So after years of going back and forth on what to do for a sump, I've finally got it down to two choices. So what do you guys think ? Should I go with a 36"x18"x18" 50gallon or a 48"x12"18" 50gallon long. I'm leaning towards the 50 gallon long myself. Either way the sump will be 50 gallons, I just can't decide on the length. So for everyone with a sump whats better, longer or wider ??
if you go with the standard size 50, it will have a bigger footprint, which means more room for equipment, fuge, frag area, or whatever you overall plans are. just saying its a big plus because im cramped for space with the sump i have now and it sucks because i cant do anything down there.
Assuming your talking about the 48"x12"x18", that is the one I was edging towards. I figured the extra 12" of length would be easier to work with, and I have plenty of room under the stand. Heck I could fit a 48"x24"x30" under my stand, but it just seems wrong to have a sump that big for 60gallon breeder lol ...... If anyone else wants to chime in with sump advice go ahead. Paydays not until Friday, so I've got a few more days. Then it's on to construction.
One more question, what size return pump / gallons per hour would you guys recommend flowing through the sump. The display is a 60 breeder, the stand is around 40" tall or so ( off the top of my head), something like 48" or so from sump to top of tank for the return plumbing. The 60 breeder is plumbed already with a 1"(maybe 1.5") overflow in the bottom of the tank. So water is gonna drain pretty fast into the sump, unless I put some sort of ball valve to reduce flow. Honestly I'm treading in open water, I have the basics, the concept, of a sump. But the finer mathematical points slip through my fingers like fine sand.
Rule of thumb is not to exceed 1000 gph for a fuge and your skimmers to be effective. A standard 1 in drain under siphon will produce about 600 gph. A mag 6 is good match for a single drain over flow. Adding a valve on your drain pipe is a good idea as well as a bypass on the return pump so you can adjust both. Allot of people put a ball valve on the return line to adjust the return. This works just fine but it does shorten the lifespan of the pump due to back pressure. A bypass allows you to reduce the return without adding extra stress to your pump. As far as size of the fuge it really depends on you and how much room you have. I am firm believer of bigger is better. Larger fuge's allow for better biological reaction and increases your water volume which makes keeping your water column stable easier. Bigger fuge's also reduce the risk of flooding because it holds more water. Hope this helps !
Sure does. I've made my decision on sump size and pump as well. After dealing with the back and forth between both sizes, I've decided to ditch both and go with a 48" x 18" x 18" 65 gallon sump. My display is 60 gallons already, which will bring my total water volume to about 120 or so(water displacement from LR, corals, ect ect). In the past I've always done everything smaller and regretted it later. So I'm going as big as budget will allow.
I've also got a return pump lined up. And man am I happy, I'll be getting a new Wave line DC5000 variable speed control pump, total gph output is 1300 at 0ft of head pressure, at only 40watts of power!!!!!. 400pgh on the lowest setting. So I'm sure I'll find a happy middle ground.
Since it's a variable speed, it'll make adjusting everything that much easier. I already planned on adding a bypass to reduce back pressure, and I've already plumbed a ball valve on the intake pipe. So it'll be adjustable 3 different ways. I'm pumped about this pump(no pun intended). Once I pick up the tank, and glass baffles on Sat, I'll start an official build thread for this sump.
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what size sump ?
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