New to Sumps. Have a few questions.

Lance · #1 07-14-2010, 10:32 PM

Figure out how much water will drain from the DT via overflow and/or return line back-siphoning. Make sure your sump can handle this much water without flooding. And vice versa, make sure the DT can handle the amount of water contained in your return section of the sump. This way you are covered for power outages and drain clogs. A 1/4" hole drilled in the return line/lines just below the water line of the DT will act as a siphon break.

Fellow · #2 07-14-2010, 10:47 PM

Thanks for the replies. This gives me a bit more information to discuss when they come to set it all up.

saltynuts · #3 07-14-2010, 11:13 PM

who,s setting it up!

Slick Fork · #4 07-14-2010, 11:15 PM

Definitely go find other people with tanks and have a look and a discussion about what they like and, as importantly, what they don't like about their sump set up.

A very important consideration is the amount of water in the return pump section of the sump. That's where you will see the water level fluctuate due to evaporation, if you don't have enough capacity in there you may lose the ability to leave the tank for a day or two without top-up. Evaporation that may seem insignificant against the size of the system as a whole may be enough to leave your return pump running bone-dry

intarsiabox · #5 07-14-2010, 11:29 PM

I like to put a check valve in my return line. You can buy PVC models. This prevents any siphoning when you turn off your return pump or if the power goes out. Very little water will flow back into your sump.

Fellow · #6 07-15-2010, 12:09 AM

@SaltyNuts - The folks at Marine Aquaria are building it for me.

Here I thought going to a sump system was going to simplify things for me.

intarsiabox · #7 07-15-2010, 01:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fellow

@SaltyNuts - The folks at Marine Aquaria are building it for me.

Here I thought going to a sump system was going to simplify things for me.

It really is quite simple. Water goes into the sump, filtered in some matter and then pumped back out. As long as you aren't pumping out more water than your overflows can drain there is really very little to go wrong and your DT will look so much nicer without heaters, probes, filters, etc in it to kill the natural look of a reef. You'll be glad you went this route!

Lance · #8 07-15-2010, 02:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by intarsiabox

It really is quite simple. Water goes into the sump, filtered in some matter and then pumped back out. As long as you aren't pumping out more water than your overflows can drain there is really very little to go wrong and your DT will look so much nicer without heaters, probes, filters, etc in it to kill the natural look of a reef. You'll be glad you went this route!

Absolutely!

Madreefer · #9 07-15-2010, 12:21 AM

For your sump I would go live rock for the first chamber. Bio balls are crap, fuge in the center and skimmer for your last chamber. Live rock is an awesome filtration system. People will say that having the having the skimmer after the fuge is going to kill the pods. Not true as they still get by it. Hopefully the skimmer won't create micro bubbles. I also do not run filter socks as I think they are a pain in the butt with the constant cleaning of them. As for water changes, turn off your return pump and skimmer of course. Do them from the sump and add your water that way as well. Why stress out your livestock, best to disturb as little as possible. If you have enough flow you should'nt have much detris build up. As for the water circulating in the sump, it all goes to the DT anyways and dosing gets distributed through your DT evenly anyways so just put it in. If your going to run an ATO you want your float switch in the sump, it helps if you keep the proper water level in your sump. I've had some pretty good skimmers and the water level makes a huge difference in a skimmers performance if it is kept at the proper level.