Need Help Choosing a Sump

[Jayhawk88]

My tank is 55 gallons. I plan on just using Live Rock for biological filtration. I would like to have a sump in the stand under my tank that accomplishes some mechanical filtration and has room for a protein skimmer (and perhaps a handy place to put some carbon). However, it can't be any more than 10 inches wide. The protein skimmers I'm considering are the AquaC EV180 (http://www.premiumaquatics.com/Merchant2/merchant.mv?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=PA&Product_Code=AQUAC-EV180&Category_Code=AquaC), the Euro Reef ES5-2 (http://www.premiumaquatics.com/Merchant2/merchant.mv?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=PA&Product_Code=EURO-ES5-2&Category_Code=EURO), the Euro Reef ES5-3 (http://www.premiumaquatics.com/Merchant2/merchant.mv?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=PA&Product_Code=EURO-ES5-3&Category_Code=EURO), and the Euro Reef CS6-1 (http://www.premiumaquatics.com/Merchant2/merchant.mv?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=PA&Product_Code=EURO-CS6-1&Category_Code=EURO).

Should I just buy a Wet/Dry filter and take out the bio balls? If so, which brands do you recommend? I Could also use some help picking an overflow system (I need a hang on) and return pump?

Thanks in advance!

[Entropy]

You could probably fit two 10 gallon All-Glass tanks together Leader (20x10x12) That would give you a 20 gallon sump and room for heaters, skimmer, and return pump as well as a refuge maybe. You would have to drill the sides of both tanks and connect them with a bulkhead/pipe setup but 10 gallon tanks are pretty cheap so there is not much risk. You could probably do it for less than $50.

[thetedinator]

ASM makes a line of skimmers comparable to the Euro-Reef but less $$$. The G1 or G2 should be big enough for your tank.

[odyssey1]

I would recommend a 20 gal sump w/ a 9.5 mag or a quiet one return pump. I would go with a euro-reef. With these you have room for expansion if you decide to go with a 75 or 90 these will still work.

[Jayhawk88]

Thanks for the reply Entropy. How would I accomplish mechanical filtration? And what's a refuge?

I don't know if I'd want to do a DIY job on this because I just don't know enough about how sumps work.

Should sumps have lids?

[Entropy]

You can accomplish mecanical filtration several ways but if you have enough live rock and sand in the tank you probably will not have too to be honest. The setup I am thinking of would have the drain dumping into one of the ten gallons tanks maybe through a micron filter bag (there is your mechanical filtration), over a series of baffles to get rid of any bubbles that escape the micron bag (which should be none really). Then either going to a return pump, or to the next chamber through a large bulk head and pipe. If you just want to use one tank you could use a 15 gallon All-Glass tank. It is a bit larger and will give you more water to play with.

To give you an idea, my sump is 56 gallons but only 20 gallons of the space is used as the sump. 22 gallons are used for my refuge (which is just a place for macro algae and pods to grown without being attacked by fish and inverts). So you could duplicate what I have pretty easily if you leave out the refuge part.

http://users.adelphia.net/~yzf600/Reef/tank/sump-refuge.jpg

[Jayhawk88]

If I went with one 15 gallon tank for my sump, would I need to drill into it at all? Or would I just direct the plumbing from the overflow right into the tank? Also, what do you mean by a series of baffles?

I don't think I'm gonna have a DSB in my tank... probably just an inch or two.

[Entropy]

Yeah if you had a single 15 gallon tank you could bring the water from the overflow down to the sump. You want to split the sump up so there are two chambers (or more). The first chamber is for the drain (overflow) to dump into. You want that chamber to be seperate from the chamber where the return pump is located (the pump that pumps the water back to the tank). You can put your skimmer in the same area as the drain along with your heaters and anything else you need/can fit.

A 15 is 20x10x18 so depending on how you set it up you could probably get about 10 gallons of water into it. You want your sump as big and full as possible but also able to take any extra water from your overflow if you lose power for some reason. This is why my 56 gallons is only using 42 gallons of space so I have 14 gallons of reserve space if the power goes out (and I use every inch when it does :( ).

[Jayhawk88]

How would I make these chambers? Is that what you mean by baffles?

[grahxen]

Here is my 20G simple sump setup, this is probably what you are trying to accomplish.

http://216.130.173.7/tank/sump.jpg

My overflow is on left side, as where skimmer is, middle is a baffle, then fiter media area where i place a nylon bag of carbon or poly fiber, another baffle, and then my return. My return is externally plumbed, it isnt submersible.

Tank is a 20H

[Jayhawk88]

What do you guys think of these Berlin Sumps (http://aquariumpros.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=ADABS1&Category_Code=FLbn&Product_Count=0)? If I got this, what brand of overflow prefilter and pump would work well? The BS1 has 1" inlet, and no outlet.

[grahxen]

Honestly, just make your own to fit your needs. a 20G tank is like 25$ here.

Why spend 150?

Amiracle overflow boxes are great, its the one I use. And i have the turbofloater baby T1000 as my skimmer.

[Jayhawk88]

Grahxen, how do you make the baffles? Is their purpose to make sure bubbles caused by your skimmer don't get into your main tank? Maybe I will try to make my own.

[grahxen]

My baffles are made out of like 1/8 acrylic and siliconed into tank. And yes they are used to stop bubbles from skimmer from entering tank, and also a place to put filter media bags.