# Sump design



## lelandgray (Jan 19, 2011)

I'm planning on building a custom acrylic tank, dimensions would be 52" L x 18" D x 15" H. I don't want to have any visible equipment, so I'm planning on putting a sump in the stand that I built. My only problem is limited space. My sump has to be 24" L x 10" D x 23" H (23" H at the max).

I'll attach my design, let me know what you think. It's a wet/dry design, and is 24" L x 10" D, and 23" at the max (where the dry bio balls would be). The height of the rest of the sump (where the refugium part is) would be 10". The tallest partition would be 9", which would spill into the refugium. The second partition would be 8", and would spill into the pump return.

The stack where the bio balls are would have ceramic rings at the waterline and below. The water would enter the top of the stack, go through some poly-fill and then through a drip plate into the bio ball chamber.

Any advice/comments/criticism? Thanks in advance!


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## ndblaikie (Oct 12, 2011)

What do you plan on keeping in the fuge?


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## lelandgray (Jan 19, 2011)

ndblaikie said:


> What do you plan on keeping in the fuge?


In reality, probably nothing aside from some plants or something.. It'd be there just to hold some water and a place to put a fish if need be.

Should I take it out and just have one big area for the pump and heaters?


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## Rhinox (Sep 10, 2009)

You may need a bigger chamber for your pump, depending on flow rate and volume of plumbing. I used a 55g tank for a sump on my 125, and when I turned the pump on, the level in the sump would drop a couple inches across the whole footprint of the 55 (I didn't have any baffles) - maybe about 5 gallons to fill plumbing and initiate the overflowing in the display. Judging by the picture as drawn and dimensions given, your pump chamber looks like it might hold about 2.5-3 gallons. Even if you're using a smaller pump and smaller plumbing, a bit of that is going to drain when you turn the sump on, and then there's not that much room to account for evaporation either before the pump runs dry.


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## FishFlake (Mar 7, 2010)

I had the exact same design (including dimensions) when I built mine, but in the end I did away with the fuge for the reasons Rhinox mentioned. The fuge was less important to me than a sump that worked properly.

My sump will get it's first test run later this week.


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## tim_s (Nov 27, 2011)

Hi,

The only major critique I can think of, that sponge will be irritating quickly to keep clean and if a blockage/pass-through rate issue was to occur I am not sure how you are addressing this problem?


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## FishFlake (Mar 7, 2010)

That's a good point. In my design I don't have a tower. The baffle between the biomedia and the pump compartment is a bit lower than the sump top so that overflow can occur there if there is a blockage problem. Maybe the OP could drill holes along the tower wall below the top of the sump.

Also, I have Poret foam and a polishing pad in the drip tray for mechanical filtration. This would help keep the sponge in the above design from getting dirty. I also have poret foam where the OP does, but don't know that I really need it.

Day 2 and my sump is working great.


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## Jesseschu (Mar 16, 2011)

Hi there.
I am working on a similar sump design and had a longtime fish keeper suggest that a filter sock at the entrance would be better than the tray, as the unfiltered water is less likely to spill over in a sock than the tray. He explained that the bioballs, if waste spills out into them, will harbor too much waste.

Of course, with the sock, you will have less room for bioballs/ceramic rings, but at least the water flowing into the balls/rings would be clear.

What do you all think? :fish:


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## tim_s (Nov 27, 2011)

I would need to review the chamber sizes but as for filter socks, they are great but personally I steer away of them. A lot of maintaince and prefer filter pads ..


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## FishFlake (Mar 7, 2010)

In my tray I have a polishing pad. The Poret foam sits on top of the tray, not in it. This allows me to cut the foam to fit snugly against the walls of the sump so there is no bypass.


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