Sump

reefsandrotts · Oct 11, 2020

So the wife and I are looking to get back into the hobby in a big way (265 gallon) ,what size sump do you all think we should run?
Thinking something around 40-50 gallons.

Goodair · Oct 11, 2020

Depends on available space, a 40/50g may/might not be able to hold the extra water if your pumps turn off (many variables apply to this)

reefsandrotts · Oct 11, 2020

Footprint is 84x24,planning on putting inline check valves to keep back flow to a minimum

Paulie 069 · Oct 11, 2020

I will be following this as I’m planning a 180gal build and any plumbing info is great
I hope you have success with your build, much luck

Goodair · Oct 11, 2020

What kind of overflow and return do you plan on using (drilled, over the tank rim, etc), the depth of the nozzles and weir under the water line when the tank is running will tell you how much water will be siphoned back. Check valves are good to help hold water, but just incase they fail, its good to plan ahead for it and not worry about any flooding due to a faulty check valve.

Paulie 069 · Oct 11, 2020

Haven’t even thought that far ahead to be honest,, I just came across a 180 for free ,, I haven’t even seen it yet but know it’s good just from the person giving it to me
72x24x30 and I have a Red Sea sump that was used on a 120 gallon tank, but I don’t know how many gallons it actually is

Goodair · Oct 11, 2020

L x W (of tank) (inches)
x h (difference between top of water level and return nozzle hole) (inches)
/ 231 (conversion in^3 to US Gal)
= # gallons of water that will siphon back

***You can drill a hole in the return line, or just adjust the height of the nozzle to affect the water level difference***

Knowing this, you need to figure out how much water the sump holds when its running vs how much it can hold and then you can tell if it is big enough to hold excess water.

Paulie 069 · Oct 12, 2020

Think I got that. Honestly it’s a lot of info to soak up

Goodair · Oct 12, 2020

For a 72x24x30, every inch of water that gets drained is ~7.5gallons

So lets say the sump is a 40 gallons, and it holds 23 gallons of water when running, the water can drop a lil over 2 inches before the sump starts to overflow.