Take Your Time When Designing Your Sump

In my opinion a sump is an extremely important addition to a [tag-tec]saltwater aquarium[/tag-tec]. Not everyone chooses to use one which is fair enough as this is down to personal preference but for me a sump has so many uses that the pros outweigh the cons.

Hide Equipment Out Of View

Without a sump then you would need to install the protein skimmer, heaters, nitrate filters (if required) etc either in or hanging on the display aquarium. You could of course partition a part of the display aquarium to hide this equipment but then you will be losing valuable space in the display aquarium. With a sump all of this equipment can be installed hidden from view in the sump.

Increase Water Volume

The more water that you have in your aquarium the easier it is to maintain [tag-self]water quality[/tag-self]. With a sump, dependant upon the size you will be increasing the amount of water in the system, therefore as long as you are careful it should be easier to maintain the excellent water quality which marine life requires.

Add Addition Filtration Or Nutrient Export Mechanisms

Aquarium filtration can be provided in many ways. There are preferred methods (like live rock and deep sand beds) and there are other methods (like canister filters, fluidised filters etc). I have my own preference but I would never push someone into using a type of filtration which they are uncomfortable with. All filtration works - it is the efficiency that counts. If your fish, corals etc are happy and thriving then who cares what filtration you are using.

With a sump however, no matter what type of aquarium filtration you are using you have the option to be able to add addition filtration to the aquarium system. You could install a deep sand bed into a partiton, perhaps a [tag-ice]refugium[/tag-ice] or you could even install a cryptic zone area if you so wish. The most common is the refugium as this acts as a fantastic device to reduce phosphate and nitrate levels in the aquarium.

So you’re sold - you want a sump - what next?

First of all you need to work out where the sump is going to be sited. The majority of aquarists choose to locate the sump underneath the display aquarium hidden from view in the aquarium cabinet. It does not have to be installed there though it can be installed anywhere where you can get water to it from the display aquarium and back again. It could be in the adjoining room, above the aquarium, next to the aquarium - your choice.

Once you have selected where the sump is to be located the next aspect is what size, shape and type of sump. Personally I would recommend that you go for the largest sump as you can fit. There are many aquarists nowadays who have a sump (in some instances more than one) which is larger than the actual display aquarium itself. The benefits of a sump as detailed above merit the reason for the choice of a large sump. Next is the shape - again this is up to you and need to be relevant to where the sump is to be located. The type of sump is a strange one as a lot of people believe that a sump has to be an aquarium (glass or acrylic). A sump can be made from anything which is classed as ‘food grade’. Being of ‘food grade’ quality means that it will be safe for use with saltwater and should not leach anything detrimental into the water.

Once the above is decided and possibly the sump has been purchased then the next thing to do is decide if you want to partition the sump at all. If the sump is to be used purely for hiding equipment and/or for increasing water volume then there will probably be no requirement to partition the sump. If, however you want to utilise the sump to increase filtration capabilities or add additional nutrient export mechanisms then your sump would benefit from partitions.

There are no set rules when it comes to partitioning the sump. The rule of thumb I use is that I want to achieve the largest possible surface area for the filtration/nutrient export. What I normally do it split the sump into three separate chambers. The first is where the water enters the sump from the display aquarium, the second is the filtration/nutrient export area and the final chamber is where the equipment including the return pumps is located.

I size the first partition so that the overflow pipes just fit. I then move onto the third chamber. I measure all the equipment which is to be housed in this area and move the equipment around until I have a suitable design which takes up the least space whilst still allowing me to gain access to the aquarium. In then size this third partiton to be this size. Between the first/second chamber and the second/third chamber I then either install a baffle or an overflow. The reason for this is that the one between the first and second prevents any bubbles getting into the second chamber. The one between the second and third chambers prevents any large particles (algae etc) from getting to the return pumps.

Sizing the sump this way allows me to have the largest possible surface area for the filtration/nutrient export. No matter how the partitions are placed I will still get the same amount of water volume increase so I want to ensure that I get the maximum amount of filtration space as possible.

Considerations

If you choose to design and partition your sump yourself then take your time in the planning stage. If you find out at a later stage when the sump is full of water etc then it is to late to change it. I personally use a product called Google Sketchup for this. You can create various designs based upon various measurements and then build your sump based upon the plan.

Remember when sizing your final chamber where the equipment is going to be located that you are going to need a return pump (unless the sump is above the display aquarium). You don’t want to partition it all up - install the skimmer etc and then find that you do not have enough room for your return pumps!

Using [tag-self]aquarium sealant[/tag-self] is not that hard as long as you take your time. If you really struggle at DIY then pop along to your local fish shop. I am sure that either they will be able to do it for you - if not then they will probably know someone who will.

Remember that when you fill the sump that if the power goes off in the display aquarium that water will still continue down to the sump via the overflows until the water level drops beneath the overflow. Therefore make sure that you do not fill the sump right to the top otherwise you are risking a small flood if a power cut does happen.

For inspiration here is a link to a sump design which I believe is fantastic :

http://www.reef-eden.net/diy_4.htm

And from the site another type of sump design which is called a tower sump :

http://www.reef-eden.net/2006_reef_2.htm

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diy reef sump build - This made it a very simple DIY sump. (We ordered the glass from Torstenson Glass. If you are in Chicago, we highly recommend them.) To start we cleaned all the glass with rubbing alcohol to remove any oils from our hands. …

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Tags: Aquarium Filtration, aquarium sump, Aquarium Water, aquarium-overflow, DIY

Should You Drill The Aquarium Or Use An Aquarium Overflow Box

This is a question which I get asked quite a lot. I have my own personal preference but in reality it is down to you as an aquarist to make your own decision based upon your personal preferences.

I suppose really it depends upon whether the aquarium has water in it or not.

If the [tag-tec]aquarium[/tag-tec] has water in it then you can still drill the aquarium by taking some water out so that you can drill the hole(s). There is a risk here though (as there is when you drill any aquarium with water in or not) that the glass will crack and all the water which is left in the aquarium will come crashing out and you will probably lose a lot of your fish, corals etc as well as having a soggy carpet!

That might not go down well with the other half!

You could, of course remove all of your fish, corals, rock etc to do this but lets be honest you’re probably not going to do this.

In this instance then probably an aquarium overflow box is the best for you.

If the aquarium is empty then I would definitely say that drilling the aquarium is better than using an aquarium overflow box. With the aquarium being empty you will have the option to be able to drill the holes exactly where you want them to be, the size you want as well as the number you want.

You can drill the holes in the base if you so require and configure an [tag-self]aquarium standpipe[/tag-self] type system or you can drill the rear of the tank and utilise overflows.

Another benefit is that if you drill more than one hole and one becomes blocked for whatever reason then the other hole(s) will still operate and the aquarium will not flood and the sump will not run dry.

The aquarium overflow box work normally on a siphon based system. This does have its disadvantages. The main one is that the siphon can stop. When it does the water will stop overflowing down to the sump yet the sump return pump will still be pumping water back to the display aquarium. Therefore the display aquarium may overflow and the sump will run dry probably damaging the pump.

An option to overcome this is to install more than one overflow to cope with this problem, however aquarium overflow boxes can be quite expensive therefore whilst beneficial it could end being costly in financial terms.

With both drilling an aquarium and installing an aquarium overflow box it is important to size them for the amount of water flow required. This is based upon the flow rate of the return pump(s). I would also recommend that you add extra flow to the requirements to cater for the possibility of blockage. Also remember to consider the head loss of the pump(s) when doing your calculations.

I think that you can probably see where my personal preference is - drilling. Of course an aquarium overflow box does have its advantages and if you are unable to drill the aquarium then they should not be discarded as they are a fairly easy option to install.

Tags: aquarium sump, aquarium-overflow, aquarium-overflow-box, drill-aquarium, saltwater-aquarium

Loads Of Micro Bubbles In My Sump

I have a sump on my saltwater aquarium which is fed by four overflows from the main display aquarium.

This sump contains a deep sand bed, a refugium and all the equipment which can be hidden (heaters, return pump, protein skimmer, calcium reactor and auto top up)

For some reason and I don’t know why I suddenly started getting loads of micro bubbles in my sump.

I checked all the overflows to see if anything has moved and I was unable to locate anything.

The only thing that I saw is that the pipes which enter the first chamber of my sump are a bit too deep in the water for my liking.

As I have not solvent welded these aspects of the plumbing I was able to remove them whilst doing a water change (when the water was low enough in the main display aquarium so as not to overflow down to the sump)

I cut the pipes back so that they are now only about ¾” under the water surface in the first chamber. This chamber is also full of small pieces of live rock rubble which acts as a type of baffle.

The result – no more bubbles!

As said I have absolutely no idea why it suddenly started happening as it was not doing this a couple of days ago but at least I was able to identify a way to resolve it.

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Tags: aquarium, aquarium sump, aquarium-overflow, saltwater-aquarium, sump