Not Enough Room in Sump

[Bryce H.]

I have a 75g display and a 29g Sump. In my sump I have a protein skimmer, refugium, bubble trap, and return pump. For intake I have two 1-1/2” PVC into protein skimmer section going through filter socks. One is full siphon and one is half siphon (bean animal setup). There is definitely no way to add another chamber or anything so I’m looking for suggestions on how I can add a few things... I’m assuming somewhere in the plumbing I’ll have to tee off but I want to see if anyone has any other suggestions or can suggest where to tee off.. Basically I’m looking to add a Carbon Reactor, GFO Reactor and UV sterilizer.

[Bryce H.]

Forgot to include that I have a 1321GPH pump rates for up to 12.6’ of head pressure.

[mal7887]

You can easily tee off of your return line and provide flow to various reactors outside of the sump. You might also look at adding a small pump like a Maxijet to your sump that pumps water out to those various reactors.

There are plenty of small footprint reactors that will do just fine running outside your sump. I personally use two small two little fishes reactors one for Carbon and one for GFO.

Edit: After rereading your post I'm not clear... Are you looking to tie in off of your drain line? If so, restricting your drain flow in anyway is NEVER a good idea and is asking for problems... potentially very wet ones.

[Bryce H.]

Originally Posted by mal7887

You can easily tee off of your return line and provide flow to various reactors outside of the sump. You might also look at adding a small pump like a Maxijet to your sump that pumps water out to those various reactors.

There are plenty of small footprint reactors that will do just fine running outside your sump. I personally use two small two little fishes reactors one for Carbon and one for GFO.

Edit: After rereading your post I'm not clear... Are you looking to tie in off of your drain line? If so, restricting your drain flow in anyway is NEVER a good idea and is asking for problems... potentially very wet ones.

No, I mainly posted the sizing of my intake to show that I have the potential for a decent amount of flow ( not restricted by diameter of pipe) right now it is adjusted using a gate valve but can open it more to provide enough flow to ensure all pumps have sufficient water.

[Sisterlimonpot]

1.5" drain lines are a bit much for a 75g. Not sure if making them smaller will give you any room though.

I agree with Matt that you don't have to have the carbon reactor, GFO reactor and UV sterilizer inside the sump. Do you have room outside the sump that you can place those units in proximity to the sump? then all you will have to do is plumb a big enough pump outside your sump and use a manifold to split off to all 3 units. Put ball valves in between all of the units so that you can fine tune the flow through each one.

[Bryce H.]

Originally Posted by Sisterlimonpot

1.5" drain lines are a bit much for a 75g. Not sure if making them smaller will give you any room though.

I agree with Matt that you don't have to have the carbon reactor, GFO reactor and UV sterilizer inside the sump. Do you have room outside the sump that you can place those units in proximity to the sump? then all you will have to do is plumb a big enough pump outside your sump and use a manifold to split off to all 3 units. Put ball valves in between all of the units so that you can fine tune the flow through each one.

Yeah I believe I have enough room in my stand for all 3. Can I manifold off of my return? Because I don’t know if I can put another pump in my sump... went a little large on my protein skimmer lol

[Sisterlimonpot]

Originally Posted by Bryce H.

Yeah I believe I have enough room in my stand for all 3. Can I manifold off of my return? Because I don’t know if I can put another pump in my sump... went a little large on my protein skimmer lol

You most definitely can, you'll just have to make sure that the pump is strong enough to handle all of the load.