All About Sump Filters

[MickS77]

Do you have a sump? Considering getting one? DIY or manufactured? Questions about how they work? Looking for inspiration?

I wanted to create this thread for people to share and learn about sump filtration. Ask questions, comments, concerns. If you have one, post some photos and what equipment you're running. If you've made your own sumps, share what worked and what didn't. 

Sumps are infinitely customizable for the ultimate hot rodded filter. You might never go back to canister filters after you have one. 

[MickS77]

I've been running this Custom Aquariums Seamless Sump for about 2 years on my 110 gallon tank and I love it. I also use their Stealthbox Overflow and Siphon Stopper Emitters. It was my first sump and there is definitely a learning curve. Including drilling the tank for bulkheads. Figuring out how to tune the main valve and getting it to run silent took a little time. 

Equipment wise, it starts with a large 4in. 200 micron filter sock. Water then flows next over a stack of 5 trays. The first tray has a few layers of Aquarium Co-op fine filter pad. The rest of the trays underneath have ceramic bio balls. Throughout the sump I have many slabs of Marinepure Bio block, wrapped in pantyhose because it gets really crumbly after a while. 

I use two Ecotech Vectra S1 pumps to return the water, one for each emitter. They are DC pumps so they are silent and controllable. I like running two pumps for redundancy, if one goes down I know the other is powerful enough to run the tank. I use two 300w titanium heaters controlled by a Reefkeeper Lite system. 

The third chamber is connected with 3/4 bulkhead, I wish I would have used a bigger one in hindsight. It's primarily used to hold more water to combat evaporation. I wanted to use the space so I made a box out of eggcrate. I lined it with 1/8in. clear plastic mesh and zip-tied it all together. Its filled with a few liters of Seachem Matrix bio-media. Because of the small 3/4 bulkhead I use two Mightyjet DC pumps to move water between it and the return chamber. 

I made a manifold out of schedule 80 pvc fittings and 1/2in. murlok connections. The manifold is driven by another Mightyjet DC pump and feeds three reactors mounted on the outside of the stand. Always running off the manifold is an Aquamedic 1000 CO2 reactor and carbon. I run carbon for water clarity and better light penetration because it is a 30in. deep tank. I experimented with running purigen in a reactor but it wasn't worth the hassle of recharging and maintaining. All the reactors feed back into the sump return chamber.

I don't believe I get a LOT of CO2 off gassing. I think making the system run silently leads to less water splashing/turbulence keeping more CO2 in the water. I use a ph monitor to control the GLA regulator so I'm sure that helps conserve CO2, also a 20lb tank lasts a long time. 

I don't plan on ever deep cleaning the sump. I siphon out some detritus maybe twice a year. I change the sock and filter pads weekly. I'm pro-mulm I think makes for a healthier system long term.

That's about everything, looking forward to seeing what setups other people have.

[Andy's Fish Den]

I have a 93 gallon Marineland cube 30x30x24" tall. It came drilled with an overflow and I originally intended to set it up as a saltwater reef tank, but decided against that and to do a freshwater planted. The size of the tank and the space in the stand made it difficult for a sump, had a quote for a custom one that was almost $800. I ended up finding one that was meant for a saltwater tank but fit perfect in the stand. It has 2x 4" filter socks, and then the water goes into a center chamber which is filled with a bunch of bio-balls which I have a piece of egg crate on to keep them in the water. Then it goes through some foam blocks before hitting the return chamber where I have a Hygger DC controllable pump in. I have it at about 60% power flowing around 850 gph back into the tank. Its not a pretty sump, I don't deep clean it or anything, any mulm that makes it down there stays in there.

[Brandy]

My largely useless comment is that I wish I had the space. Admittedly I am small potatoes and don't have a need. As if we "need" any of this I guess.

I know there would be a huge concern with cross contamination, but would one large sump ever be used to run multiple tanks? Say in a hypothetical situation where you were not introducing anything new from outside, like a breeding and grow out situation?

How would that work in a power outage? I think (aside from space) my primary concern has always been flooding. 

[MickS77]

38 minutes ago, Brandy said:

I know there would be a huge concern with cross contamination, but would one large sump ever be used to run multiple tanks? Say in a hypothetical situation where you were not introducing anything new from outside, like a breeding and grow out situation?

How would that work in a power outage? I think (aside from space) my primary concern has always been flooding. 

I think most racks in fish stores run on a central sump system. To prevent back siphoning in a power outage you use a check valve to stop the tank from draining. I like the custom aquariums siphon stopper because they work by allowing air into the return line breaking the siphon. It doesn't rely on a mechanical device to stop the water. 

[Brandy]

so if you ran a sump on a rack system, couldn't you do an overflow type water change thru the sump? without drilling a bunch of tanks...

[Kathy]

Hi,

I very new to sumps. I recently purchased a new tank that came with one so I threw myself into the deep end with that.  I have only ever had HOBs so find the sump a bit scary.

Can I do a water change and just change the water in the sump and not the tank if I don't want to gravel vac? 

I also packed my sump full of sponges there are no bits empty - is that overkill. I have a little bit of bio media in there in between some layers but not much. I would appreciate any advise on how best to use this sump.

[MickS77]

That's a nice looking glass sump. It looks really well built. Your filter sock is doing most of the particulate filtering so I'd probably lose some of sponge in the second chamber and add more bio media. You could do a water change out of the sump if you only want to do a small water change. 

[Kathy]

Thanks Mick. Ill do that. Much appreciated. 👍

[Dave23]

So here is my first ever attempt at a DIY sump. Its a 55 gallon tank with 6 baffles installed. 6 inch 3 inch 3 inch spacing on each end. i have pond filter mats filling the 3-4X 3 inch openings topped with 20 micron sponge the center of the sump has a under gravel filter with 2X-400 GPH power heads and a bubble tube. For the gravel I have Top fin clay balls and florite black. The six inch openings will house 2X heaters, a green killing machine, CO2 reactor. currently i'm using a FX4 as the pump to seed the sump. will be using a 940 GPH pump in the future.

I am thinking ill add filter socks to the intake. and have added some filter floss to one of the 3 inch openings.

I am doing this protect mostly for the added water volume, and to use the space under my tank stand. My hopes are to use the middle part of the tank to house excess plants and maybe as a fry grow out. 90% of the stuff needed for this i had on hand so why not.

Note. if needed ill will buy some bio media to replace some sponge..

[Dave23]

Almost forgot. this is the tank it runs.

[MickS77]

5 minutes ago, Dave23 said:

the center of the sump has a under gravel filter

That is a great idea, I've never seen that done before. 

6 minutes ago, Dave23 said:

I am thinking ill add filter socks to the intake.

Depending on the size of your first chamber, a rectangular filter sock might fit perfectly. 

[Dave23]

The under gravel filter idea i got from Cory. I think his 800 gallon sump he did it on. Saw it one of this videos anyways.

 

[Steph’s Fish and Plants]

On 7/28/2020 at 11:20 AM, Brandy said:

My largely useless comment is that I wish I had the space. Admittedly I am small potatoes and don't have a need. As if we "need" any of this I guess.

I know there would be a huge concern with cross contamination, but would one large sump ever be used to run multiple tanks? Say in a hypothetical situation where you were not introducing anything new from outside, like a breeding and grow out situation?

How would that work in a power outage? I think (aside from space) my primary concern has always been flooding. 

This is actually done fairly commonly in saltwater, they’ll have multiple tanks Plumbed together to create larger overall systems. Cross contamination would be a consideration, so having a separate system from the main one for quarantine and putting fish through QT first before adding to the main system would be key with that. It’s an interesting concept and I would definitely do more research on it

[Ariel S]

Hi,

im planning to drill my freshwater 40 breeder and plumb in a 20 high sump. I’ve only ever used HOB filters so I’m a sump newbie and a plumbing newbie really. 

does anyone know of a good video, website, blog, diagram or something that would show me what exact Plumbing equipment I’ll need? There is so much online but mainly focuses on saltwater set ups with overflow boxes, not drilling the actual back pane of glass.

 

thank you in advance, 

[Andy's Fish Den]

5 hours ago, Ariel S said:

Hi,

im planning to drill my freshwater 40 breeder and plumb in a 20 high sump. I’ve only ever used HOB filters so I’m a sump newbie and a plumbing newbie really. 

does anyone know of a good video, website, blog, diagram or something that would show me what exact Plumbing equipment I’ll need? There is so much online but mainly focuses on saltwater set ups with overflow boxes, not drilling the actual back pane of glass.

 

thank you in advance, 

The only real difference between drilling the back pane of glass and having an overflow box is that you no longer need the hang on overflow box. although you need more than just an hole drilled in the glass, you'll need at minimum a bulkhead and some pvc pipe and elbow to set the water level in the tank and for the water to overflow into, like you can find in lots of videos and tutorials on installing an auto water change system. Best scenario is an overflow weir, there are several companies make ones that you can either silicone in or that are held in place by the bulkhead. The return from sump to tank is the same, a pump returning it to the tank, although you can also drill a hole in glass, use a bulkhead and either make or buy a spray bar to spread the flow out.

The drilling and overflow and even return is the same no matter if salt or freshwater, the only difference is in the design of the sump.

[tolstoy21]

Here's my DIY sump.

I'll also TLDR this -- yes, love sumps! Especially for a larger display tank that's in the main living area of the house. Glad I installed one. 

I've shared this before under a thread about automated water changes, but I'll share again in the context of the sump discussion.

It's basically a simple three-chambered DIY setup based on a 29G dollar-a-gallon tank. (Sorry, had to split the sump photo up into two shots because the sump is behind part of the stand support). This sump itself could probably be made for under $50 (it's just tank + glass + caulk).

This first chamber has floss and course sponge filter. I propped this up on some plastic egg create to get better flow underneath the sponge into the second chamber (hard to see in the pic, but that stack of course sponge is about 2" off the bottom of the tank).

This is all plumbed 'animal bean' style from a slim-profile overflow on the back of the tank.

The animal bean style allows two overflows for water and one for emergency, in case one of the first two is clogged, or the flow-rate is restricted in one of the drains for some reason.  The emergency can be seen positioned over chamber #2.

This keeps the slim overflow from spilling.  The first drain pipe uses a gate valve to fine tune the flow adjustment and reduce the noise and tweak the sump levels. All in all, it the effect is like listening to a gentle, shallow creek bubble over rocks.

Part of me thinks maybe I over engineered this, but it's also in the living area of my house so I wanted this to be quiet and SAFE so I didn't ruin my flooring and have to hire a divorce lawyer because my sump/tank overflowed.

I also drip water into that first chamber as the main WC mechanism (hence, the 1/4" blue RO tube line).

The second chamber has heaters, crushed coral (in a media bag) and a stack of bio media. 

Slim overflow box seen below. This pic also shows the two tank returns from the back with check valves.

  

The returns are connected to Y-shaped LocLine (on either side of tank) which allows me to fine tune my flow patterns to aid in getting junk into the sump.

\

 

Above is the return pump side of the sump. You can also see the second half of the second chamber with a stack of bio media.

The 1 1/2" horizontal pipe with the large ball valve is for water changes. As I do drip changes (or perform a larger, triggered water change from a reservoir in the basement), excess water goes out that drain and into a slop sink in the basement.

Shot of the whole tank below. This is in my WFH office. Admittedly there are few fish in here right now (family complains about that all the time -- Get more fish already, they say!). It's just a few zebra danios, a bunch of corys and ottos and some assorted stragglers, like a single CPD. I'm in the process of getting ready to breed a bunch of Odessa's from Select Aquatic, so at some point in 2021, I hope this tank to be full of those.

Anyway, posing this all again as I find sumps allow much flexibility in terms of engineering WC systems into a tank, adding water volume, keeping the display free of equipment for aesthetic reasons, and long terms ease of maintenance (I drain and clean this 2x a year; regularly replacing dirty floss is a simple as it is with a hang-on-the-back).

Sure it's more work and planning up front than installing a canister filer, but I'd do this again in a heartbeat. 

Hopefully this inspires some others who are wondering 'why a sump'?

Edited December 28, 2020 by tolstoy21

[Epona01]

I just got a 125 gallon, my son wants to put a sump on it. 1st issue is not a lot of space in cabinet its basically 20 inch square on each side. I dont know if a plastic tub might fit the best. 

 2nd is I've been researching return pumps and am not sure what to get. 

 I'm sure there will be other issues as we get going.

[tolstoy21]

@Epona01

So the cabinet only has 20" square storage spaces on either side?  It's not just a complete open space underneath the tank? Hmmm . . . .  sounds like a challenge.

A tub could work, but I have no personal experience setting one up as a sump (but I've seen a lot of examples online).  Minimally you could just have a tub of water and have the water coming into it go into a basket full of media or sponge or  floss, or through a filter sock. Then just have your sump sitting in the tub.

The key is to have enough water volume in the sump to submerge the media and any equipment, and not have the return pump sitting in too shallow of water that it risks sucking air or running dry. Also, the sump will need enough extra capacity to not over flow when you power down the pump and the tank empties a bit into the sump. 

As for return pumps, there are so many options and companies it's hard to suggest any specific one. But a good place to start is to decide if you want the return pump to sit inside the sump or be external it it (inside is easier in my book). Second is to determine what you want the turnover rate of the total tank volume to be, meaning how many gallons you'll want the sump to process an hour, and then look at the options available from there. 

 

[Epona01]

I wasn't intending on a sump when I got the tank. But my son and I are in this together and its something he was interested in so we can try. I ordered a pump that can be used either way. So we can experiment.

 Tank has shelf in middle and two cabinets on either side, so we will get something that just fits with a little room on top to work with. (My husband suggested drilling hole in wall and putting sump in garage)

[tolstoy21]

11 minutes ago, Epona01 said:

(My husband suggested drilling hole in wall and putting sump in garage)

That could definitely work, if the garage is on the other side of the wall behind the tank. But you'd have to make sure there isn't too much heat loss via the sump if the garage is unheated, or significantly cooler than the room the 125 is sitting in.

Honestly, the above is just my guess, but if this were my project I'd worry about heat loss, but I'd also be excited by the possibilities that the sump tank is in another room and more easily accessible from above, and what kind of plants or critters one could experiment with having in there.

On the other hand, that cabinet space seems to be crying out for a canister filter. That's the easiest solution given the space under the cabinet you have to work with.  My imagination says 'SUMP!', my gut says 'shut up imagination, you're making too much work for yourself again with no guarantee of success -- canister filter'.

 

[Colu]

Great looking tank