Diy - Sump / Refuge
- Thread starter kenjr
- Start date
fish junkie
New Member
This is a question i've been pondering myself. How do you know what size sump do you need to what size tank? Is there a magic formula out there to calculate this?
snakeblitz33
Well-Known Member
lol!
Alrighty then, there's really no good way to say that a XX size tank will produce XX amount of backflow with XX gph rated pump. In all honesty it's just what we THINK it will take. For example, my 90 gallon tank with a mag 12 at four and a half foot of head produces around 3.5 gallons of overflow water.
For one of my clients 225 gallon tanks, I used a 55 gallon baffled sump that runs about half way all the time and has two mag 12's for the return pumps. (not my decision). It produces around 10 gallons of overflow water and leaves the tank about 3/4ths the way full.
If you plan on adding additional water to your sump, such as a RDSB tank as well as a separate refugium and other tanks, you need a larger sump to compensate for the larger volume of water. (if I did that, I would definately consider the 75 gallon tank.)
I am recently setting up a 360 gallon tank for a client. I am running a 100gal. long refugium, a 40gallon rubbermaid trash bin for a RDSB (Really Deep Sand Bed). It will also have a skimmer that will have around 5 gallons of overflow water. (volcano skimmer from spazz.) And a fluidized bed filter with 15lbs of sand. (The FBF is actually a closed loop which doesn't matter). I am hooking her up with a 125gallon glass custom drilled and baffled sump. Thank God she decided to add on a fish room!
Alrighty then, there's really no good way to say that a XX size tank will produce XX amount of backflow with XX gph rated pump. In all honesty it's just what we THINK it will take. For example, my 90 gallon tank with a mag 12 at four and a half foot of head produces around 3.5 gallons of overflow water.
For one of my clients 225 gallon tanks, I used a 55 gallon baffled sump that runs about half way all the time and has two mag 12's for the return pumps. (not my decision). It produces around 10 gallons of overflow water and leaves the tank about 3/4ths the way full.
If you plan on adding additional water to your sump, such as a RDSB tank as well as a separate refugium and other tanks, you need a larger sump to compensate for the larger volume of water. (if I did that, I would definately consider the 75 gallon tank.)
I am recently setting up a 360 gallon tank for a client. I am running a 100gal. long refugium, a 40gallon rubbermaid trash bin for a RDSB (Really Deep Sand Bed). It will also have a skimmer that will have around 5 gallons of overflow water. (volcano skimmer from spazz.) And a fluidized bed filter with 15lbs of sand. (The FBF is actually a closed loop which doesn't matter). I am hooking her up with a 125gallon glass custom drilled and baffled sump. Thank God she decided to add on a fish room!
sk8shorty01
Active Member
The general rule for a sump is, the biggest you can fit under your stand (and afford) is perfect for your tank. I have a 220 gallon tank with a 100 gallon sump and its a FOWLR tank. I also have a 55 gallon reef that has a 55 gallon refugium/sump combo. It is all what you can fit under the stand, and there is no such thing as overkill as far as a sump is concerned. All the sump is really doing is giving you a larger volume of water, so that a small change in something does not affect the tank as greatly (ie a new fish with a large bioload). A sump also hides all of your filtration, heaters, skimmers, and so forth that can be unsightly when they are out in the open.