What size sump?

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epond83

Large Fish
#1
Mar 11, 2007
483
0
0
#1
So i'm lookign over prices to see about switching my 75 gal over to SW. I know the bigger the sump the better, but is there like a min size you should shoot for like a certain percent of your main tank?, specifically for a 75 gal.? I'm thinking about having the refug and stuff down in it, the DT will probably be a reef setup. thanks.
 

Last edited:
1979camaro

1979camaro

Ultimate Fish
#2
Oct 22, 2002
5,862
2
0
42
San Ramon, CA
#2
As you said, bigger is better. There isn't really a minimum or maximum. Some people make sumps as big as their display, others have very small sumps. There is a lot of information on the web about sumps. Generally, 16in a good height and as much as you can fit for the other dimensions; make sure you will have room for all the equipment, etc. you want to put in the sump. You might check out Melevsreef.com - Welcome! for some excellent information.
 

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epond83

Large Fish
#3
Mar 11, 2007
483
0
0
#3
Ok cool, yeah my with is going to have to be 12 or 12.5 inches, around 36 long and not sure about hight, depends on hom much room the skimmer takes up. Whne you say 16 in deep you are talking about water depth right? Build the stand my self and wished i had thought about a sump cause i could have gotten a few more inches in width if i had, but oh well. Thanks for the advise
 

1979camaro

1979camaro

Ultimate Fish
#5
Oct 22, 2002
5,862
2
0
42
San Ramon, CA
#5
When I said 16in I was talking about the actual depth of the sump. Your water depth will vary across the sump depending on how your baffles are set up. You will have to look at your skimmer's operation depth to figure out how deep the water needs to be, but generally the water depth in that section is going to be around 8-10in.
 

TRe

TRe

Elite Fish
#6
Feb 20, 2005
3,645
1
0
ft. lauderdale
#6
btw to answer yur question id suggest a 20g for your sump on the 75g... that way you still have plenty of room under your tank.. plus 20g is a nice size for that tank and u could just pick up a 20g tank for pretty cheap and silicone some baffles in place and your set ;)
 

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TheFool

Large Fish
#8
Apr 19, 2006
323
2
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#8
If you can go bigger. There are a couple of good reasons. If you decide to stick in a deep sand bed, mud, or some other kind of refugium nutrient export, if you take a 20, even a 20 long, and glue in baffles for a skimmer chamber, and a chamber for the return, you will find that your refugium may well be smaller than you would hope for.

The other is water flow. I do not know if you will drill your 75, or go with a HOB overflow, but to get water in, you need to pump it up at say 200 gallons per hour. This then has to flow out at 200 gallons per hour, which means it has to go into the 'out' plumbing at that rate which means it will need to generate some head to push water down. Thus the water level will rise in the display, up to maybe an inch at most if your plumbing is not so large in diameter. Where will that water come from - the sump. If you have a big discrepency in surface area between the display and the sump, you will find that to get an inch rise in water level in the display your water level in your sump might well drop 4 - 6 inches! (Workout the ratio surface areas to see the ratio sump/display water level rise/drop)

Ways round this
1. Big sump
2. Big plumbing, so you don't need so much head to move x00 gph
3. Smart plumbing - I had my holes drilled inthe side of my big tank about 10 cms down the side wall from where I want the water level to be (I do not like bottom drilling)

Otherwise you eill be forced to use option 4., dropping the pump return rate (not good)
 

Lorna

Lorna

Elite Fish
#9
Mar 3, 2005
3,082
4
0
NE Indiana
#9
And make sure you leave room for back flow in the case of a power failure the water in the plumbing down to the outflows will siphon back into the sump so you need to leave space for this water to flow backwards. There is a formula I for this on melev's page..... L X W X H / 231 = gallons of room for back flow.
 

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