lickindip Posted July 29, 2007 Report Share Posted July 29, 2007 Hey all im looking at setting up a sump on my 4ft tropical tank to replace the 2 canisters that can be seen in the picture below So far what ive been thinking is to get a plastic 2-3ft rectangular buckety tank from sumwhere like paylessplastics etc and get some dividers to cut into shape as im guessing this would be the cheapist so now i need to know if there is any particular size ratio the sump sections need to be. below is what im thinking of making now heres the unanswered questions What return pump do i need??? (cheapest/best option) What type of piping is best (size, pvc, flexy?) what is the best media as im thinking i want to use quite a bit of the fine wool stuff Room/placement of heaters as i want 2 150w ish in the sump instead of the 1 300w seen in the tank also my tank has a large hole cut in the back right corner but i think its going to be below where i want the waterline to be (as seen in the picture by the large white round plug) ... so what are my overflow options??? if this goes through i will document and post all that i do so others can follow at a later date anyother info that may help me for this project is also welcome cheers all of your help Lewis Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suphew Posted July 29, 2007 Report Share Posted July 29, 2007 You wont need the baffles in the sump, they are only needed for salt water which holds bubbles, the baffles drive the bubbles to the surface. You just need to arrange a divider(s) to hold your bio media in place and force the water to go through it rather then just flow over the top. Get a good return pump, an ehiem 1260 or 1262 would be good, you want a good, quite reliable pump, and remember how much money you will be saving on filters, Its worth spending a hundred or two on a desent pump. PVC is usually the best, but is it the best for you?? Well that depends on you. Personally I only use PVC pressure plumbing, flexy plumbing MIGHT come apart, it MIGHT leak, so I dont use it. But PVC costs a lot more and is a lot harder to plumb and some people have no problems with flexible plumbing Best media? if your going to the trouble of running a sump you want fill it with media, filter wool is most just mechanical filter, you should just use it as the first (and maybe) last stage and should replace/clean it often. You main filter should be bioballs, or cermic filter ball etc etc what ever you can get cheap all you need is the most surface area you can get, pegs, chopped up straws, just about anything will do. For overflows read up on the durso stand pipes, not the only option but the most common and IMHO the best. http://www.dursostandpipes.com/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lickindip Posted July 29, 2007 Author Report Share Posted July 29, 2007 thanks for ur input suphew uve just given me a great idea tho instead of having a over flow in my tank as pictured in the link that u gave me ... would this work ... Making a glass/plastic or otherwise box around the hole in the top right of my tank up to the water level that i want (with the saw-tooth top so no fishys/plants take a dive) so it simply flows into that then out the back of the tank through the already cut large hole!!! sounds simple to me ... tell me if im wrong though i also should of mentioned that i want 2 set my tank up as close as possible to a marine tank so if/when i decide to jump in the deap end and change over to marine it will be as easy and less costly ... so hoping to set this sump up as a marine/fresh-tropical hybrid ... so room for a skimmer etc cheers Lewis .... how do you like my 2min sketches :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davidb Posted July 29, 2007 Report Share Posted July 29, 2007 it would probably gurgle. you could do similar with an external standpipe though and that would work Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lickindip Posted July 29, 2007 Author Report Share Posted July 29, 2007 sooooo would this stop the gurgle??? nice reef by the way david ... want one bad but gotta finish uni 1st then get some $$$ so i can create my masterpiece :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rockerpeller Posted July 29, 2007 Report Share Posted July 29, 2007 that would give you a standpipe that does full syphon. not good in a power failure. you can just set it up like my marine tank I'm building(in saltwater section). its a bit overkill having 2 durso's on it but just in case 1 gets blocked or i want a really grunty pump on it. you'd get away with 1... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lickindip Posted July 29, 2007 Author Report Share Posted July 29, 2007 the actual cut hole size in the back of the tank is approx 40mm diam so as long as i use the biggist piping possible i should be fine right??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davidb Posted July 29, 2007 Report Share Posted July 29, 2007 i don't think it would siphon. Wouldn't i just syphon the water above the overflow bar then drain the box? that would equate to only 10L of water or so extra I think. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rockerpeller Posted July 29, 2007 Report Share Posted July 29, 2007 using a hansen 32mm or 40mm female tank fitting will work. heres a bit of a diagram on how to set it up. I'm sure someone can give you a few more hints to set it up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suphew Posted July 29, 2007 Report Share Posted July 29, 2007 What rockerpeller has drawn is the way to go, the only thing to add is a reducer on the bottom, this give it some back pressure. Once it is set up you drill a small hole in the cap on the top and keep making it larger until it is tuned correctly, the instructions are on the durso web site. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lickindip Posted July 30, 2007 Author Report Share Posted July 30, 2007 how exactly does this 'tuning' work??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rockerpeller Posted July 30, 2007 Report Share Posted July 30, 2007 ok drilling a hole in the top endcap lets air into the durso. the bigger the hole the more air goes thru. the smaller the hole, less air but more water(almost a full syphon etc). to tune it what you have to do is to start from a small hole in the endcap and slowly work your way up. what your aiming for is to stop the "flushing" action, thats when the water suddenly drops in the overflow, followed by a gurgle. just slowly work up the drill sizes til the "flushing" action stops. if the hole is too big in the endcap, it will make the water level too high in the overflow chamber. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lickindip Posted August 4, 2007 Author Report Share Posted August 4, 2007 so here comes the next question ... What is the size of the box for the over flow??? ill be putting the sawtooth on the top to stop fish/plants excaping Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rockerpeller Posted August 4, 2007 Report Share Posted August 4, 2007 make the overflow, then see what room you have to work with. also make sure there is enough room to pull it out for a clean as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davidb Posted August 4, 2007 Report Share Posted August 4, 2007 yep Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lickindip Posted August 4, 2007 Author Report Share Posted August 4, 2007 im goin to be making the overflow box inside the tank as pictured before for the durso piping (thanks for the advice) as in the picture that follows ... what would be resonable dimensions for A and B ... also would it be best to put the overflow teeth on A or B or A + B ... also tooth sizing just remember the focus of this was to make it so it can be used for marine when the bank ballance allows for it :-? im guessing the depth will depend on the size of the 90 degree bend ... unless theres an optimum distance from the bottom of the pipe to the bottom of the overflow box ill be making it out of 1/4" clear acrillic ... ive been looking around for some but havnt been able to find any .... any ideas where??? the plan is 2 silicon it into the corner (after draining the water level down) so when it gets dirty itll be the old tooth brush that comes out Thanks all for ur advice ... sorry for asking 2 many question but i think its best to get it all planed out before jumping in and having to redo it cos of a stupid mistake Cheers again Lewis Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rockerpeller Posted August 4, 2007 Report Share Posted August 4, 2007 for perspex(acrylic), i just go around the corner to tarndale grove in albany. they usually have an off-cut bin at the perspex place there so i ask if i can raid that. it all depends on where you are in auckland. Yellow pages online will help you find someplace that stocks it. as i was saying before it would be easier to set-up the over-flow elbow inside the tank before you do the box. that way you can see how big the box needs to be as well as make sure you can get your hand into it to remove the elbow if need be. once thats done everything else is much easier as you definitely know what measurements you have to work with. also most people just have the comb going right around the top of the box. it works well and i guess it gives less area for oily film to build up ie in the corner of the side that doesn't have the comb. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lickindip Posted August 4, 2007 Author Report Share Posted August 4, 2007 im down in south auck so having a look online for some as i type ... i was more concerned about the size of the box because ive heard of people saying that the overflow size ie the length of the toothed section (for mass flow rate) will change how it overflows .... as soon as i figure out what piping i need i can work out the depth the main question would be ... IS BIGGER BETTER for the size of the box? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davidb Posted August 4, 2007 Report Share Posted August 4, 2007 bigger overflows are generally quieter as there is the same amount of water travelling over a larger area resulting a quiet waterfall running down the outside compared to gushing. In your case with an overflow box rather than an overflow this really shouldn't be a problem. Small is good coz they are less visible Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lickindip Posted August 4, 2007 Author Report Share Posted August 4, 2007 cheers david ... also would it be better for the vertical walls of the box to be slightly slopped as this would alow for the water to runn down rather then waterfall over the top Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davidb Posted August 5, 2007 Report Share Posted August 5, 2007 found this which might be of use. is this what you were thinking of by sloped overflow? http://www.reef-eden.net/DIY%202%20.htm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lickindip Posted August 19, 2007 Author Report Share Posted August 19, 2007 brought me a 2nd hand tank the other day from a guy down the road, 605Long 300wide and 394high, sitting beside my main tank with a couple of inches of water in it 2 keep seals moist.... the sump is slooooooowly taking shape and plans have been drawn :lol: will post them later when im not so tired Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davidb Posted August 19, 2007 Report Share Posted August 19, 2007 cool! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lickindip Posted August 20, 2007 Author Report Share Posted August 20, 2007 And heres the final design for the sump each of the clear rectangles represents a perspex sheet with loads of holes in it ... these sheets are resting on the black brackets which will be a square of perspex in each corner ... this makes the different sections repovable for cleaning etc .... the water enters in the top right and 'showers' down over the 1st section which will be for bio balls, this will give a wet/dry reaction after that section the next few sections will be full of carbon, and ceramic media, as found in normal canisters. when the water the bottom area will be open the middle section will be filled with filter wool and the section above that im going try using scoria gravel (cheap with loads of surface area) so the water will rise up through these 2 layers next is the bubble trap (mainly here so i can change it over 2 marine easier in the future. and finally the pump out what do you all think??? Any comments welcome both good and bad (as long as there constructive and give a resolution to the problem) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rockerpeller Posted August 20, 2007 Report Share Posted August 20, 2007 see if you can get eggcrate (lighting diffuser). saves a whole lot of drilling if you can. other then that it looks good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.