Sump for 700litre tank

[IanB]

Been out buying pipework and got back to Googling for media..

Read a couple of comments that suggest a sump should be 1/4 the size of the tank it's filtering.. is this true??

My current sump (still not in use) is about 50litres and the custom one I'm waiting for a price on is 100 litres.. are these big enough to filter 700litres?

I was also planning on a second display tank between main tank and sump of a similar size (100litres) making the total around 800 litres..

Should I abandon this and have a larger sump?

 

[Lornek8]

Personally I don't think it matters what size the sump is. The sump is simply the collection area for the overflow water. It does also house the filter & any ancillary items that may be required. So long as the sump is large enough to house your filter, pump & has the capacity to hold all water that may overflow out of your tank, it really doesn't matter how large it is.

 

[IanB]

That's great.. thanks.. can stop worrying (about that) now and get back to working it out... :thumbup:

 

[bigbird]

I have a 5ft tank and a 100liter sump. Pump flow is 1400 lph.
It is true, that the sump is a basic pick up filter for items that it collects.
My only note would be to you, make sure that it can hold enough water if the power goes off and you have backflow of water returning to the sum. cheers jk :thumbup:

 

[IanB]

My current pump is 3100lph... I'm going to add a t-piece so I can divert some flow if necessary..

It operates on an overflow and that pipework is drilled at the top so it can't form a syphon (not seen any of it in action, never run a sump before, I could be waaay off the mark and my house will overfloweth.....).. should find out this week if I'm lucky..

 

[bigbird]

I am sure you are aware of this already, but make sure your return hole diameters are large enough to take that large amount of water, ie same water in as out or else you have a flood. good luck and hope you do not need the flippers. The sumps get some getting use to, but they are great.
I have also learnt, that apart from foam and bio balls, add a 1cm layer of fine foam up the top, this for easy removal and rinse and they return back to the sump.
cheers jk :thumbup:

 

[IanB]

make sure your return hole diameters are large enough to take that large amount of water

That's why I'm planning on the t-piece so I can divert some flow back to sump instead of up to tank.. was going to clamp the main return hose but am worried it'll burn the pump out.
If all goes well, I'll probably invest in an adjustable pump at some point (the Eheim Compact 5000 looks ace)..

apart from foam and bio balls, add a 1cm layer of fine foam up the top, this for easy removal and rinse and they return back to the sump.

I was thinking of a layer of coarse sponge sitting on top of the bio-media.. and a fine sponge in between bio and pump.. I've also seen sponge in the space between the inlet and the 'plate' with the holes in it (the drip tray?) but am a bit worried because the fish are pretty messy and don't want to clog it up... do you think that pre drip tray media is a good idea?

 

[bigbird]

look all sumps are slightly different.
1. I would not put a sponge on the inlet area.
2. Depending how accesable you sump is, mine has a windmill turning outflow with 4 arms, so I have bio balls on bottom, then thick coarse matt, then right on top the fine sponge. I just found it easier to get the fine sponge out for a rinse, instead of the large thicker coarse matt.
3. I also have an eheim 2217 filter to pick up also more of the stuff in order to stop clogging or assisiting with the sump. I have 4 x L282 and 2 x L134, 8 cory Adolfi and 10rummy nose.

cheers jk :thumbup:

 

[Lornek8]

I've put filter mat at the top of a home-made trickle filter. The filter had a drilled drip-plate & the mat helped prefilter the water & distribute it better as well. Some run a sponge prefilter on the overflow in the tank. Either way, I think a prefilter would be beneficial to help from clogging your bio-balls.

 

[Lornek8]

Here's a pic of an overflow with sponge prefilter.

And a typical trickle filter with sponge on driptray.

From: http://www.aquacave.com/Default.aspx

 

[IanB]

Well I had planned on the coarse mat between drip tray and balls but I'll put it between inlet and drip tray now and see how that works I think..

Excellent... thanks..

 

[bigbird]

ok keep us informed. A funny side of sumps if I may say. initially when you fill up, you think the tank will overflow because it takes some time for the water outlet ( so water to go to the sump ) to equal the flow down the pipe to the inlet into the tank . So it takes time for the whole system to find the right flow and ebb. I always thought the tank would flood and had my hand on the power point. These are really moments where your heart start pumping. Sumps are great though. Make sure you have access to all pipes in the event of any issues. cheers mate jk :thumbup:

 

[Zebra Pleco]

I have 3 x 4ft tanks (48x15x15) going into one sump approx 100 litres, I only use the sump to hold filter media and heating, all works by overflow and an ehiem pump back to the top

 

[IanB]

So I got the sump running earlier this evening and am having some stability issues..

Messed with the bypass valve for a couple of hours and all seemed pretty settled..
It ran at the same level for about 6 hours and then the water level started creeping up in the sump..

Nothing's changed.. have reset the level and it's been stable (again) for the last half hour.

Only thing I can think of is that the pump isn't 100% consistent?

It's an old Rio3100 and I've got the bypass on full.. aiming to get a new pump, adjustable if I can, max flow of around 2000lph since I don't think that the return pipework can handle even that much..

 

[bigbird]

yup it is a little trial and error, but in the end worth it. cheers jk :thumbup:

 

[IanB]

I just don't really get why it sat ok for about 6 hours and then went mental for an hour and now it's been fine for the last couple of hours..

I'm a little worried about going to bed in case something goes totally wonky

 

[bigbird]

i never had a bypass valve on my sump. I would have also bought a new reliable pump. Maybe also check in outlet where the water goes into the sump, I do not know what you have to givethe trickle effect, but sometimes those things also get clogged by snails and debris. hope you can sleep well. cheers jk :thumbup:

 

[Lornek8]

Don't worry about it.
Only as much water can get into the sump as can overflow from the tank. Once the tank level gets below the overflow the water will stop overflowing until the pump returns the water to the tank. So long as you verified that the sump can hold all the water that could potentially overflow (you did this right?) you'll be okay. You should also verify that the siphon/overflow can start again if the water level in the tank drops below the siphon/overflow level. This would happen during a power outage where the pump would shut off bu the siphon would still keep going. This way, if the power goes back on when you're not around you can be sure that the pump won't drain the sump & overflow the tank and/or burn up the pump.

 

[IanB]

So long as you verified that the sump can hold all the water that could potentially overflow (you did this right?)..

Sure did.. .. this was stress #1 and the first thing I tested

This way, if the power goes back on when you're not around you can be sure that the pump won't drain the sump & overflow the tank and/or burn up the pump.

This is sort of the problem.. when the flow adjusted itself (for want of a better term) the pump was emptying the sump.. tank would have overflowed (obviously only until sump was empty) and the pump would have, I guess, cooked..

The overflow pipework can't handle the full flow of this pump and if anything reduces that (like, say, a leaf over the inlet screen) things will get a little messy.


I'm still waiting for the chap to get back to me with a price on a new sump but it's not going to make any real difference since the problem is the flow to the thing, not from it.. :dk:

So I'm thinking 2000lph (ish) adjustable pump and maybe a water level switch in the sump that'll turn the pump off should the water level get too low.

 

[bigbird]

maybe and only maybe consider drilling another out hole ? or get a lesser output pump. I am glad that you tested the sump etc so there is no overflow.
good luck. cheers jk :thumbup: