"What makes it work" Vol ?: What's a sump?

[Moe_K]

Lets continue the defining and explaining tank gadgetry threads for a bit.
We never defined, explained, and showed off our sumps.

Can folks please first get us a good working definition (our own words, please), then lets move into explaining the pros & cons, follow those with installation instruction, diagrams, and pictures!!!

Get going!

 

[Reef55]

Moe commands... I must obey....

A sump is a container of water seperate from your main tank. Typically, a sump is located lower than the main tank.

The main purpose of a sump is for a location to do things that are not visible in your main tank. These can include (but are not limited to), a heater, topping off your water, adding chemicals, or locating a filter (such as a protein skimmer).

Water flows out of the main tank, down to the sump. A pump then returns the water back to the main tank. This way the water is constantly moving between the main tank and the sump.

There are two ways to have the water leave the main tank. The first is with an external overflow box. One box hangs off the top edge of the tank with another hanging opposite it on the outside of the tank. A tube shaped in a "U" shape (called a u-tube), goes between the two. A siphon keeps the water flowing through the u-tube, moving water from the box inside the tank to the box outside the tank. At the bottom of the box outside the tank, a hole with a hose hooked to the bottom of it takes the water down to the sump.

The second way is to have an overflow box built inside the tank, with a hole drilled directly into the tank with the hose attached there to move the water down to the sump.

A pump then returns water back to your tank through another hose (often called the "return line").

 

[clamm]

Sumps may or may not contain a refugium, which is added filtration in addition to the extra water volume the sump provides.

Best definition I have heard for a sump/fuge

LIVE SUPPORT.

 

[Jill & Brian]

Pro's -
1. Added water volume for stability of parameters
2. Remote location for ugly (or pretty) equipment (protien skimmers, reactors of many types, monitors, etc...)
3. Potential space for refugium
4. extra space for life rock allowing you to have as much or little as desired in your main tank

Cons -
1. Potential for tank overflow if the sump is not sized correctly or if the drain gets clogged.

not much else (I love my sump )

 

[starrfish]

Another benefit of a sump: you can do water changes in the sump with no impact to the reef inhabitants. I love my sump too.

ps...the best definition I've seen of a sump is on Marc Levinson's site (melevsreef.com).

 

[Moe_K]

Back to the top!

Lets see some diagrams and/or some pictures!
Come on, folks... show us your sumps!
The good, the bad, and the ugly... lets see pictures!

 

[JustDavidP]

My sumps....

The sump from the old 75G Reef:

6 gallon sump for the seahorse tank.

NOW... after my flood this week, and given the fact that my 75G tank did not sell, I'm setting it up as a 75G sump for my 26G bowfront!! that...is going to be a rocking set up!

Dave

 

[NeO]

here is draw for a large sump/fuge that I bult for Jason.

Here is a Draw of a sump without a fuge, but with a frag chamber in the center chamber

 

[JustDavidP]

Perfect Gustavo... Stealing them. I'm definately using the 75G as a basement sump. I was wondering about baffle placement etc.

HEY.. I thought you didn't do drawings!!

Dave

 

[NeO]

Hey Dave, I don't do drawing to build things, but I do need to show them what they are getting
BTW, that first draw is the most popular sump right now.

And from the master of acrylic sumps, Marc, Melevsreef.com, "Many hobbyists try to use their return pump to create massive flow in their display tank. This almost always creates microbubble problems. The flow going through the sump should be 3x to 5x the volume of the display tank. Most return pumps can easily provide that much flow without creating any microbubbles. For additional flow, consider a closed loop."
Marc, has one of the best information about sumps and how to build one.

 

[Moe_K]

More sup pics and diagrams are wanted! Lets load this up so future newbies will be impressed with the many different flavors out there.

 

[Jill & Brian]

Sump Pics

Here is a pic of my sump. I have changed the drain since the pic so that the 1" line turns 90 degrees before entering the 3" pipe. Otherwise it has been running like this for 8-9 months like this. I put the skimmer in a "pre-sump" which sits above the main sump. the idea is to skim the water directly from the drain before it goes into the fuge or carbon filter.

I also added an auto topoff which sits to the left of the 40G sump. All of this is located in my basement (as can be seen from the lolly column )

-Brian

 

[JustDavidP]

The flow going through the sump should be 3x to 5x the volume of the display tank.

Yeah and...? Believe me, in my pony tank, the flow from the Mag7 is torqued down to no more than 5X. Any more and the Reidi would be pushed around in the flow.

Even at 5X or less, I have far too many bubbles. It is just a limitation of the small sump. The bubbles are made where the overflow hits the sump. If you look with a flashlight, you can see them quickly trail through the sump to the Mag7 (looks like a highway at night with car headlights racing around). A larger sump would reduce the water flow rate IN THE SUMP and allow the bubbles to settle out before hitting the Mag7.

Moot point now... I'm going **** the wall and using the 75G as a basement sump

D

 

[shawn]

Here is a picture of my sump when first getting the system running about three years ago. Nothing fancy - very simple. Each "bin" has a capacity of ~30g.

 

[shawn]

Ok, and three years later, after all kinds of stuff ends up in it!

 

[Moe_K]

Yes! More, more!
Lets see the Rubbermaid bins! Lets see garbage cans. Lets see horse troughs. Lets see custom acrylic. How about some glass tanks with added baffles? Anyone have an off the shelf manufactured sump?

How do those storage totes/bins work as sumps, anyway? Any failures?

 

[shawn]

Well, other than the exit for the return pump, I never sprung for "real" bulkheads. Couldn't see buying 8 of them to connect the bins together (those things cost a fortune compared to the cost of the rest of the sump). After about a year my first bulkhead "design" leaked, and I had to drain the sump to half full and replace them with a new "design". The latest has held up, so far. Other than that, I like 'em. They come with covers, and I usually keep them covered to reduce heat loss and prevent evaporation. They are tough, and have good capacity if you have the space. I like having multiple containers as I can do different things with them (leftmost is the refugium, center is for the mantis, and the rightmost is for - well, nothing in particular).

 

[nichols]

This is the basement sump/fuge feeding my 75g reef. The sump is an aga 55g which was my first salt tank in 1984. I added glass baffels. It has worked very well for me.

 

[nichols]

This is the sump for my 210g reef.

 

[Moe_K]

Nice, Bill.
How many gallons is that horse trough? Looks like the 100 gal size, correct?

Where do you put the skimmer, the heaters, all that jazz?