500 gallon +

[telamont]

Hi I am setting up a system which is a 500 gallon main and want to set the sump up the floor. There is an internal overflow and return drilled into the glass tank already. How big a sump would you suggest for this tank? I will be turning it into a reef take with live rock / sand / fish / and coral. Can I just run a skimmer, refugium with macro algae, and a return section in the sump alone or would more sections for cryptic zones or deep sand beds or anything else like boils be recommended? I am a little intimidated about having to clean this tank as it is 7' long and 30" tall. Will sand become a problem or not as long as I select the appropriate type. Thanks again for the help!

Where can I find a special ordered sump? Can anyone recommend somewhere to shop around at online. Thanks!

[muttley000]

Sounds like the first thing you better do is a lot of reading! There is no right way and the way that works for you will depend on what you are going to keep. Lots of good info right here in the large tank forum!

[dave.m]

Get books. No info here is complete. Mr. Saltwater Tank books are the most up to date at this time.

Dave.M

[Trainwreck618]

Advanced Acrylics makes some top notch custom sumps. You could probably give them a call or shoot them an email with your display tanks demensions and they could guide you in the right direction. On another note, I recommend digging through the different forums and look at how others are building there systems.

[reefermike1]

A sump really only needs to be big enough to accommodate your skimmer, return pump and have enough volume to catch the water that your tank will drain when the return pump is turned off. A 500 gallon tank would drain a substantial amount of water... 50 gallons or so...so I'd say at least 150 gallon sump running around half full should get you there. A sump that size should also provide plenty of room for a refugium.

I agree with the posts above to research as much as possible. Find build threads on similar size aquariums and see what they are doing. This is a great place to be when starting a tank, there is infinite knowledge on this site.

Good luck.

[Vinny Kreyling]

Telamont, Usually the biggest that will fit is what we look for. Sumps only run about 1/2 full so there is enough room for the tank to drain in the event of a power failure. There should also be enough room for the skimmer & a section for a refugium if wanted. Return pumps for a tank that size would most likely be external so you need to plan for that. Sumps can be various configurations, mine is only 2 compartments, 3 is most common. Deep sand beds can be problematic so I would say no. I like sand but only enough to cover the bottom of the tank 1" deep. Read some more & take your time, you will do fine. If you can find a reef club near it might serve you well to join.

[telamont]

Thanks for all the help. I have been doing a lot of research and do have a couple books. I have found The Conscientious Marine Aquarist to be very helpful in organizing this project. If I need to pump the water back up to the tank through the floor Id say at least 10 feet, is there an internal pump that can do that or am I going to have to search external pumps? Also, what are peoples thoughts on using three or four large filter socks in the sump as well as a skimmer and If i have room an area for macro algae.

[Reef Dude]

Where are you setting up the sump? In the basement? If so, you might be hard pressed to find an internal pump that can pump that distance. You mention 10', but I wasn't sure if you are taking into account the height of the stand/tank above the floor and any elbows, backflow preventers, or other fittings that are going increase the head pressure. For a sump, you could consider looking into a rubbermaid stock container, such as those that can be found at Tractor Supply.

There are a million ways to do this, but let me tell you how I did it...

A year ago, I moved my sump into the basement. I had to ditch the mag drive 18 I was using when a smaller sump was in the stand, and if switched to a ReeFlo Hammerhead/Barricuda hybrid cover the distance from the basement floor to the tank on the first floor. The pump is dialed back a good bit, but it is pretty energy efficient considering its power. I'm sure that there are many other great pumps out there, but I do not have first hand experience with any.

The setup you're describing should work great, as it sounds similar to how my sump is set up. 100 gallon rubbermaid stock tank acts as the sump in my basement. Water drains from the tank on the first floor into the sump, through 2 filter socks (you'll find a wide range of opinions on using filter socks), the protein skimmer is in the sump, a refugium with algae is built into the sump, and approximately 75 pounds of live rock is in the sump. The rubbermaid tank is already drilled with a bulkhead when you buy them, so I plumbed the external pump into this existing bulkhead.

[telamont]

Ok thanks for the great reply. I think i will order a large glass tank that will be about 72x30x30 tall holding 280 gallons max. I will have to have the holes drilled for the external return pump. I just want there to be enough room in the sump to hold all the water from the main tank as if there were a power failure like someone mentioned above. I figure this is enough space to fit all equipment and make a macro algae section and possibly also pack live rock in there somewhere.

How do you run media like carbon and phosban on such a large system? I am used to smaller setups and like the reactors like the BRS dual one. Im wondering if Ill need something much bigger.

[Reef Dude]

I use the standard BRS dual reactor, which is more than enough for my tank (180 gallon display, approx 250 gallons of total water volume). You're obviously working with a much bigger water volume than me. BRS makes a jumbo reactor. Not sure how much more media this can hold, but it would be worth looking into. Either that or running multiple dual reactors, which would not be ideal from a maintenance standpoint. Build a manifold off the main return to run the reactors.

[muttley000]

I have found The Conscientious Marine Aquarist to be very helpful in organizing this project.

I really like this book along with Fenner's coauthored book with Calfo on Reef Invertebrates. I also use his web site daily. Contrary to what Dave said above, I have not found that the books out there cover large systems as well as the forums.

I would look at lanthium chloride dosing as an alternative to phosban in a system this size.

I agree with going as big as you can on the sump also, I ended up building a 270 that will handle several tanks which will hopefully be wet in another month.

What are you putting in this tank?