sump question

lance · 07-04-2007, 10:27 PM

i am looking to get a 150 gallon tank and was wondering what size sump would be sufficient for a tank this size?

leveldrummer · 07-04-2007, 10:30 PM

i wouldnt go less than a 40 breeder sized tank, it will give you plenty of room for a skimmer, and a nice return pump, but anything larger would definatly be better. do you plan do have a refugium built into the tank?

Doug1 · 07-05-2007, 12:47 AM

I would agree with Andy that a 40 breeder tank (long , wide, shallow) would be a nice choice. bigger is a good thing but depends what you want to do in your sump, what size skimmer, internal pump or external, etc
I had a 55g sump on my 75g tank, but then again it was an upgrade and I had the tank already

Hop · 07-05-2007, 03:15 AM

Maybe this sounds silly, but when setting up a new tank I ask myself 1. How much room do I have and 2: what do I want to acomplish. An example may be that I can fit a 48" sump, but with the skimmer I want, ca reator etc... I have X amount of room. I use google sketch up to paint a picture of what I want to do and go from there. There are always changes, but it works very well.

So basically, I would say go big

but not too big!

hng · 07-05-2007, 07:28 AM

In general, bigger is better. It gives you more volume (more stability), more room to place equipment, and more flexibility (refuge, remote DSB, etc). 40 breefer is a very nice sump. I would have used one if it had fit in my stand.

Sndwave80 · 07-05-2007, 07:45 AM

I would go with a 75 or 125 gal tank. This will allow enough room for all your equipment and maybe some space for extra frags/ over stock or what ever you’d like. I have a 120gal with a 40breeder tank and that is the bare minimum. When I unplug the return pump it fills the sump up and only leaves about an inch from the top. Hope that helps.

crvz · 07-05-2007, 07:54 AM

Big enough to fit your equipment, thats about the only constraint. I built a 50 gallon sump, but I think it only holds about 22 gallons when running for my 150.

lance · 07-05-2007, 08:20 AM

so at least 40 gallons...
i have a 75 set up now and and a 60 tall and thought of using one of them as a sump
but i am looking for a 150 already set up and just needed to know if the one i buy has a big enough sump in it, or if i had to use my 75 or 60

i'm not sure about the refugium... i never had one before but reading some of the post on this site i am looking into it,seems like the best thing to do

thanks

crvz · 07-05-2007, 08:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lance

i'm not sure about the refugium... i never had one before but reading some of the post on this site i am looking into it,seems like the best thing to do

Eh, I built my sump with a refuge, but I don't use it. When I did run one, I couldnt get any macro algae to grow in the first place, so I just stopped running it. May be a good idea if you already have high levels of nitrate/phosphate in the tank, but I found it better just to eliminate the sources of those nutrients, thus making a refugium as filtration useless. I'll still throw unhealthy fish/shrimp in there to recover as necessary, so it's nice to have.