New Sump Design Ideas

I am using a 40 gallon long aquarium for a sump for a 135 gallon tank. The dimensions of the sump will be 48" long by 12.5" wide, by 16" tall.

I was planning to have an initial section with two sock overflows, then a baffle with additional mechanical filter media, then a big long section for biological media including an 8" Marine Pure block and lots of Biohome Ultimate, then maybe a baffle for polishing pads before the return chamber with the pump.

I have read about the sock filters being a pain, but I don't know if I want to get into one of those filter roller pads. Maybe I could have the initial chamber be for Poret foam before the socks?

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

If you use Poret foam you won’t need the baffles,as the foam will stay in place on its own. If you do start out with socks you can always switch to a roller later. The 4” ones are cheaper than the 7”. I think you will find that the foam will clog up on you, especially if you are heavily feeding young ones. The Poret foam can handle both bio and mechanical duties. You may also consider a small Puritan reactor in your setup.

My sump consists of filter sock (now Klir DI 7) three 4” Poret foam sheets, Purigen reactor with Ehiem pump, another 4” of Poret foam and a weir to provide an area for heaters that remains full to keep my heaters submerged during water changes. My sump is acrylic and I have 3 baffles that are for structure more than water control which are perforated to allow water to move through easily. If you want to see pics go to My tank Journals and look for Sweetwater Reef.

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Originally Posted by Cove Beach

My sump consists of filter sock (now Klir DI 7) three 4” Poret foam sheets, Purigen reactor with Ehiem pump, another 4” of Poret foam and a weir to provide an area for heaters that remains full to keep my heaters submerged during water changes. My sump is acrylic and I have 3 baffles that are for structure more than water control which are perforated to allow water to move through easily. If you want to see pics go to My tank Journals and look for Sweetwater Reef.

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Thanks for the feedback. I'm not sure how I get to your Tank Journals? In terms of order, do you think it would be better to put the Poret foam sheets before the filter socks?

Socks first to keep the uneaten food and waste out of the foam. Let the Poret do your biological and the socks the mechanical.

Here is a link http://forum.simplydiscus.com/showth...eet-Water-Reef

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Originally Posted by Cove Beach

Here is a link http://forum.simplydiscus.com/showth...eet-Water-Reef

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Wow! That was really helpful. I wish I had your technical ability. I am just now setting up my tank and just yesterday I drilled through the floor to run plumbing for an aging tank in the garage below. My sump however will be in the stand under the tank.

I am going to play with a sump design and if you don't mind, may I PM you a few questions? I am still thinking of having the first couple of sections be porat foam that can be easily removed and rinsed and then have the socks after that so that most of the big stuff gets caught before the socks. However it seems everybody does the socks first.

Your setup and tank look great!

My K.I.S.S. Sump (Kept it simple), 20G long tank. Made an prefilter box out of an plastic food container from the Dollar Store, placed an 10ppi poret foam sheet and Pinky filter pad for the mechanical filtration. Next used three Poret foam sheets, 10, 20, 30PPI three inch sheets spaced approx. 2" apart. Remaining room in the sump houses two 300W heaters and the return pump. Also an bag of purigen. Just for extra bio filtration used my MR-1 reactor had laying around filled with Seachem matrix bio media. This has been running my 125G discus tank without any problems and have the best looking water clarity I've ever seen in the 50 yrs of fish keeping!

Feel free to pm with questions,always willing to help out.

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Originally Posted by farebox

My K.I.S.S. Sump (Kept it simple), 20G long tank. Made an prefilter box out of an plastic food container from the Dollar Store, placed an 10ppi poret foam sheet and Pinky filter pad for the mechanical filtration. Next used three Poret foam sheets, 10, 20, 30PPI three inch sheets spaced approx. 2" apart. Remaining room in the sump houses two 300W heaters and the return pump. Also an bag of purigen. Just for extra bio filtration used my MR-1 reactor had laying around filled with Seachem matrix bio media. This has been running my 125G discus tank without any problems and have the best looking water clarity I've ever seen in the 50 yrs of fish keeping!

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Don’t you mind to share photo of your sump?

Following KISS strategy I found this design:

Attachment 128794
See http://advancedaquariumconcepts.com/...m-filter-sump/

What you think about up? Majority would be K2 media followed by some 30ppi/20/10 foam

With a stump under the stand... is it within it? A cabinet? If so, any worries on moisture affecting wood over time?

Only asking because that's something I am planning and was worried if over time moisture from open sump would rot wood. I plan to have back wall of cabinet open but wondering if I'd need a little fan blowing out moisture from underneath

I was doing some reading and found a better design.
Attachment 128804
Three socks as pre filter, followed by K2 media than a foam and finally a section with a return pump.

Sump would by in the stand under the main tank. You have a good point about evaporation. Don’t you think a simple lid would be sufficient to avoid moisture? Would I still need some ventilation?