Sump Tank Designs

[William Dennis Lang]

Hi,
I have a 26 gallon tank with live rock and I would like to create a sump tank. Can someone please sumbit some differnet designs for different types of sump tanks and how they work? Thank you

[Original Fin]

Do you have fish in the tank yet? If not, you may want to consider drilling the tank (as long as it's not tempered glass) for an overflow. Otherwise, you'll need to use a hang on back overflow box with internal weir and siphon j tube. These are prone to failing, so if you can drill, that's the better option.

Can you describe your stand? How much available space do you have in there, and will you be able to fit another tank through the door openings? Pics would be helpful for that. Also, are you able to slide the DT away from the wall, and if so, how far?

[William Dennis Lang]

Do you have fish in the tank yet? If not, you may want to consider drilling the tank (as long as it's not tempered glass) for an overflow. Otherwise, you'll need to use a hang on back overflow box with internal weir and siphon j tube. These are prone to failing, so if you can drill, that's the better option.

Can you describe your stand? How much available space do you have in there, and will you be able to fit another tank through the door openings? Pics would be helpful for that. Also, are you able to slide the DT away from the wall, and if so, how far?

Yes I current have a clownfish, 2 snails, 1 horseshoe crab, 1 decorator crab, 1 sea urchin, 1 sand sifting stafish, and another crab that apparently was a hitch hicker because I didn't put him in there and we just noticed him one day(He's a small green crab about the size of a dime in width). I will add pics when I get home later tonite.

[Chasman]

How much room do you have for one in your stand. Not that they have to go in your stand, but that is typical.

[William Dennis Lang]

Here are some pics of my tank and stand. Its 23 inches wide and 13 inches from front to back in the middle.

[Chasman]

Your pictures didn't post but that aside,...You will be limited to a 10gal sump. 20wX10dX12h. That's OK, you are just going to have to be creative to get the most use out of it. At the very least you can run a nice skimmer and have your heater in it. Do you already have a skimmer?

One thing I was thinking was to use an AquaC Remora hang on skimmer on the end. They are 2.75" deep so with a 20" tank and that should fit. The only problem is it says they need a tank height of 12.75. The 10gal that I have is 12.25 tall. You could easily epoxy a 1/2" piece of acrylic to the top and make it work. If you did that then you would have room to make a small fuge area for some sand and cheato algea. You would end up with three chambers. I think it would work pretty well for a small sump.

Other wise you could make it two chambers and have a larger in-sump skimmer and a return area. That would work well too.

What ever you decide, don't skimp on the skimmer. Get a good one. Cheap ones will just frustrate the day lights out of you.

Let us know what you are thinking and try the pictures again.

[William Dennis Lang]

Your pictures didn't post but that aside,...You will be limited to a 10gal sump. 20wX10dX12h. That's OK, you are just going to have to be creative to get the most use out of it. At the very least you can run a nice skimmer and have your heater in it. Do you already have a skimmer?

One thing I was thinking was to use an AquaC Remora hang on skimmer on the end. They are 2.75" deep so with a 20" tank and that should fit. The only problem is it says they need a tank height of 12.75. The 10gal that I have is 12.25 tall. You could easily epoxy a 1/2" piece of acrylic to the top and make it work. If you did that then you would have room to make a small fuge area for some sand and cheato algea. You would end up with three chambers. I think it would work pretty well for a small sump.

Other wise you could make it two chambers and have a larger in-sump skimmer and a return area. That would work well too.

What ever you decide, don't skimp on the skimmer. Get a good one. Cheap ones will just frustrate the day lights out of you.

Let us know what you are thinking and try the pictures again.

Yeah the pictures had some problem uploading. A 10 gallon sump would be fine with me. And yes I do have a protein skimmer already. And as far as drilling the tank I could drain some water out in order to drill a hole for a water overflow box. Unless you wouldn't recommend drilling it with life in the tank.

[Original Fin]

Too risky IMO. You're better off using an overflow siphon box with that tank now. Drilled is a bit less risky in terms of flood potential, and certainly less of an eye sore, so my advice if you want to do that is start over with a new empty tank.

If you had any inclination to change your tank size down the road, that would be the time for either drilling, or just purchasing a reef ready tank, but for now, the most practical thing to do is to use a HOB siphon.

[FoMoCo Master Tech]

+1. If something were to go wrong, there would be a huge mess and no home for your livestock.

[William Dennis Lang]

Thanks to everyone for your ideas...does anyone have any blueprints or good designs for a sump tank? Also what are those little blue bio balls for?

[FoMoCo Master Tech]

what are those little blue bio balls for?

Bio balls and other types of Bio media like ceramic rings are used to provide additional surface area for bacteria to grow on. The use of them is debatable. IMO, they are optional in FO or FOWLR tank applications but shouldn't be used in reef tanks or tanks where sensitive inverts would be housed. The reason is because bio media tends to trap waste, uneaten food, detritus, etc... The bacteria will consume the junk but the byproduct would be nitrates.
Nitrate levels would be hard to control and corals/inverts would suffer.
The same applies with the use of live rock in the sump and also using crushed coral as a substrate. HTH.