# DIY Sump, wet-dry, 29G; My first sump, any help?



## johnsonrod (Jun 24, 2009)

This weekend I started purchasing materials for a sump. I've selected a 29 gallon tank (29x12x18) and need a bit of mentoring before I start construction. My research has gotten me this far. This arrangement drawing is to scale. I've also included links to a higher res pdf and another pdf illustrating piping.

what do you guys think? is this an adequate start? i want to leave enough room to use a submersable pump if the pump i have (95watt-external) doesn't work out.










http://www.geocities.com/djin_n_tonic/i ... gement.pdf
http://www.geocities.com/djin_n_tonic/i ... Piping.pdf

thanks for reading
-nick


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## Rick_Lindsey (Aug 26, 2002)

Out of curiosity, how big is the main tank? I presume the things that look like AC voltage sources are SCWD's? I don't know how powerful the 95Watt pump is, but I'll assume you've done your homework with regards to the pump flow/head/scwd reductions etc.

A couple comments on your setup -- first, I doubt your external pump will work at all the way you have it set up. Most pumps need to be "primed"... that is if they're full of air, they're not gonna be pumping much. I doubt the external pump will be able to "suck" water up the way it's drawn right now. If you want to use an external pump you will probably need to drill the side of your sump near the bottom and place the pump next to the sump, below the waterline so that the pump will be full of water when it gets turned on.

Also, what purpose does the egg-crate on the left side of the tank provide? Is the sock holder a solid piece of large-diameter pvd that sits on the eggcrate? It may be easier/simpler to just use a perferated PVC as the sock holder so that you don't need the water to come out the bottom (through the eggcrate presumably, in your current setup).

I presume you're relying on the sock to provide mechanical filtration, so you won't need additional floss on top of your trickle stack... are you planning to put some sort of water diffuser on top the top eggcrate in the center portion of the sump? Unless you want that whole part submerged (in which case I'd make it a bit shorter than 12") you'll need something to spread the water evenly across your media. Someone posted a setup that's arranged much like your plan, and they had issues getting even distribution across the wet/dry media in their center compartment. I believe they ended up with a small pump and a spraybar to get the water distributed... you may be better off elevating the wet/dry into a trickle tower and just having two returns, one for your sock (mechanical) and one for your trickle tower (bio)... of course then you'd need a mech. filter pad on top of your bio tower to make sure your bio media doesn't get clogged with gunk.

I'd also skip the carbon unless you have odor/clarity/medication issues, but that's a personal choice. If you like carbon, then more power to you . It's nice to have planned for a chemical filtration stage just in case... you may some day need to toss in a nitrate or phosphate pillow to deal with a temporary problem, and it's good to know it has somewhere to sit where flow is guaranteed.

Looks like fun, be sure to keep us updated as you build it! I would recommend you not try the pump-on-top-of-the-pipe, but otherwhise the beauty of a sump system is you can play around with it, and find out what works best for you .

-Rick (the armchair aquarist, who points out that he hasn't actually built his sump yet, so keep a few grains of salt handy)


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## johnsonrod (Jun 24, 2009)

Rick_Lindsey said:


> Out of curiosity...


The main tank is 90 gallons. there are 4 1.5" holes drilled into the back so i've decided build a sump.

The AC sources are indeed SCWD

Do you agree that this pump is submersible? I've looked the product markings on my pump and it pointed me to this product description "The Mag Drive utility pump is a magnetically-driven, submersible pump." at 950 GPM (750 at 5') its slightly less than I'm looking for but since its free I'll try it out. The device label reads:
Model 9.5B Utility Pump
E160713 
Listed 8C99

I have a crazy idea to use an under gravel filter to distribute the water in the wet/dry section. but i'll add whatever is necessary to get the job done. I would also like to recirculate water from the pump back to the wet/dry section to help out a bit.

i would also like to add another baffle prior to the wet/dry section. (see img) this way i can add additional media like you suggest. i'll also place filter pads in the betwixt last baffles.

i've done alot of work on the piping plan and changed the arrangement a bit.

Does this look better?
is my pump section large enough?
where do you recommend i add a heater if i need too?

high res plus plumbing http://www.geocities.com/djin_n_tonic/images/Sump0715.pdf









Thanks for reading
-nick


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## Rick_Lindsey (Aug 26, 2002)

> Do you agree that this pump is submersible?


Yes. I forget if my Mag-Drive is a 7.5 or a 9, but it is definately submersible. It was a bit noisier than I cared for, but I'm not sure if that was my particular pump, mag-drives in general, or just an unreasonably low noise expectation.

A 7.5" x 12" chamber should be plenty big for your pump, and probably big enough for a heater or two as well, though I don't know how long your heaters are. You could always lay them flat beneath your trickle stack, though that might make them rather difficult to adjust! You could also widen the first baffle and stick them in there... lots of choices.

Make sure you can actually get to that optional media... presumably you can move/remove the filter sock and flange, though, to access that compartment of your sump?

You may not need that last baffle, unless you're trying to force the lowest media in your trickle chamber to be submerged (which it likely will anyways, but if you had a slab of cell-pore or somesuch then you'd probably want to keep that last baffle).

-Rick (the armchair aquarist, who as usual offers several grains of salt, since these are just thoughts/ideas off the top of his head rather than the voice of experience)


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## johnsonrod (Jun 24, 2009)

A Modest Update:
I've put in the baffles today and added the pvc support structures for photos.
the blue bit on the top is an undergravel filter fitted for this tank. its made in 2 sections. i may use the other half of the filter to help distribute the water. 
the distance between the first baffles is about 2 inches and should be adequate for holding a pair of heaters.
my filter socks are in the mail and i'm anxious to finish their supports. 
i've having trouble finding pot scrubbies and might need help selecting alternatives.


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## Rick_Lindsey (Aug 26, 2002)

Thanks for the update, looking good!

Pot scrubber alternatives include little green army men, cut up drinking straws, the ubiquitous "bioball", and of course a plethora of other diy solutions. There are also media designed for submerged use, like cell-pore slabs, matrix rock, and efhisubstrat that you could put towards the bottom of the stack if you were so inclined.

In the end you only need "enough" bio media. Given the volume you have available for bio media, almost anything you choose to use will probably work out (though I don't recommend using a basketball).

-Rick (the armchair aquarist, who leans towards a mixture of cow-boy and indians, green army men, and little plastic dinosaurs)


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## KaiserSousay (Nov 2, 2008)

> (though I don't recommend using a basketball).


 :lol:


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## johnsonrod (Jun 24, 2009)

i'll return the basketball.
what about polyester. such as polyfill that you use to fill pillows?


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