sump tank

[MadEm]

I am setting up a new 5ft tank and I would like to use a sump tank as a filter.
I have never used one before only ever using external filters (EHIEM) and have no idea how they work?
Not even the slightest knowledge......... Is there any one that has any expertise in this area that could explain to me maybe a diagram?
Any help will be apreciated

Thanks

[russm]

Sump tanks are excellent. They are just a much bigger external filter really.

Here is a link to a picture of one
http://cdn-write.demandstudios.com/u...50/9/33159.jpg

The water will fall from the tank through a drain pipe into the first compartment of the sump (on the left as you look at the picture).
You can see that this if full of bio balls with a sponge prefilter on top. The water then travels under the first glass partition that is raised off the ground slightly. It will travel up and over the next piece of glass and into the comaprtment with the heater in it (you could also add extra filter material into this section if you wish). The water flow continues in the same way into the next section that has yet more filter media in it (coral sand in this case as it is a marine tank). Finally the water overflows into the final section that has a submersible pump (normally a pond pump) that returns the water to the tank.

Your sump can be as big or small as you like, of course the bigger the better as you can maximise the amount of media that you put in giving more room for beneficial bacteria. I used to have a 3foot sump that filtered my 5x2x2 and a hardly ever had to do a water change as the water was always perfect. It is probably better to keep up with the usual maintance regime to keep things perfect.

The drain pipe I mentioned at the start is usually a lenght of PVC drain pipe that is about 1 1/2" in diameter. The tank has to be drilled either in the bottom with the pipe rising up in the back corner or on one of the sides near the waterline. Either way the wwater will overflow into the pipe and down into the sump below.

I hope this is of use and if you have any questions you can PM me and I will try and help further.

[HABU]

i ran a massive wet/dry sump on one of my old tanks...

i souped it up and it was oh so nice...

i highly recomend them... and they are very easy to build if you don't want to spend a fortune on some fancy, store bought one...


well worth the effort and just a whole different mindset to aquatics...

... great for those who don't want to mess around... the nuclear option in the aquatics hobby...

makes you look like you know what you are doing too!

[HABU]

Originally Posted by russm

Sump tanks are excellent. They are just a much bigger external filter really.

Here is a link to a picture of one
http://cdn-write.demandstudios.com/u...50/9/33159.jpg

The water will fall from the tank through a drain pipe into the first compartment of the sump (on the left as you look at the picture).
You can see that this if full of bio balls with a sponge prefilter on top. The water then travels under the first glass partition that is raised off the ground slightly. It will travel up and over the next piece of glass and into the comaprtment with the heater in it (you could also add extra filter material into this section if you wish). The water flow continues in the same way into the next section that has yet more filter media in it (coral sand in this case as it is a marine tank). Finally the water overflows into the final section that has a submersible pump (normally a pond pump) that returns the water to the tank.

Your sump can be as big or small as you like, of course the bigger the better as you can maximise the amount of media that you put in giving more room for beneficial bacteria. I used to have a 3foot sump that filtered my 5x2x2 and a hardly ever had to do a water change as the water was always perfect. It is probably better to keep up with the usual maintance regime to keep things perfect.

The drain pipe I mentioned at the start is usually a lenght of PVC drain pipe that is about 1 1/2" in diameter. The tank has to be drilled either in the bottom with the pipe rising up in the back corner or on one of the sides near the waterline. Either way the wwater will overflow into the pipe and down into the sump below.

I hope this is of use and if you have any questions you can PM me and I will try and help further.

also they have those overflow boxes so that the tank doesn't need to be pre-drilled...

[Andy]

I would go for a twin stand pipe rather than a single with a durso, it will be much quieter.