That is what I started with too. After a while I got tired of it and drilled my tanks. One step at a time though.
So with your guys help I finally have the sump up and working. However now I’m not sure the best way to add the filter media. I have attached a photo below. My plan was to have mechanical filtration via foam in the first bay where the water is entering. Second bay being biological filtration via bio balls. Last bay housing heater and the return pump.
Looking at my sump though I’m not sure if I have it the right way round.
If the foam is in the first bay the water will just flow over the top due to no gap in the bottom?
If I turn it around so this is the return bay the water will be higher than all the other baffles and they will overflow before it gets into the return bay?
Sorry if I’m being dumb but sat here looking at it I can’t figure it out.
Thanks for your help
I have done overhead sump/refugiums, but because I don't like my pumps in the display tank, I usually run a sump below the tank as a first stage, pumping a line up to the overhead sump which feeds into the display tank.
The window tank below, is working in that principal.
The display tank overflow to equipment/biomedia sump, is pumped up, split between the tank and refugium, which is heavily planted, also containing lots of algae to reduce nitrate, and small animals like shrimp help to use and breakdown other metabolism by-products even further.
The shrimp occasionally overflow and get eaten.
The window tank below, is working in that principal.
The display tank overflow to equipment/biomedia sump, is pumped up, split between the tank and refugium, which is heavily planted, also containing lots of algae to reduce nitrate, and small animals like shrimp help to use and breakdown other metabolism by-products even further.
The shrimp occasionally overflow and get eaten.
Thanks for your reply. Sadly an overhead sump just isn’t an option for me. My tank is high and my ceilings low so just wouldn’t be room.
That’s a awesome looking set up. I was thinking of adding shrimp to mine as well. Would these be in the same compartment as the pump?I have done overhead sump/refugiums, but because I don't like my pumps in the display tank, I usually run a sump below the tank as a first stage, pumping a line up to the overhead sump which feeds into the display tank.
The window tank below, is working in that principal.
The display tank overflow to equipment/biomedia sump, is pumped up, split between the tank and refugium, which is heavily planted, also containing lots of algae to reduce nitrate, and small animals like shrimp help to use and breakdown other metabolism by-products even further.
The shrimp occasionally overflow and get eaten.
I think I have mine set up good enough to work but just not sure the best way to have the water flowing through the sump but will try having the water enter the bottom if the first compartment work it’s way up through the media then over into the second compartment. Will see how it goes anyway.
Ok, I’m a little late to this discussion, but I’m going to give my input here. Had I got here early enough, given your particular situation, I would have recommended you skip the sump. Reasons being, your tank is not drilled, your tank is in the dining room where it needs to be quiet, and you’re already in hot water with your wife over it.
Your tank is not drilled. I can tell you from experience that the diy pvc overflow you’re talking about is not reliable. I used one in my first setup with a 29 gal tank that I had a ten gallon sump underneath. It worked for a few weeks and then lost siphon randomly and overflowed the tank. Since you’re in a bit of hot water with your wife already, I’d recommend not using the sump unless you’re going to go ahead and drill the tank.
Next, the noise level of sumps is usually a lot higher, unless you take the time to set it up as a submerged full siphon setup. This noise is probably not going to go over well with your wife.
Personally, if I were in your situation, I would just add a second FX5/FX6 and keep up with the maintenance on it. It will be quiet, reliable, and will provide a large amount of filter capacity.
Your tank is not drilled. I can tell you from experience that the diy pvc overflow you’re talking about is not reliable. I used one in my first setup with a 29 gal tank that I had a ten gallon sump underneath. It worked for a few weeks and then lost siphon randomly and overflowed the tank. Since you’re in a bit of hot water with your wife already, I’d recommend not using the sump unless you’re going to go ahead and drill the tank.
Next, the noise level of sumps is usually a lot higher, unless you take the time to set it up as a submerged full siphon setup. This noise is probably not going to go over well with your wife.
Personally, if I were in your situation, I would just add a second FX5/FX6 and keep up with the maintenance on it. It will be quiet, reliable, and will provide a large amount of filter capacity.
X2 on everything Travis said. You will be in more trouble then you all ready are when the sump overflows. I’ll play devils advocate and say, I’ve been using the diy overflow for over a year now on my drip System and I attribute my success to the low flow I’m running through it.
Cheers for the replies guys. I’ve spent so long getting it set up I’m going to have least try it for a bit. I do appreciate the input though. I do have it set up so if the overflow fails it won’t overfill the tank. Worse that will happen is the pump will burn out. It’s meant to auto shut off if there isn’t enough water but who knows. Either way it wouldn’t be the end of the world. The overflow is noisy but the pump has adjustable flow so I can turn it down when we are eating in there or overnight. On low the noise is fine and there’s still enough to maintain the vacuum.
Appreciate what you guys are saying though will probably end up with another fx5/6 eventually.
I mostly put shrimp in the overhead boxes, so there's no pump in them to suck the shrimp around.
I also usually don't compartmentalize my sumps.
Water runs into filter socks for mechanical filtration, and ease of cleaning.
and I put bio-media in mesh bags for easy lift out and rinsing.
Compartments always produced a plenum effect where the walls, met the floor, and formed dead spots for me where debris would build up, and because most sumps are on floor level, not always easy to siphon that debris out.
