Sump For A 450gallon Tank

[adamgreen240]

hey guys - im currently planning on getting a 450 gallon fish tank (8ft X 3ft X30") and would like to do a sump for it and would appreciate some help.

the tank itself is going to have a corner weir - what size hole should i have drilled at the bottom of the tank so that i get enough flow . Also am i right in saying that the bulkhead reduces the size of the outlet? Also what size (l/h) pump should i be looking for - would something like 10,000 l/h be ok or would i need more??

Thanks in advance for any replies, oh , and the tank will be used for freshwater .

Adam

 

[STD]

hey guys - im currently planning on getting a 450 gallon fish tank and would like to do a sump for it and would appreciate some help.

the tank itself is going to have a corner weir - what size hole should i have drilled at the bottom of the tank so that i get enough flow . Also am i right in saying that the bulkhead reduces the size of the outlet? Also what size (l/h) pump should i be looking for - would something like 10,000 l/h be ok or would i need more??

Thanks in advance for any replies,

Adam

What will you be keeping in the tank?

The flow depends on what u intend the sump for

 

[adamgreen240]

Freshwater predators such as Arowana , rays etc . The sump will be providing all the filtration for the tank.

Tanks a Lot,

Adam

hey guys - im currently planning on getting a 450 gallon fish tank and would like to do a sump for it and would appreciate some help.

the tank itself is going to have a corner weir - what size hole should i have drilled at the bottom of the tank so that i get enough flow . Also am i right in saying that the bulkhead reduces the size of the outlet? Also what size (l/h) pump should i be looking for - would something like 10,000 l/h be ok or would i need more??

Thanks in advance for any replies,

Adam

What will you be keeping in the tank?

The flow depends on what u intend the sump for

 

[STD]

Sound like a nice setup

10000l\h is a lot - you would need fairly wide piping for that flow

Do u need that much?

 

[cheesy feet]

I'm going to use a 6500lph (already bought) ocean runner pump for my 270 gal and sump system so I suppose it abouts right.I'm using a 45mm whole, so a 32 mm bulkhead, this gives a descent gap around the pipe through the whole for plenty of room to cover with sylocone.You will need a 50mm maybe 63mm bulkhead for a 61/71 mm whole, although I'm not sure which would be most suitable.
FishFurFeather.com is a good place to buy pipework.

 

[nanocubeking]

I would estimate a good size sump at 80-120 gallons would be good sized. I thought this was gonna be a giant reef tank!!!! Soon...

 

[adamgreen240]

I'm going to use a 6500lph (already bought) ocean runner pump for my 270 gal and sump system so I suppose it abouts right.I'm using a 45mm whole, so a 32 mm bulkhead, this gives a descent gap around the pipe through the whole for plenty of room to cover with sylocone.You will need a 50mm maybe 63mm bulkhead for a 61/71 mm whole, although I'm not sure which would be most suitable.
FishFurFeather.com is a good place to buy pipework.

thanks guys . would it be ok to use a pond pump?? to be honest , how much flow do you guys reccomend because im totally new to this. the tank will be around 1700 litres. so what size l/h pump do u reccomend???

i seen this on eby - what you guys think??

http/cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...A:IT&ih=022

cheers
Adam

 

[Musho3210]

I would estimate a good size sump at 80-120 gallons would be good sized. I thought this was gonna be a giant reef tank!!!! Soon...

lol i dunno, if it were me, id keep the arrowana tank, not many people have arrowanas....

 

[SkiFletch]

Thats a LOT of flow, but probably necessary for what you're trying to accomplish. A few principles of design need to be discussed here though to ensure you have a successful filter . First off, using a submersible pump that big can be difficult in that large submersible pumps can get very very warm, and that heat is transferred to the water. In the winter months, not a problem, but in the summer months, this can be difficult. I dont know a thing about Arrowana, but I know most fish don't like overheating tanks . Using an external pump removes the pump heat from the water and keeps the tank cooler.

As for the size of the sump tank, I'd say something at least in the 120g range, maybe a 125? I wouldn't go smaller than that.

Once you choose a pump, you must then determine the actual flowrate through it. As a general rule of thumb, if the sump tank is under the display, you can probably take 30% off its max flowrate to get it's actual flowrate (after head loss). This isn't necessarily a perfect engineering solution, but it usually will produce OK results. So, say you have a 10000 LPH pump, you'd have 7000 LPH of actual flowrate through it.

Then you need to size an appropriate bulkhead to drain that capacity. To drain that much flowrate, you'd have to have a 2" bulkhead. And never ever design a sump without a backup. So have one 2" bulkhead for the flow, and a second backup.

Do you understand what kind of drain you want to use and how to combat noise? Also do you know how to prevent back siphon?

 

[andywg]

CFC has a 3,000 GPH (so about 12,000 LPH) pump on a 100 gallon cold water tank as a sump for his huge tank and it drains his sump in seconds without any baffles.

The general guide is to aim for about 5 times the tanks volume passing through the filter every hour, so on a 450 gallon you are looking for about 2,250 GPH. If you are realistically going to have that go through, you want a very large sump, 150 gallons minimum.

 

[adamgreen240]

cheers ski and andy

when i have the tank built - it will have a cornr weir built into it with a hole at the bottom.

http/www.aquariums.ltd.uk/Technical.asp#Silicon

that is the company that will be building it. - how many weis should i have ?? 1 at each end or just one ? and i should have a 2 inch hole right?? with a bulkhead attached what size hole will we be left with?

also i will be constructing a durso standpipe in the weir. can someone explain a trickle tower to me - i have heard of these but cannot understand them - a digaram would be great!

also , will the sump be noisy - i know the durso standpipe will reduce noise.

finally do you know of any good external pumps?
Cheers for the help guys.
Adam

 

[SkiFletch]

Have a single wier built with dual 2" bulkheads. A 2" bulkhead requires a 3" hole typically. You should however double check the reccomended hole size with the specific bulkhead you end up choosing.

When you set up the Durso standpipes, have one pipe taller than the other. This way the lower pipe will be the primary drain. And in case something does block the primary drain, the second (higher) backup drain takes over and prevents you from flooding your floor .

As far as noise goes, the Durso will quiet it a lot, but trickle towers are not, and cannot by nature be quiet. It's a constant shower sound...

 

[adamgreen240]

Have a single wier built with dual 2" bulkheads. A 2" bulkhead requires a 3" hole typically. You should however double check the reccomended hole size with the specific bulkhead you end up choosing.

When you set up the Durso standpipes, have one pipe taller than the other. This way the lower pipe will be the primary drain. And in case something does block the primary drain, the second (higher) backup drain takes over and prevents you from flooding your floor .

As far as noise goes, the Durso will quiet it a lot, but trickle towers are not, and cannot by nature be quiet. It's a constant shower sound...

Thanks Ski,

one more question though - how do i plumb the return back into the tank?? Should i have a seperate hole drilled at the other end of the tank or should i just take the outlet tubing to the top and round the rim of the tank?

 

[andywg]

I always go over the top, one less thing to fail, and easier to drill anti-syphon holes.

 

[SkiFletch]

Either way works just fine, personal preference. I prefer the minimalist look of bulkheads myself. To each his own