sump set up

[budhorse775]

I am planning on setting up a Berlin style sump for my 55 gallon how big of a sump, overflow, and return should I use? I am thinking of using a 10 gal for the sump and diy a overflow box.

[TekCat]

I have 55Gal tank with 10G tank as a sump. It works quite nicely. If I had more space in my stand I'd go for bigger sump. So, get as big as possible sump (20-30G for example).
Anyway, since I have 10G sump, 600gph overflow box would work, like "Quiet Flow 600". But if you can drill your tank, then definatelly do it.

[budhorse775]

I dont have the courage to drill my tank and my stand has a support in the middle so I can only make it the size of half the tank. Is it better to just buy an overflow than to diy one?

[TekCat]

stand with support in the middle? heh, that is what I have. (darn walmart stand! :mad: )

If you can do DIY overflow, then surely do it. Just make sure that your overflow will be designed to use U-tube, otherwise you'll be constantly battleing air bubbles that will accumulate in your over the top area. The reason behind this: there is higher flow acheived when using U-type overflow, and air bubbles get swept away quickly; where the overflow like "CPR" type, water is slow moving, and air bubbles keep accumulating there. So, you'd need an extra pump to suck them out.

[budhorse775]

what size return pump are you using?

[TekCat]

I am using Dolphin DP-560 pump. This is a bit overkill for me, because it empties 10G sump very quickly, so I had to throttle output with tee-off and a ball valve.

[budhorse775]

Is it possible to add any chaeto to a sump I will not have a skimmer or anything just a filter sock and return pump

[TekCat]

sure, but you still need some sort of baffles to fight microbubbles.

[budhorse775]

Do you have any pics of your sump?

[TekCat]

Here is a link to my original tank's thread (http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=6814398#post6814398) with some pix of my sump.