# KISS large sump filter design



## leonroy (28 Apr 2011)

Applying the KISS principles to sump design I've produced what I'm hoping is a simple, and effective sump design:






It's for a 220L freshwater tank which is currently in the planning stages. I intend to have the sump handle all filtration and retire the two canister filters I currently have running (Fluval FX5 and Eheim 2078).

Will the design provide greater filtration?

Any comments and criticism much appreciated.


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## sanj (28 Apr 2011)

My only issue with sumps is how ot make them quiet and minimise c02 escape. I know people like Tom do use them above a certain size, but what is the best design to fulfill those requirements I dont know.

It would be great to have a sticky on a great sumpe design for a planted tank injected with co2.


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## Garuf (28 Apr 2011)

It's as simple as taping the whole thing shut with duct tape and using, don't quote me, a durso over flow?


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## sanj (28 Apr 2011)

I had a durso on my reef tank, you have to tweak it to reach that sweet spot where it is much quieter, but I still find a lot louder than quality external filters. However someone did assure me that they can be made very quiet. I am not convinced yet though.


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## dw1305 (28 Apr 2011)

Hi all,
Yes, that is a good design, simpler the better. I'd probably dump the filter floss and have a coarse sponge in the first compartment (or just on the end of the inlet pipe) and ceramic rings or "alfagrog" in the all/the last 2. You might want to lower the maximum water level a little as well, by chopping down the baffles. Make sure you get a chunky pump for the return as well. I like the Eheim Universal range, if you look on a Marine Forum, there should be suggestions for the size of pump you'll need.

You really need the pump first (with the sump in position) to work out the water flow from the overflow, through the baffles and media and back into the tank via the return pump. If you make the box up and fix the baffles in place you may find you have problems with the water flowing into, or out of, the sump too quickly. You can muck about with reducing the flow, but if you can get it so that the water flow through the sump and back to the tank via the pump is about right without any constrictions etc it makes life easier. 

cheers Darrel


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## Garuf (28 Apr 2011)

http://www.masa.asn.au/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?t=168430
This is a link someone on ASW posted when explaining their sump set up.


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## Joecoral (28 Apr 2011)

Garuf said:
			
		

> It's as simple as taping the whole thing shut with duct tape and using, don't quote me, a durso over flow?



A twin standpipe is generally quieter than a durso


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## wearsbunnyslippers (28 Apr 2011)

instead of using glass for all the baffles, why not use the egg crate, this way the water flows through instead of over, this should reduce out gassing? and maybe help with the noise at the bottom a little... only use glass where you have to.

also if you move your reactor to the sump then it shouldnt really matter if you have a bit of off gassing as the co2 richest water will be pumped back to your tank constantly from the sump, you might end up using a little more co2, but it shouldnt negatively impact your plants..


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## Bobtastic (28 Apr 2011)

I don't know anything about sumps, but assuming that this design will increase your overall filtration will it actually lead to a reduction in over all flow? Or does the return pump equal x10 flow?


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## leonroy (29 Apr 2011)

Thanks for the tip on the durso Sanj, never heard of those before. Looks potentially quite useful.

dw1305 I've got a great pump already thankfully (in fact quite a few…  Picked them up over the years.




I'm putting the sump in my cellar and the aquarium's in the ground floor living room so the pump has to be pretty powerful to pump that much head. The one I'm using is this at the moment:




Handy link Garuf, it'll take me a while to get through that! I completely forgot to check the Aus forums, they're always useful (guess they have to improvise more Down Under because stuff made abroad is so expensive!)

Bobtastic I believe the flow gets distributed across the entire surface area of each compartment rather than through the narrow confines of a closed loop system.

Here's my final design. Implemented a few of your suggestions dw1305:




I've made the end section to the pump very large to accommodate heaters lying flat (eg. the Jager 200W heater is 18", the 300W is 20") as well as airstones, and any additional equipment which I might want to throw in there. Seems a huge waste of space though which I could use for media...although doing a quick calculation shows the first section will give me 29 litres of media volume and the remaining two 22 litres each.

To put it in perspective an Eheim 2080 has 13.5 litres of total media volume.

Think it's good enough to send off to get built. I only need to add two holes to the drawing which need to be drilled for the outlet to the external pump. Any recommendations for good aquarium/sump manufacturers?


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## Bobtastic (29 Apr 2011)

Sorry I meant flow within the tank itself. Filtration is one thing but flow and distribution of ferts and Co2 is important to, possibly more so. So I was wondering if he return pump would be able to give u enough flow to not require any additional powerheads?


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## leonroy (30 Apr 2011)

Good question. Two things I need to worry about:
1. The rate of flow from the aquarium into the sump
2. The rate of flow from the sump pump back up to the aquarium

The aquarium drains into the sump by gravity. So depending upon its height and most importantly the diameter of the pipe used I can control its flow. As you can imagine I can't alter its height  And I can only put so big a pipe through my floor and route it all the way to the cellar so I'm a bit restricted in this one. I can however add more drainage pipes to increase the rate of flow.

With the pipe back to the aquarium I can throw pump power at the problem. A more powerful pump will allow me to ensure I have sufficient flow. Currently through a lot of restrictive 16mm hosing I'm getting 665 lph. It's not great, really I should be at 10x the aquarium's volume (220l).

Lots to do and lots to work out!

I'm going to have to look at multiple large pipes from the tank and also reducing restriction on the pumps inlet/outlet to get my flow up to scratch.


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## Something Fishy (16 Jan 2018)

Hey Leonroy - how did this go please, and have you done any since?

I have been working on this and wonder what people think - it's not for huge tanks just yet but I want to increase water vol for smaller ones with this, and then use one like it on my 350l as well going forward.  Been reading about CO2 loss and lack of tiers etc for evaporation, so I have tried to cater in a min reactor and bio filter 2-in-1 kinda thing - is it really that bad the co2 loss do you think - compared to say the amount you lose from diffuser in the tank, etc?

Does this look feasible and like it would work? Diagram should explain all - cheers!


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## zozo (16 Jan 2018)

If it were my sump, i would go like this.. 

Blue Line is water level and indeed as Darrel says chop the baffles with the red X, to get the water level down. Than Toss the filter floss Green X and replace it with biomedia something like Alfa grog etc. Than you have 50% of the media in that compartment functioning as Wet/Dry Drip tower, significantly increasing your nitrification process.


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