How tall your sump?

[Hedonist]

I would like to get a general idea of how tall the sump size tends to be for larger aquarium....

[jjjimmy]

20"

[Hedonist]

Come on everybody, I would like to prove a point to somebody.. your input will help..

Thanks!

[Crusty Old Shellback]

About 18" for one and 20" for the other. I have 2 home made sumps for my 400G tank.

A lot of it will depend on how tall of a stand one has. For my second 400 G tank, the stand will be shorter so the sumps will not be as tall. I'm going to use a old 60 G tank as a sump for that one which is only about 15" tall.

[Hedonist]

Yeah, I know... I ordered and got a skimmer for a 180g that I said could only be so tall due the the cabinet, and mentioned to the mfg I did not want to drill the existing sump... I got the skimmer and the outflo of it is at 11.5", about 3" shorter thatn the sump ? They never mentioned the issue of the outflow being so low..:(

[nyvp]

my sump is actually a 240/g tank 8x2x2 I love the idea that if the power goes out my sump cant overflow

[Hedonist]

I think I have proven my point to the skimmer mfg....I believe they are now going to start making known the height of the outflow of the skimmer... at 11.5 ' it is very low compared to the ht of most sumps for tanks it is rated for.... an important factor for one designing a sytem or planning to install one

Now I just need to figure out how to make this particluar skimmer work for this application... it will not be 'plug n play' as I had hoped.. I will have to replace the existing sump or have it drilled (which I had not wanted to do) and plumbed directly

[DrBDC]

Many of the skimmers have to be set on a crate or some blocks to keep the water height at 8-12 inches such as the asm skimmers. I think the asm's are 9" if I remember correct.

[Hedonist]

Can't do that in this case as the cabinet only allows a 24" skimmer ht.... a fact I told the mfg of the skimmer in the first place...

[DrBDC]

That really stinks. Are they going to allow a return since you had spoken with them regarding clearance before the sale?

[Hedonist]

It did not sound like it.. they made the comment that they could not be responsible for aquarium design and installation issues...which may be true, but since this is as an important piece of information as is the ht of the overall skimmer...., it should have been made known from the beginning. Live and learn!

They did offer plmbg parts for the drilled application....over all I am happy with the products, I use one and still will ..

This is an RC180, I do wonder if any others had the same problem?

[Crusty Old Shellback]

I don't reall understand your problem. Are you trying to use the outflow of the skimmer to feed something else that's not in your sump?

Usually I just add a elbow and short section of pipe to get the outflow over the baffel that holds water in the area that my skimmer sits. All this requires is a shorter baffel, no drilling required.

Or maybe I'm just way off base here on what your designing. Got any pic's/drawings to help explain the problem

[Hedonist]

This skimmer is an external one, the outflo of the skimmer is about 2 inches lower thatn the sump. the outflo must remain at it's curent ht or it wall cause issues with the skimmer so I cannot plumb it up and over the sump wall.....HTH

I just found out the sump is acrylic so tho it will be a PITA and not expected, we can drill it and direct plumb it

[Crusty Old Shellback]

OK now I understand. Not too many people run a external skimmer. I didn't think about that one.