Setting Up A Sump

[tenohfive]

Can anyone either talk me through or point me in the direction of info about how to setup a sump? I'm looking to buy an ex LFS tank with holes predrilled for it, and if I'm successful I'll be making the stand myself so no issues there. Question is how I go about setting it up. I've got an empty 65L tank to use as sump, and the main tank is 190L - would that be big enough?

Apart from a couple of bags of eheim bioballs, I've not got any filtration so what would I need and how much would it be likely to cost me for the necessary contents and a pump to circulate the water?

Thanks
Chris

 

[Anguilla82]

is this for freshwater or marine?

 

[tenohfive]

Freshwater, planning on dividing it to breed apistos.

 

[Anguilla82]

ok,

in which case:

outlet pipe from main tank into first chamber of sump, which contains filter floss to catch most of the particulate waste.
Next i would have the bioballs etc.
then the next compartments for your breeding areas.
then i'd have another filter floss section to catch any waste from your apistos.
then last compartment of sump i'd have the return pump. (you can pick up second hand eheim return pumps for around £20)

not sure how you would separate the breeding compartments. But you'd need to make sure you had reasonable flow going through the sump if its going to be your only filtration area.

 

[tenohfive]

Sorry, think I may have confused something there:

The 190L will be used for breeding - I'm still working out the particulars, but the plan is to have 2 sections with 2 different types of apisto, and a third smaller area as a grow out. If there were room in the sump for a grow out section that would be great, but wouldn't be necessary as I'm planning on having a couple of seperate grow out tanks (as well as or instead of a grow out in the main tank.)

Though I'm open to suggestions, this will be my first breeding project as well as first sump and I'm close to clueless about both.

 

[Anguilla82]

oh ok, doh!

so you're using the main tank for breeding and the sump for filtration?

why not just use an external filter for the filtration and the extra volume of the 'sump' for breeding etc.?

if you're just using teh sump for filtration then just split it into compartments and have each compartment have a different media in it, just like you would have in an external filter but just on a larger scale.

 

[tenohfive]

oh ok, doh!

so you're using the main tank for breeding and the sump for filtration?

why not just use an external filter for the filtration and the extra volume of the 'sump' for breeding etc.?

if you're just using teh sump for filtration then just split it into compartments and have each compartment have a different media in it, just like you would have in an external filter but just on a larger scale.

Because last time I looked, I'd need to spend £30 odd for a decent external filter, and I'm trying to reduce costs. Although when you add up £20 for sump pump, then another £20 for filtration, plus a few quid for piping and connectors it might not be such a great idea.

Hmmm. Back to the drawing board.

 

[Anguilla82]

piping tends to be more than just a few quid sadly.

bulkheads for instance could be £10+ each
ball valves £6+ each
plus piping, slovent weld glue, and reducers etc etc.....

i've just had to do all the plumbing on my marine tank and believe me it adds up pretty quick!

a second hand large external filter will be much cheaper in my opinion.

 

[tenohfive]

Fair enough, I'll start shopping. Thanks for the advice.

One last question though - if I do get the tank with holes predrilled, is it easy and cheap to plug them?

 

[Anguilla82]

Fair enough, I'll start shopping. Thanks for the advice.

One last question though - if I do get the tank with holes predrilled, is it easy and cheap to plug them?

don't know how you'd do it.
better off posting a separate thread for that.

2 immediate options spring to ming.
1. go down the bulkhead route just in case you end up expanding the system later down the line (expensive but easier)
2. silicone plates of glass over the holes (no idea how safe this would be long term, but would be much cheaper)

 

[degsod]

Couldn't you use the holse for connecting up the external filter?

 

[tenohfive]

Fair enough, I'll start shopping. Thanks for the advice.

One last question though - if I do get the tank with holes predrilled, is it easy and cheap to plug them?

don't know how you'd do it.
better off posting a separate thread for that.

2 immediate options spring to ming.
1. go down the bulkhead route just in case you end up expanding the system later down the line (expensive but easier)
2. silicone plates of glass over the holes (no idea how safe this would be long term, but would be much cheaper)

Ah. I figured I might be able to just buy a couple of plastic plugs at the right diameter then silicone them in place.

Will stick a post up if I end up getting the tank - cheers!

 

[rabbut]

If it were me, I'd use the sumped 190l tank as the grow-out tank, and a seporate tank for the spawning.

Sump filters are far supirior Biologically than Externals, purely due to their much bigger size.

Bulkheads cost me £1-10 for a strait, or £1-50 for a 90 degree fitting in 1" pipe sizes, unless your bulkheads are like 3" across, £10 a fitting and the shops seen you comming

I'd likely install a drilled bit of ply about 6" off the base of the tank, and have the return pump under it. This will keep it away from teh media and prevent it getting clogged. The space over it I'd use for Bioballs, absolutely filled to the brim with them. At the top of the tank, I'd have a cat litter tray, you guessed it, drilled in the bottom to act as the mechanical filtration. I'd have coarse sponge, followed by medium, followed by fine and then floss in the litter tray, just to catch all the junk from the main tank and keep the bio-balls clean. Once a fortnight, you remove the cat litter tray and blast all the media under the tap to remove the debris. Murderous fish keeper you are thinking, well no, not quite. The foam and floss will be like 1/10th of the media in this set-up and just filled with junk. It's better to get rid of the gunk IMO than to gently clean it, as the (relatively) small amount of media having it's bacteria killed off will do little to upset the tank, most the bacteria are in/on the bioballs

The total cost of a Sump will be about the same as a decent second hand Canister, but the risk of failures will be less with a new sump than second hand canisters and the Sump is more flexible for the uses available for the tank

HTH
Rabbut

 

[tenohfive]

Having thought things through more, and upon realising how I'll need more room for grow out tanks I've decided to give the sump idea a miss and put a normal tank running in its place.

Thanks though, if I ever upgrade to the 5 or 6 footer I've promised myself I've a good idea of how I'd go about it.