Sump question

[Squirt]

Hi

These holidays I was thinking of making a sump for my tank (530L). So firstly I was looking under my tank and the stand is divided in the middle, so the size of the sump would be limited unless I would be able to pull off one end of the stands sides. But if I cannot remove a side (I would prefer not to remove a side) I figure that the maximum size of the sump is about 700x400x450mm so 126L.

Would a sump of this size be sufficient?

Secondly, I was thinking of having two overflows, one at each end of the tank. Also because this is a turtle tank, the water level is not at the top of the aquarium, but about 20cm below the top. The return pump would return the water at more or less the centre of the aquarium. So am I correct in assuming this: drilling an overflow at say 25cm below the top, and having an overflow box which will determine the height of the water.

This might be a little bit of a stupid question, but is this how a sump works? Water flows over the overflow box, through a hole in the side of the aquarium, into PVC pipes. These PVC pipes then go under the aquarium and into one end of the sump. Water flows through the sump to the other end going through the media. At the other end of the sump there will be a return pump, pumping water back into the aquarium, causing the water level to rise and overflow into the boxes and causing the process to repeat continuously.

Also with regards to evaporation:

1) is it okay to cover the sump to prevent excessive evaporation? I figure the water will have enough oxygen for the bacteria to live, via surface disruption in the aquarium? Also excessive evaporation would be undesirable due to it warping the wooden part of the stand.

2)when evaporation occurs, the water level in the aquarium will stay constant and the water level in the sump will drop. Would I have to be constantly adding water to the system (to prevent the sump running dry)? Or if I were to get an auto top up system set up would this resolve this problem. I need to look into how an auto top up system works but if someone would like to explain it to me that would be great :thup: .

Also people say that sumps can flood. Can someone please explain this to me?

For more information on the aquarium please see:

viewtopic.php?f=4&t=57475

Any contribution or information is appreciated!

Thanks

Matt

[F15hguy]

personally I do not think a sump is really required for that sort of tank set up.... Canister filters etc... would be sufficient

but if you want to make one good on you, and go for it.

126L is more than enough.

problems you will encounter though would be maintainting a decent syphon unless your holes are drilled at or near water level (being a turtle tank a lot lower than most tanks) and this may limit you in the future if you want you use this tank again.

seriously consider an external canister for this before you start drilling.

alse regarding evaporation, you should absolutely not have to worry about this as your regular partial water changes should replace this.

I'm assuming you are getting your sump info from saltwater keepers where evaporation is an issue due to salinity issues.

with saltwater tanks you will need to add extra freshwater to resolve this problem, but in freshwater PWC's take care of this.

[David R]

I don't see why you would need to maintain a siphon (or why with two correctly sized overflows you would have any problems draining the tank), and if you decide you want to get rid of the turtles and keep fish you could simply remove the overflow box made at the lower height for the turtles and make a higher one to set the water level higher.

RE the sumps overflowing thing, the main cause of that is the sump not having adequate space to hold the "skim" that runs down from the tank when the pump switches off. You need to calculate this based on the footprint of your tank, and how much space there will be in your sump based on the water level you'll need to run for the pump. The evaporation thing won't be an issue either, unless you're leaving your tank for weeks. Just mark a line on the sump where the usual "on" level is and keep an eye on it.

The question really is, why do you want to build a sump? I understand turtles are quite messy, so having big turn over and big mechanical filtration that can easily be cleaned would be a big advantage, but you would also need to make sure the tank has enough flow to keep the waste suspended so it ends up over the overflow. Would you have enough space to do that under your stand? I'm not certain. Have a look on the DIY Filters and Set Up And Filtration forums on Monsterfishkeepers.com if you want to get some ideas about different sump configurations, but as the other guy said, a big canister will be simpler to set up.

[Squirt]

Thanks for the responses :thup:

In regards to sump vs canister, I figure the best form of canister for a tank of this size is probably a FX5? And they are going for $600 - $700 vs a sump which I figure is the price of a tank ($50) a pump ($100 - $200) and media ($100) plus some other bits ($50) so probably about $350. I have been keeping my eye out for cheaper FX5s on sites like TM, I am trying to find one in Wellington to save on cost of shipping.

[Godly3vil]

Henward on here is selling a couple Squirt, cheap as you will ever get.

[Squirt]

Yeah, I saw his FX5s, but he said it was pick up only