few thing. It all depends on the fish, and how well they handle the stress. Just a thought I wanted to pass on to you. Maybe wait until the construction is done before you set this baby up. Hope this helped, like I said someone with a little more experience could proble explain it better to you.