55 gallon sump?

[Britfish]

Would a 55g sump be big enough for a 240g reef tank?

 

[colesea]

Hmm....I dunno. I would think considering the 200 gallon systems I had at work only run off of 30 gallon sumps. Are you using the sump strictly for wet/dry bioballs or are you tacking other things on it?
~~Colesea

 

[Britfish]

Toying with the idea of a refugium in it +wet dry.

 

[colesea]

Hmm...I don't know about refugium, and the only wet/dry's I've experience with are bio-towers or the stacked systems I had at work. There was another thread somewhere about wet/dry construction, I don't know where it went. The only thing with sumps I find tricky is getting the flow-rate right.
~~Colesea

 

[eseow]

It may be enough or not. This is one problem with wet/dry sumps. Efficiency depends on how well the water flows over bio-filter media. You can only build-it and then test it. Trying to get the balls an even flow across all of them is the key, and how much surface area is available for bacteria. You can run a Merlin fluidized bed filter also or similar type sand filterwith the sump. This is supposed to be THE most efficient type of filter by size. These types of filters are used by fish wholesalers and farms. Besides that, 55 gallon sump size should be sufficient for your needs. *thumbsupsmiley*

 

[dattack]

I am not sure what your plans are at this point but here's a typical reef setup.

Crazy huh?  They went overboard with the plumbing because they wanted maximum current with an additional pump in a close loop system.
http://www.reefcentral.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?s=&threadid=88283&highlight=tank+setup

And please check out the typical (basic) plumbing ideas from this site.

http://www.inlandreef.com/diy.html

Or a very basic one here.

Do you have a basement?  If you do then you might have more choices in sump.  You can use a wade pool or a small plastic pond/container for your sump.