# How to set up a sump?



## weissinphoenix

I have been reading about the benefits of having a sump. If I understand the theory correctly (please correct me if I don't), you have a hidden smaller water tank underneath, behind, next to the main one in which all the water maintenance (filtration, protein skimmer, heater) goes. It is out of site and gives you more space to work with. The water is then pumped between the two tanks.

Questions:
1. Do I have the theory right?
2. How do you do the plumbing/what do you need? A diagram or picture of what goes where would be really great.
3. Can I just use a small garbage can under the main tank and run a pump from the bottom to the top and a siphon from the top to the bottom? What stops the water going down from exceeding the water going back up (and flooding)?

THANKS!!!


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## zwanged

I'm not an expert on sumps but I do have a sump on my 75 gallon freshwater tank. In the back rear of my tank there is a rear corner overflow box which is partitioned off from the rest of the water where the fish are. At the bottom of the overflow box are two holes, one for intake into the sump (via gravity) and the other a return pipe that runs up the top of the overflow box and out into the main tank. You can't just drill a tank's bottom like this as tanks generally have tempered glass on the bottom. Your best bet is to just use a 'reef-ready' tank that has the bottom pre-drilled and already has a built-in overflow box.

So in my particular sump, I have a long 20 gallon aquarium that has a 3-stage plexiglas filtration setup. You can plumb the intake from the tank with either flexible hose or PVC pipe. In my sump, water travels into the top of the sump, drips through a mechanical filter (basically a felt-like material, you could also keep carbon filtration underneath that if that is your thing), and then through biological filtration (e.g., ceramic media or bio balls). Finally, a pump has to pump the water all the way from the sump back to the return pipe and up into the tank. Water then overflows from the main tank into the sump, etc. etc. So even if you remove water from the tank, your tank will always stay topped off and the level in the sump or possibly the overflow box will drop.

One thing you have to be careful of is consider what will happen if you lose power. You should always leave sufficient empty volume in your sump so that if water backflows from your tank during a power outage, for example, it does not flood. In my case I add enough water so that my 20gal sump is half full while running. 

Here's a picture of my sump, hope this helps. There are lots of variations on this theme, you can google around for more examples/diagrams. Yes that is electrical tape sealing the PVC together in some places...I am not a professional plumber 



-Zeke


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## weissinphoenix

I was thinking maybe I could feed the tube over the top instead - no drilling. I might have to siphon start it. 

More importantly, what keeps all the water in your main tank from just dumping out the bottom through the pipe?


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## coralbandit

You need an overflow box.CPR, and Reef octopus make the best.Reef octopus are actually cheaper(and a little better IMO{just switched on my little 29 reef}).Here's a link to PICTURES of reef octopus;

AOL Search
You have to have an overflow.


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## zwanged

Sounds like a siphon near the top of the tank could work, you would just have to worry about restarting your siphon after losing power. You would also need to worry about your siphon getting blocked, a scenario where the contents of your sump would flood over the top of the tank.

The overflow box keeps the entire tank from being drained. Water only enters over the TOP of the overflow box, so only water that is pushed over the top of the overflow box by the return pump from the sump is pushed back into the sump. Neat huh? 

-Zeke



weissinphoenix said:


> I was thinking maybe I could feed the tube over the top instead - no drilling. I might have to siphon start it.
> 
> More importantly, what keeps all the water in your main tank from just dumping out the bottom through the pipe?


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## Reefing Madness

Overflow Box or DIY PVC Overflow
Melevsreef.com | Acrylic Sumps & Refugiums
Google
DIY Overflow Using Only PVC Pipe (DIY OVERFLOW PROJECTS)


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## phil_pl

Sounds like you have the theory spot on. A sump is just a way of adding more room for filtration and water volume to your system. And it does a great job of cleaning up the look of a tank. Unless you plan of drilling your tank an overflow box is the easiest way to add a reliable drain.
Here you can see how i had my tank set up
 

Then you can run the plumbing down to your sump heres how i did mine (I ended up changing this but anyways...)

water flowed down through the clear tube then into the sump; through the sump and is then pumped back up to the tank

The problem of two much water draining out is solved by the overflow box, since the water falls into it, it can only drain what is pumped up.


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## zwanged

Hey Phil -- does your sump make coffee?  Sure looks like it could, haha.

-Zeke


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## weissinphoenix

That's an awful lot of plumbing and stuff! I assume the "coffee maker" is a protein skimmer and the sponge is a sponge (mechanical filter)? Why so many pipes? What does the rest of it do?


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## Reefing Madness

Thats not a Sump. This is a Sump.. =)
45g Long Sump
Lines on left are intake lines. 2 lines. You can see External Skimmer in back of it. Line on right is return Line. Clumps are Caulpera and Cheato. Stuff on the right is Halameda. With plenty of room for growth.


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## Sully

Showoff! *NA*



Reefing Madness said:


> Thats not a Sump. This is a Sump.. =)
> 45g Long Sump
> Lines on left are intake lines. 2 lines. You can see External Skimmer in back of it. Line on right is return Line. Clumps are Caulpera and Cheato. Stuff on the right is Halameda. With plenty of room for growth.


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## phil_pl

zwanged said:


> Hey Phil -- does your sump make coffee?  Sure looks like it could, haha.
> 
> -Zeke


given the right filer media and enough hot water it sure could!!


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## Chididdy123

How loud are you guy's sumps?


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## phil_pl

Chididdy123 said:


> How loud are you guy's sumps?


I consider mine to be very quiet. i can here the hum of the pumps but nothing more. I would wager that a sump is quieter than most tanks because you dont hear falling water


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## Reefing Madness

Mines quiet also, just hearing the pumps, and when I let the sump get low, yoiu can hear the water splashing from the lines into the sump water. Kinda lets me know I need to fill it.


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