Sump

[Hajra]

I know everyone has asked including me but i am going to try and compile everything i can find on sumps here. If you have changes feel free to add them in with quotes or anything you feel is necessary. Now lets start posting. lol (still in the works but feel free to add and comment. Also it will take me a few days to get all the info together and get it on here.)



in an aquarium, mainly a reef system. The sump sits below the main tank and is used as a filter, as well as a holding place of unsightly equipment such as heaters and protein skimmers. The main advantage of having a sump plumbed into an aquarium is the increase of water in the system, making it more stable and less prone to fluctuations of pH and salinity

[Bergy]

To avoid too much flow to your tank, in case your pump is too powerful, you can put a "tee" in your return plumbing, and an elbow pointing straight back down into your sump. Then you put a ball valve on that. If the valve is wide open, the majority of your water will go straight back into your sump. The more you close the valve, the more water goes up to the tank. This is the best system, because your pump will never feel a restriction and it won't shorten the lifespan of your pump.

What is a return line?   Is that just a pipe going up?

The return line is the plumbing used to get the water back up to the tank. Rigid pipe is preferred, with a minimum of 90° elbows. The return line needs to have holes drilled in it to prevent excessive water from being siphoned out of your display. (See next point for more details)

How do I prevent a flood? I don't want the sump to overflow and ruin my floors (or carpet)!

To avoid your sump overflowing it must have room for excess water. When your sump is running, as water drains down from the tank, it is pumped back up. When the pump is off, some water will drain down into the sump. This will be water from your drain line, from your return line, and from the tank (which is determined by the depth of the weir/overflow inside the tank and how deep your return line is in the tank). You need to drill two small 1/8" holes in your return line, 1/2" below the water's surface when the tank and sump are running normally. These holes are referred to as a siphon break. When the pump is off, water is sucked out of the tank by the return line, but as soon as the water level reaches those holes, air is sucked in and stops any more water from being siphoned out of your display tank. Two holes are better than one, in case it clogs or a snail decides to park on the hole at the worst moment possible. Typically, you will only have 2 or 3 gallons drain down when the pump is off, so make sure there is enough room in your sump to hold an extra 3 gallons or more. You can figure out how much room you have with this equation [measured in inches]:  L x W x H / 231 = Total Gallons

What is a baffle?

Any divider used within your sump is a baffle, which either separates compartments, or redirects flow in a specific direction.

How do I determine how many baffles I need?

A bubble trap is a narrow section within the sump that is made up of three baffles. The center one is higher than the two outer ones. The bubble trap should be located after the area that contains the most bubbles. Normally, that would be where the water enters the sump and your protein skimmer is located. Microbubbles abound in this zone, so the bubble trap would be set up next, to prevent these from continuing through to the refugium and/or return section. If you have a refugium next, you'll need one more baffle between the refugium and the return section. All four baffles should be the same height in this setup.

Another way would be to have the return section in the center of your sump, between the skimmer section and the refugium. Water would drain into the skimmer section and the refugium from separate pipes. The refugium's baffle can be taller now, allowing greater depth for growth of macro algae. The height of the bubble trap baffles on the skimmer side is determined by your skimmer's requirements (see below).

How much flow should I have in the refugium?

The flow rate through a refugium is slower than through the sump. By use of a ball valve on the water feed to the refugium, you can set the flow rate to your specific desire. You need to avoid stagnant water, and the surface of the water should be broken slightly to avoid a film growing on the surface. Try to achieve a gentle flow throughout this zone.

How far apart should my bubble trap baffles be?

The bubble trap baffles should be 1" apart, with the center baffle 1" off the floor of the sump.

How deep should the water be in my sump?

Depth is determined by the type of protein skimmer you use, and how much room you have under your display tank. Every skimmer is rated for a specific depth of water it can run in. If your skimmer needs to run in 5" of water, you can adjust this with a small stand to hold the skimmer higher up in your sump. Keep in mind that as you raise the skimmer up, it will get closer to the top of your cabinet supporting your display tank. You still need to have easy access for simple maintenance. Having more water in the skimmer section is ideal, because it allows more time for microbubbles to dissipate, and it allows you to have more water in your return section where evaporation occurs on an hourly basis. If you can run your skimmer in 9-10" of water by setting it on a stand, you'll get great results in my experience.

The water level in the section where your skimmer is located must remain constant. If not, the skimmer won't be able to operate effectively. This is why the skimmer is in the first zone of your sump, as that water level never changes, except when your return pump is switched off and excess water accumulates.(See next point)

How do I determine how much water I can safely add to make up for evaporation?

Mark your sump's water level. The return section of your sump (typically after the bubble trap -- explained above) will fluctuate as evaporation takes place. So when your sump is set up and running, turn off the pump. The tank will drain into your sump a little, and you'll note how much water has accumulated. If you have room for more water in the return area, add more. Turn the pump back on, and observe where the water level is in that section now. That is your maximum level. Mark that spot with a line, a piece of duct tape, whatever. Then when you top-off your sump with fresh water, never add more water than that line. Because if you do, and the power goes out, your sump will overflow. I have never had a sump overflow because I never cross that line. 

How can I keep fish and snails out of sump?

Most overflox boxes come with "teeth" that prevent small creatures from entering the weir and drain system. However, snails don't care about barriers, and will climb out into the air to get to their next target. Observing snails in my overflow, they clean up the algae and crawl back out. Some may find a way to get deeper into the plumbing, and you may see one traveling down inside your drainline (if it is clear flexible material), seemingly unaware of their destination or current location. As long as they aren't an obstruction to your flow of water, it doesn't matter. The only place you must keep them out of is the intake of your return pump. I have snails in my refugium keeping the surfaces clean so I can see inside, but if one is in my return zone, I pull it out and put it back in the refugium.

Fish tend to stay in your display, but occasionally one will decide the amphipods are too delicious looking to not go for it. My Yellow Coris Wrasse has jumped through the teeth of the weir and had a fantastic time devouring every one of those pods. Before I could "rescue" him, he hopped right back out into the main tank again. Others have lost a fish for long periods of time, only to find them in the overflow. Others have discovered their loved pet in the sump! You can put a plastic screen over the surface of the overflow, like what is used to keep leaves out of gutters.

(original article at www.melevsreef.com)  Thanks marc

[Bergy]

A sump gives you greater control over your reef or fish-only display tank. The benefits far exceed the risks, and thus most successful aquariums you'll see utilize a sump. Some even incorporate a refugium as well. Here are the numerous benefits derived from incorporating a sump into your current setup:

• Increased total water volume - This dilutes your water of accumulating pollutants, and helps avoid issues that occur quickly in sumpless tanks.
• Skims the surface - No more surface scum, just crystal clear water.
• Lowers temperature - I've observed a 2° F drop after the sump is installed.
• Hides equipment - Heaters, protein skimmers, monitoring probes, grounding probes and more can be moved to the sump & out of the display tank.
• Consistent water level - The display tank will maintain the same water level all the times; evaporation occurs in the sump over time (see auto top-off).
• Safe place to pour in additives - Adding chemicals or new (Reverse Osmosis De-Ionized) water in the
  sump allows it to mix before entering the display tank.
• Increased circulation - The return water from the sump is yet another way to move water in your tank. You can point the return outlet(s) in different directions to create flow, instead of putting more powerheads in your display tank!
• Increased oxygenation - As water drains into your sump, air mixes in the water, allowing beneficial gas exchange, releasing CO2 and adding fresh O2.
  

Optional Features:

• Automatic top-off device - Install an automatic float switch to add new water, as needed, from a nearby holding tank to keep your system filled up.
• Refugium - This lighted area can grow macro algae, which takes up nitrates from your water. The plants also add oxygen, and help maintain pH levels when the display's lights are off. This predator-free zone will allow good growth of copepods, ampipods and other microfauna that eventually end up in the display tank as food for your inhabitants.

So how does it work specifically?

Water drains from the display tank into the sump container beneath. The water is pushed back up to the tank with a "return" pump, which is either submerged in the sump or run externally (which involves bulkheads and plumbing, but avoids adding as much heat to the water). As the water rises slowly in the display tank, it flows into the overflow box (or chamber), and this drains back into the sump. It is a constant cycle, and the goal is to pump as much as the tank can drain. Most people aim for 10 to 15 times the volume of the tank for total circulation. The sump's return flow would be a portion of that total circulation, maybe 3 to 5 times the total circulation, and the rest is provided with powerheads and/or a closed loop system.

How does a weir, or overflow box like the above work?

The way it works is that there is a baffle on the inside and one on the outside, to keep the 'bubble' of water trapped in that center zone (the inverted U) until flow is restored. If it has a leak, air will bleed in and water will go out, and the siphon is lost. So it has to be tested with water after it has been built. Take it to the sink, thread or snake in a piece of airline tubing into that chamber, and while water is filling the inner box, you suck out the air with your mouth on the end of the tubing. Then you watch it closely, to see if any airbubbles start bubbling up inside that chamber. If you see none, it is perfect. See this page for info about building your own.(http://www.melevsreef.com/acrylics/overflow.html)

Many pre-drilled tanks have an internal overflow chamber made of black acrylic surrounding a drain or hole. Depending on the tank, it may have one drain or several, in the corners or in the center. As the water pours through "teeth" at the top of the black acrylic, it rushes through the bulkhead drain in the base of this chamber and down into the sump. Because these drains tend to be quite noisy, people build their own Durso Standpipe, (http://www.dursostandpipes.com/) or Stockman Mod, ([url)http://www.dursostandpipes.com/[/url]). Many discussions about these silencers can be found using the Search option on ReefCentral.com

How do I determine what return pump I need?

To establish flow rates, you have to get a pump that will match how fast the drain will flow. I have a 1" drain on mine, and because there is no volume of pressure over that drain (or bulkhead), my maximum flow rate is 300gph. If the bulkhead were at the base of the tank, and I had gallons of water pressing down due to gravity, it might drain as much as 600 gph. But that is not the case. In the outer box of the weir, there is maybe a pint of water, so it goes more slowly. You want to find a return pump that will match your drainline, but you also have to figure head pressure as well. How far does the pump have to push water back up to the top of the tank to refill it? The submersible pump in the sump under my 29g has to push water straight up 5 feet. So a Mag 5 at 5' pumps 300gph. A perfect match!

Here's a chart of Mag pumps and head pressures: http://www.marinedepot.com/powerheads_pumps_danner_mag_drive_supreme-ap.html

Courtesy ReefCentral.com, here is a head loss calculator  http://reefcentral.com/index.php/head-loss-calculator

[Bergy]

HOW TO BUILD YOUR OWN SUMP?!?!

General Overview
You need to break out the Yellow Pages and look up "plastics"... call one up that seems near you, and ask if they sell AcryLite to the public. Most do. You want acrylic, not plexiglas - the stuff Home Depot sells. Plexiglas ages, turns yellow, gets brittle, and cracks. Acrylic is harder, and you can buy various thicknesses.

For an overflow box, 1/8" is ideal. I built mine out of clear acrylic, and I can see if any problems develop and make sure all is well. Being clear, I see when a fish or a crab or a snail climbs in (all three have), and I've seen copepods walking around in there (which was cool). The BAD thing is that it loves to grow algae in it, and it is rather annoying to clean out. I clean it about once a month, and pull out some thick matted hair algae that definitely restricts the flow.

Ideally, you'd want to build it out of black acrylic, which costs a little bit more (a few dollars at most), but if it is black, you can't tell if something is in it, if it is losing suction, or anything. If you could somehow build some type of shade to keep your lights off of it, it might help. I have a couple of pieces of black acrylic, and I've been thinking about making a shield to lay over it to help reduce the algae thing, only because it is a pain.

I don't remove it to clean it, I simply bend a flexible brush to fit, and work it back and forth. Takes about 20 mins once a month.

The plastic is bent by heating it over a propane torch. As it begins to give, keep applying heat and fold the plastic gently. Don't rush it or it can crack (break). Don't overheat it too much or the plastic will get a bunch of bubbles. Just take your time, and use your judgement when you think it is getting too hot. You can pull it away from the flame and let the plastic cool down for half a minute or so... It is really easy once you get started.

 

Construction
Here are the specs for you. I'll try to be specific, but ask more questions if you have any trouble understanding them.

You want the inner portion to hang down inside the tank below the water level. I like my water to be right at the brim, just below the plastic frame that caps my tank that the glass lids used to sit in. Then I added the additional height to get it up over the plastic trim. That total was 3". So 2" is underwater, with water pouring into the chamber.


I'm recommending you put the outer portion lower than the inner one, by maybe an extra inch. Mine works fine, but I'm guessing that extra fall only could help matters.

To assure there was enough flow, I made the overflow chamber (the upside down "u" area) 1/2" gap at all times. You might prefer 3/4" to assure volume. I think going larger would be detrimental to keeping the weir primed. Remember, that would be 3/4" x 7" wide.... which should really be plenty.

The main piece is built with 4 pieces of plastic. The first one is a 7" x 22.5". This is the breakdown, where the folds would go: 2" , 2.5" , 3" , 1" , 4" , 5" , 5"

I marked these with a Sharpie, but as I heated the plastic, the marks faded. I used a straight piece of wood as my surface to bend the plastic. After each fold, I put the piece on its side, to make sure things were still square. It was an eyeball job, nothing precise.

The first fold you have to make is the 1" fold, or center. This is the one that fits over the side of your tank, so you want that to be right. Then the other folds work nicely. One thing to watch out for is too much heat. It can make bubbles appear in the plastic, but it isn't a disastrous thing. I kept the piece moving over the heat - back and forth - as the plastic became pliable. As you make your folds, you might notice the very edge on the 90 degree angles flaring out a tad. If you can prevent this, it will make glueing the sides on easier. I didn't sweat this small stuff, but sanding can help take some of that off as well.

After you've made this piece, you need to make the inverted "U". That is a piece that is 7" x 9.5" The folds are: 3" , 2.5" , 4". I drilled a small hole in top (at what I considered to be the highest point where air might collect) and inserted a 1" piece of rigid tubing that I glued in place. Remember, it only goes in a tiny amount, as close to the inner surface area as possible so you don't have air collecting around this tube. Btw, gluing on this piece is the last thing you do, after everything else is done.

Your side pieces will be approx 9" x 6"... maybe a tad larger. I glued them on, and then used a router to cut them to shape. It was a 3/8" straight bit with a ball-bearing guide. The guide comes on the better-made (more expensive) bits, and will roll along the edge of the overflow box as the excess material is trimmed off.

I used Weld-On #16 to assemble the pieces. I glued the big "w" piece to one side, holding it firmly in place for about 30 seconds. Then I put my "U" piece in place visually, and traced the outline with a pen. After taking the "U" out of the way, I ran a bead of glue, and quickly put that piece in place. To do the other side is a little more complicated, because you'll have to trace both parts onto that plastic, run two beads of glue and assemble it quickly.

Give it a day to cure. Then test it in your sink. Fill water on both sides, stick a piece of airline tubing on the rigid piece, and suck the air out. Clamp down on the tube with your teeth or fold it, and watch your box VERY carefully to see if you have any air bubbles leaking into the unit, or water dripping out/off of it. If you do, dry it off and put more glue in that area. You should be able to pinpoint a problem area by visually inspecting the joints extra carefully. I had one problem spot that I reglued 3 times. Finally I took a large drill bit to that spot, leaving a hollowed out 'v' to fill it with plenty of glue. Problem solved.

Gee, I hope I've not scared you with all this information. It really isn't hard, just a little challenging. But I thought it was fun, and people are impressed when I tell them I made it myself. Makes me feel like a die-hard hobbiest. grin

The last piece you need to glue in would be a small divider. 7" x 2" tall in the outer section. This is important, as it is the only thing that keeps your weir from sucking air back into itself. Just glue it in place about 3/4" to 1" from the inverted "U".... please look at mine closely again if that doesn't seem clear enough.

The drain is a 1" bulkhead I bought from MarineDepot.com.... I think it was $4. (I drilled the hole in the center of the box. I think it was 2.75", but I'm not positive. Your new bulkhead should be labeled to tell you what size to drill.) It is smooth inside, threaded outside. I was able to add that 90 degree elbow that you see in the picture to avoid the slurping sounds. It just sits there - it isn't glued.

Like I said, it's pretty easy to build. I think it took about 30 minutes to bend and glue it together, after my pieces were cut out. That took maybe 10 minutes.

If you hate your first one, do like I did and make another one that is better than the first.

11/21/03 - I've received a number of emails over the past year about this project, so let me add a few more thoughts:

I don't make these for others. I made a couple for myself, because like any DIY project, it needs to be tweaked to my specific needs. If I can help you solve an issue, feel free to contact me.

I did make a black shield to fit over my weir snugly. There is no picture of it because #1) it isn't much to see, and #2) it's ugly. ;) You can't see it since it is within my canopy, but it creates the perfect dark condition to avoid any algae growth in the overflow section at all. I've not had to clean it once since the shield was installed over 6 months ago.

I switched the airline tubing to black. You can get it as irrigation tubing from Home Depot. Using black, it again prevented algae from growing inside of it and creating blockage. Where does it lead? It runs from the top of the overflow chamber to the intake of a MaxiJet 1200. I pushed it up through the basket/screen to always pull out any air that might accumulate in the weir and blow it out into the tank.

It works 95% of the time without issue. When for some reason I do get a ton of air in there, I pull off the basket, push the hose back into the intake, and use my finger to block the rest of the intake opening. This forces the pump to suck everything it can through my airline tubing, clearing out all the air in the weir. It is a lazy solution, but occasionally I have to do so.

How do I know when the weir has some unwanted air in it? When my surface isn't pristine and stuff seems to be clouding or floating there. At that point, I check the weir and do the above.

Here are some pictures of the weir being routed once glued, to give you some visuals of the process.



again, thanks to marc levenson at www.melevsreef.com

[Hajra]

well thanks bill. you sent me that link before and i was digging for it but got into something else. THanks again