jri4

Is a 5.5 gallon tank too small to be a sump in a 75 gallon aquarium? What exactly is everything I need to create a sump. i am not sure where to begin. thanks!

Trpimp147

i think that side of tank would just hold the sump it self.

jri4

here is a pic of what I am trying to accomplish, if possible: the water would go from the left to the right, through an aquaclear 110, then a canister filter and then a UV Sterilizer. Is a 5.5. gallon okay to use as the sump? (I have no room for anything bigger)

thanks!

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GreenMan13

What do you want the sump to do? Sumps are for hiding equipment that would be in the main tank otherwise, increasing system water volume and/or having a refuge in. 5.5 gallons is not much more water for a 75gallon tank.

First off...I don't think the canister filter will work with that much head pressure. They are meant for zero head pressure.

Second...I don't think you need a UV filter, would advise against it.

Third...Are you going to have a skimmer at all? I think you need one of those unless you have a lot of experience with salt water. With that and live rock you will not need either of the other filters you have mentioned also.

timg

Hi. Just a few pointers that might help:
First, I would suspect that a sump of that size will not be able to handle the amount of water that settles during power outages. Experience has shown that the amount of water that settles when the pump stops is up to 5% of the total capacity, depending on the power of the flow. 5% of 75 gallons is around 3.5 gallons, over half the size of the sump! To avoid spillage, the sump would only be able to operate at about 1 third capacity.
Second, as greenman has said, the canister is not really suitable for the lift you are demanding.
Third, a UVC is a valuable tool which I use on all my systems, not only to control green water, but also to control disease, so I would recommend one if you can fit it into the system.

A suggestion would be to use a bigger sump with a submersible pump and have the filtering done by the sump rather than an external filter. If you use this method, the space taken by the canister will allow for a larger sump.
I use a 3' tank as a sump on the small system in our fish house, which is divided into 5 sections to hold all the media and the pump. This runs at 2/3 capacity for a system of 100 gallons.

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