How big should a sump be?

Hi everyone,I'm doing a DIY for my new Oscar tank,it is 140cmX60cmX60cm.So how big should the sump be for this kind of tank and what lph water pump should i get for it?


Thanks
Stormer.

 

The sump should be as big as possible. And the pump should be rated to pump the volume of the tank + sump a minimum of 5 times per hour

 

thanks Zoom

 

Zoom is spot on here you want a sump as big as you can possibly fit into the space that you have available remember what we said in the sump thread you will be adding the 2 tanks entire volumes together a very nice way to bump up the tanks volume.
Take a read here http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2003-01/gt/index.php

Do the research and it will pay off doing a sump diy is hard work but its to your taste honestly once you understand how sumps work the possibilities are really endless to what you want to do

 

Thanks Snyper564,I have plenty of space in the cabinet,I don't want to overdue it but i can have a 300Litre sump in there and it wouldn't even be taking up half the space.


P.S called a LPS and found the best lph pump they have is the Titan 5500 Filter Pump,It's used for ponds but will it work for a tank?


Edit:Nevermind,i think i ask too many questions.

 

As zoom said cycle 5 times per hour - for this you must take into consideration that the lph rate will drop the higher the water has to be pushed. I know my powerhead gave how many lph it would do at different heights so just keep that in mind.
EG.
20cm - 350lph
30cm - 250lph
40cm - 150lph
80cm - 75lph
and so on

 

Bigger the sump the better, so basically whatever can just fit under your tank

Determine the amount of plumbing in metres required that your return pump has to pump. So measure the physical piping, add about 30cm for each 90 degree elbow and 15cm for each 45 degree. That will give you a total height. Then start looking for a pump that gives you the required flow rate at that calculated height. 5500lph is too much unless you have quite a tall stand.

3000lph is enough for around 2m of pipework on my tank

 

Stormer – as I said in your previous thread, the size of the return pipe from the tank to the sump will influence the liter per hour rating of the pump that you can use. If the return pipe is not able to handle the volume of water that you are pumping into the tank from the sump, it will backup and the tank will overflow. So, make the return pipe from the tank to the sump as big as possible. That will also help prevent blockages of the return pipe.

 

Stand is 70cm tall,so a 5500lph would do about...,you kind of lost me there,what lph pump did you use to work out those calculations?

okay,i'm not sure how long the pipes are going to be,i'm trying to figure out to filter the tank so i can do as little maintenace as possible when it's time to clean it.

okay,i will keep that in mind,the reason i'm going with a strong lph pump is because there is going to be more than one pipe going to the sump,more holes means that the waterflow will be more and so the pump must be able to keep up.

 

I used 32mm pvc piping and its large enough to carry the water on the return side, i then used 50 mm for the feed to the sump, i used a 3foot tank for my 1.5 and it all runs fine, i must admit tho i have no fish in it yet due to lack of funds

 

the calculations i gave u were for mine, there is no rule of thumb so to speak unless you get the exact amount given to you already worked out on the box(specs of the powerhead etc)

 

okay,i will keep that in mind,the reason i'm going with a strong lph pump is because there is going to be more than one pipe going to the sump,more holes means that the waterflow will be more and so the pump must be able to keep up.


The pump will deliver X liters of water from the sump to the tank, after taking losses due to friction in the pipe, the head and bends ect in the pipe into account. That will remain pretty much constant. So the return pipe from the tank to the sump have to keep up with the volume of water delivered by the pump. Not the other way around. If you pump more water into the tank that the return can handle, the tank will overflow.

Get two 20 liter buckets. Place bucket one at the level of the sump and bucket two at the level of your tank. Do this outside if you can. Set up the return pipes from bucket two to bucket one, the same way that you have done in your tank. Put the pump in bucket one with the delivery pipe the same way as what you have done for the tank. Fill both buckets with water and switch on the pump. If bucket two overflows, your return pipes are to small. You then have two options. Add more or bigger return pipes, or use a pump with a smaller liters per hour rating.

 

i used a 50mm return pipe and the water just flows straight down into the sump so no restriction and plenty flow, i would recommend you try make ur return pipe as short and straight as possible