Help Setting Up Sump
 

Hey everyone I'm fairly new to the hobby and just purchased a Neo Nano tank by Deep Sea Aquatics. But i have no info on how to setup the sump heres a picture of the sump. I plan to buy a Skimmer at some point. Any detailed advice would be greatly appreciated. Whats the best way to configure it and where to put things. Thanks for your help in advance.

http://i1127.photobucket.com/albums/...eo-sumpnew.jpg

Is the tank drilled? Is any plumbing included? How big is the sump and it's compartments?

Here's the specs of the tank and sump:

Specs:

Tank
34 Gallon Neo Nano Aquarium from Deep Sea Aquatics - Official Web site
* 24" x 24" x 14"
* Dual 3" x 3" overflow boxes
* 2 1" bulkhead drains
* “Cascade" return system

Stand

* 25" x 25" x 32"

Sump

* 18" x 18" x 18"

Well from the pic the skimmer would be on the right side and the return pump on the left, basically the taller chamber has the skimmer and the shorter chamber the return pump. You may want to remove the sponge filter as it wi be a nitrate pit, the heater can go in the skimmer chamber.

I haven't been able to find any schematics for this system. I'm going to assume it is drilled.

You may like to purchase a filter sock hanger. That would be used in the taller chamber, along with the skimmer. You want the skimmer to be in the first chamber to limit the number of micro bubbles that make it into your display.

If you're going to be using any fluid reactors, put the pump for those in the shorter chamber: along with the return pump. Those don't generate a lot of micro bubbles, and the TLF ones can hang on the side of the sump.

If you get tight on space (and you most likely will) you can probably slip your heater(s) into the space between the two baffles.

Edit: just noticed that you indicate overflow boxes. Put in a dual filter sock hanger, and run the drains into filter socks to filter out crud.

While this is true if not cleaned very often, the sump design does little to get rid of micro bubbles from the skimmer without the foam or something else in the small middle chamber. A better alternative may be to fill it with rock rubble instead of the sponge material, it will help trap bubbles and provide a home for more nitrifying bacteria.

I havent put a skimmer in mine yet. I needed an instant cycle, so I pretty much filled the sump with live rock. The intention was to remove the rock and put a skimmer in, after the tank was stable. Its running so well as is I think I may just keep it skimmerless.

If your using a skimmer, the chamber on the left may be too shallow? Ive got mine slightly overfilled to cover all the rock and its still shallow!

Whatever side you decide to use I dont think micro bubbles are an issue, the waterfall pretty much takes care of those.

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y24...a/IMG_0229.jpg

Thanks borderjumper for showing pics of your deep sea aquatics sump in action! if any other forum members have this sump please I would greatly appreciate it if you post pics of your setup. Thanks again for everyones comments.

I see the taller chamber is off the bottom of the sump. This will help increase dwell time as the bubbles will be forced down. Most sumps have more baffles to increase dwell time when a skimmer is used but if you have any issues rock rubble will help.

A lot of people just build their own but a good reference site to check out on sump design is melevsreef.com.

After seeing Shelley's pic, I think it's possible to run a skimmerless set up, as long as waterchanges are done then you should t run into any problems...

Running a skimmer on this type of system may cause microbubbles since the sump is so short and bubbles produced from the skimmer has no time to dissipate. Maybe check out some YouTube vids and see if running a skimmer is possible and works without bubbles.

Also try a google search to see any sump pics on the neo tank.