sumps ---????????have you made your own ?

[autophotos]

Hi guys , have any of you made your own sumps ? are they any good? what advantages are there of having them ? whats the costing involved ? can anyone point me in the direction of some how toos and pics of their sumps -

also generally what are they used for ? isit just massive(in comparison to their normal filter) filtration? cheers

[BeachORama]

Here's some reading info for ya:

http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2003-01/gt/index.php

http://www.melevsreef.com/allmysumps.html

enjoy

[RTR]

Sumps or refugia are for whatever you want to isolate from the main tank (or its inhabitants),or simply to increase the total water volume(remember Pufferpunk's maxim about "the solution to pollution is dilution"? Well a sump is also dilution, but then your water volume at changes must be larger}. They can also house filtration out of sight, heaters, etc. Or they can be veggie filters, plenums, fry hold and grow-out, whatever you want or need.

The cost will vary quite a bit with the use and scale, and no, I have never DIY'd a sump housing. I either use manufactured sumps or, most often, just glass tanks.

HTH

[autophotos]

hey - basically what im looking at doing is utilising the spaces underneath my tanks in their stands - on my 3ft community tank i have a 2ft tank sitting underneath at the min - that is where my snails are breading - but its a huge tank for so little a function - thats why im looking at - how to make the sumps etc - the tank is already there - what else do i need to do ?

also i have been offered some more tanks - 2ft 2ft6 etc - so rather than just put them in a cupboard i could use them ?

could they be used to grow on fry and mature plants from cuttings etc?

[J-P]

you'll need an over flow from the top tank to the bottom. You can go over the side or drill the bottom. The over flow should be just below the water line, that way the bottom tank won't flood if the top looses power. THEN you'll need a powerhead to pump the water from the bottom back to the top.

Once the thing is cycling the water as it should, you should plant that bottom tank. The more the better.

Enclosing the down drain with some types of filter media is also benificial as is enclosing the intake. If that intake gets clogged the flow going UP will be restricted and would possibly damage the impeller.

[Pufferpunk]

Is this for FW or SW?

[RTR]

PP - trivial, the only difference for me is flow rates. SW gets higher flows, most FW flow is significantly lower.

J-P: Conservative practice is to duplicate overflows,one slightly higher than the other. If the back-up is active, the primary needs cleaning. If sponges are used as you suggest (which I do), trading them out daily is best practice, alternate days next best, etc..You can pull the in-use one to a bucket, put on a fresh one and move on, These are pure mechanical filters (and fish barriers), no bio function.
Also, power heads in general are for flow, not pressure. They are mostly intended to pump at no head. Pressure pumps are better than powerheads, they are designed to work against head. Most power heads will be noisy and die faster in such use. Pressure pumps last many years.

[autophotos]

ah cheers guys - any more info on actually setting up the sumps themselves? how big the chambers should be etc - lights???? uv???

[Myaj]

Follow the link to Melev's, I used that one when making my sump.

I went with an overflow box vs drilling. Great idea, just don't do what I did and not drill a whole to break the siphon in case of power outages.. first week moved into a new apartment and my tank overflows during a power outage! ACK. I knew better, just was still shuffling things back and forth and figured I'd drill the whole later that week (I'd changed the sump to a different tank with different plumbing when I moved).

Lighting is only really necessary if you plan on making it into a veggie filter (growing fast nutrient absorbing plants in one chamber).

The biggest thing for me was remembering to top it off frequently. All evaporation will show up in the main sump chamber, and if you let it get to low, your pump will run that chamber dry and burn out.

Very cool concept though, and one day I'll set mine back up on my 75. Dang thing evaporated dry (I never hooked it back up after the overflow incident) and I don't know how to clean it out, its kind of trapped inside my stand!!

I just took a 29, made baffles out of acrylic (used a power saw) and some silcone. SOS overflow box setup (SOS is the brand name I think), and a good return pump.

I actually have pictures of it too.. found these today when looking for a photo of a "heavily planted tank" for someone, hehe:





It was originally intended to be a seahorse setup, until I realized controlling the room temperature to seahorse comfort level was just going to be too hard where I was living at the time.

[RTR]

You have to decide what want the sump/refugium to do, then decide of the sizes.

Myaj - you can build a sump for me anytime. My DIY projects always show that they were done by unskilled labor, yours are much neater.

I should have added to the fantasy tank thread - I have always anted a seahorse tank, but have never been brave enough to do one. They are really picky, even the cative-bred ones.

[Myaj]

Thanks RTR, I think that was the first time my ex allowed me to use his table saw The acrylic was extremely easy to work with, I was worried about it heating up from the sawblade and melting but that wasn't a problem at all (bought a new blade so it would cut clean and not bind up).

Seahorses are amazing, but their food and temp requirements put them way out of my league, I just don't have the time and $$. One day I do hope to get a pair of the really big, cooler water ones though, its a dream tank.

[J-P]

What did you do to keep the top from becoming pluged up and end up draining the bottom tank?

[autophotos]

well i got a tank here to poss use - i need to clean it and check it over - swapped one tank but is too big a 24x15x12

so went to car boot sale today and picked up a tank 20x12x12 ish and got it for £1 woo hoo

just need to reasearch them more now and try and see ifi can do it

are they worth it ? FW tank

[Pufferpunk]

What's a car boot sale?

[autophotos]

i guess its like a garage sale - but hosted at car parks -
you take your unwated stuff there to sell from your boot of your car / van

i managed to pic up 150 pounds worth of fish equipment etc for a total of £7.50
This was made up of a 300w rena heater - nice bit of kit - master freshwater test kit - full - light tubes - breeding trap , breading nets , different api powders/liquids syphons- gravel cleaners - total rrp was over 150 pounds

all at a car boot sale - they had more items but sold them before i got there.