fishrule101

I just finished making my DIY sump. It's okay so far, but I think I just need to get more LR rubble and other things and it will be better. I seem to get tiny bubbles in my main tank from my return pump. Any ideas?

grump

Did you remuber too but a bubble trap in the sump this might be your truble or the return pump might be to large and the water is going back to the tank faster then it drains...just a couple of ideas...I don't have a sump but in the reserch stage of a salt water tank and sump...hope i helped with brain storming and good luck...

fishrule101

I think it's the return pump. It's about 1,200 GPH! That might be too much. I just wanted there to be more water movement. I thought the return pump had to be fast?

grump

Hi there if you want movment you can use well placed powerheads in the tank for that...The return pump should match the amount of water that your overflow will drain...Sorry I can't help with the math on that but I know someone will come by and be able too help..

au01st

How big is the tank? You only want the flow through the sump to be 3-5x the display volume as it allows more contact time with the skimmer. I'd put a gate valve or ball valve on the pump output.

fishrule101

I don't have an overflow. I syphon the water form the main tank to the sump. It's like when you do a water change.

fishrule101

It's a 28g tank. I don't have a skimmer. I don't use PVC. I used tubing. Should I get a weaker pump? My LFS haves one on sale for about $21. It only does about 160 GPH. I'm thinking thats too weak.

au01st

This scares me!!! What happens if the siphon breaks? The tank will overflow. What happens if the pump fails? The tank will drain. You should use an overflow box to prevent this from happening, and get this taken care of sooner rather than later.

It may say 160gph, but that's with a 0ft head. My pump is rated at 950gph in my 75 with a 0ft head, but it's about half that with the height, and it's still dialed back a bit with a gate valve. You want the flow in the tank to come from powerheads, not from the water return. I'd look for a pump in the 300-350gph range. PVC is not necessary, but how is the tubing held in the tank? The benefit of PVC is you can make rigid elbows and stuff and it can support itself.

cerianthus

Absollutely and totally agree! Get an overflow box.

fishrule101

The bubbles in the tank are all gone! I went to my local plumbing supply store and they got me everything I needed!! I now have a flow thing(forgot the name) This helps reduce the water flow. The tubing for the siphoning is held be an old filter. It can goes about half an inch into the tank. Incase the pump fails, the siphon will be cut off and the pump will go dry. The overflow box can wait. I just spent all of my money on the return pump and getting the bubbles to stop. I think I don't need one. The siphon is working very, very good. The tank is not filled all the way up. This leaves room for water form the tank incase the siphon were to cut off. I'll try to get a pic of the remake of my sump.

P.S. What should I put in the sump??
I have LR already. Would I be a good idea to try to cultivate some rock into LR??
The heater is also in there.

au01st

Overflow boxes can be bought used for as little as $20. IMO you are taking a huge risk with this setup, and your failsafe plan is for the pump to run dry? What happens if the power goes out? Your water drains to the bottom of the overflow tube possibly overflowing the sump, then the siphon breaks. Then the power turns back on and the pump sends water back to the display tank until that overflows, the sump empties, and your pump burns up from running dry. So to save $20, you're willing to spend $20 when the pump dies?

There are places where you can get away with cutting corners in SW, but this is not one of them, you are asking for trouble.

As for what to put in the sump, equipment, live rock, if you have a refugium then a deep sand bed and some macro algaes.

agsansoo

Get an overflow box. I've been using on for over two years. I primary reason for using an overflow, is surface skimming. The top 1" of surface water is were 90% of a tanks DOC's are concentrated in a saltwater tank. Siphoning water below this 1" area doesn't help the tank much.