My Tank Sump Plans.

Right now 10g my tank is super cluttered with a powerhead, internal filter, and hang on back filter, heater, and I'm wantin some more space for my plants and some more fish (right now i've only got five small ones). I've decided to add a sump tank instead of the hob filter. Technically (instead of wasting it) i could attache the hob to the sump. And heck, more filtration the better.

Heres my new tank setup plans:


The sump will have three sections. The first will be the intake and will be filled with some sort of media (probably bioballs) but I might also create a small padded attachment to the filter to trap all the big stuff. The second section will contain a bunch of grass (Don't care what kind) to filter the water, and the third will be the outflow pump. The outflow will run through a diy duffser using a a tall acrylic tube filled with bio-balls (im not paying 100 dollars for one) and a small intake at the bottom for co2. The two circles at the top of the tank will be submersed spraybars, that way I'll have an even amount of co2 flowing on both sides of the tank. The main tank will have a powerhead (simply for water movement) with maybe a small sponge attachment.


The sump will operate only on one pump: one for outflow and gravity for inflow.

Im not sure If I should add a small co2 diffuser to the sump, seeing that it will be filled with grass it might need it, but im not sure if some of the co2 rich water will drain into the sump.

i'm running a refugium/sump on my tank but i always intended too. For the CO2 I am stickign with dosing Flourish Excel at the moment as I am unsure what effect the cascading water (my tank has a built in overflow) will have on any possible CO2 injection. In my sump I am using a nice sized mass of java moss and so far it's working out great.

My reasoning for this setup was the same as yours, too much tank clutter, now I got the whole deal running on 4 plugs! (two lights, pump, and heater).

Some pictures can be found here:

http/www.flickr.com/photos/rshinjiro/set...57619532585569/

Best of luck to you!

here is my sump it is virtually the same as your drawing but its 4x2x2
















ive had a media change round sinse these pics all the media is in bay 1/2 nothing in the return pump bay 3(left)

RShinjiro said:

i'm running a refugium/sump on my tank but i always intended too. For the CO2 I am stickign with dosing Flourish Excel at the moment as I am unsure what effect the cascading water (my tank has a built in overflow) will have on any possible CO2 injection. In my sump I am using a nice sized mass of java moss and so far it's working out great.

My reasoning for this setup was the same as yours, too much tank clutter, now I got the whole deal running on 4 plugs! (two lights, pump, and heater).

Some pictures can be found here:

<a href="http/www.flickr.com/photos/rshinjiro/set...57619532585569/" target="_blank">http/www.flickr.com/photos/rshinjiro/set...57619532585569/</a>

Best of luck to you!

Click to expand...

Thanks!! I like your sump setup. Nice and clean. Also whats the grass called in the pic 'more eggs'?? I have that but don't know what its called....grass??? lol thas what I call it!!!

MIXMASTER JAY: Would you recommend that I add a protein skimmer to the sump even if it's freshwater? If so I found a super small one (only 6 inches high) that would be perfect for the sump.

I am planning on adding a fluidized bed filter as well.

That's called vallisneria spiralis. A pretty hardy fairly fast growing plant. The sump i am using is actually setup with baffles to support a substrate bed and the inlet is positioned to make sure that an excessive amount of current stirs up and moves away the substrate.

I would not run a protein skimmer in freshwater, all things i have read show that it does little to nothing of benefit in freshwater. Me and my friend with a reef tank have speculated ways in which it could work with freshwater, but tend to agree it isn't worth the investment.

Thanks!

RShinjiro said:

That's called vallisneria spiralis. A pretty hardy fairly fast growing plant. The sump i am using is actually setup with baffles to support a substrate bed and the inlet is positioned to make sure that an excessive amount of current stirs up and moves away the substrate.

I would not run a protein skimmer in freshwater, all things i have read show that it does little to nothing of benefit in freshwater. Me and my friend with a reef tank have speculated ways in which it could work with freshwater, but tend to agree it isn't worth the investment.

Thanks!

Click to expand...

Okay i'll skip the skimmer. And I think you meant Doesn't "make sure that an excessive amount of current stirs up and moves away the substrate." (right? kind confusing me! lol)

mdwheeler said:

RShinjiro said:

That's called vallisneria spiralis. A pretty hardy fairly fast growing plant. The sump i am using is actually setup with baffles to support a substrate bed and the inlet is positioned to make sure that an excessive amount of current stirs up and moves away the substrate.

I would not run a protein skimmer in freshwater, all things i have read show that it does little to nothing of benefit in freshwater. Me and my friend with a reef tank have speculated ways in which it could work with freshwater, but tend to agree it isn't worth the investment.

Thanks!

Click to expand...

Okay i'll skip the skimmer. And I think you meant Doesn't "make sure that an excessive amount of current stirs up and moves away the substrate." (right? kind confusing me! lol)

Click to expand...

LOL yeah sorry, typing while watching TV and a fish tank is a bad combination!

ONE MORE ques:

I was wondering if my sump tank would be loud or make any sound besides like splashing. My aunt has a 129 gallon with a sump that literally sound like a draining dishwater and gargles like a monster sometimes sometimes . I have to remebemer this things gonna be a dorm with one other person and I kinda like a quite tank. If it's likely to do so I'll probably just get a canister filter or stick with what I got (need to save money anyway ).