Sump ideas for new rack

[lloydashton]

Hi Guys,

I am setting up 2 new racks and would like to sump each rack, however i have never done a sump before and need some ideas/tips/advice.

Below is the rack



I only want to run one pump, to all 4 tanks, and all 4 tanks to go separately back into the sump.

The tanks are 4x2x18in (lxwxh) so i think thats about 330ltrs per tank.

Recommended sump size?
Recommendations on where to get sump made?
Size of pipe?

Any help would be greatly appreciated as i have only ever used canisters and now i have 18 tanks, the power bill is getting a bit larger if i run another 8 canisters.

[ex0h]

I run a gutter system... So the tanks all have their own bulk heads and drain into a 90mm stormwater pipe, that is angled to flow back to the sump, into a black bucket, with my media (coral rubble, noodles and pads etc). Just using 25ml hose off the back of each tank. I have some pics on the laptop, will upload one after.

[markfnq]

Hi Loyd,

I went with the 90mm stormwater myself . due to lack of space on the rack i put my plumbing behind

you seem to have plenty of room, i had to go up and over for my return back to tanks i used 40mm pressure pvc but i am using a very large pump

if you had enough room between the tanks for fittings you could drop it straight down the middle.

for your return you could move the rack out just enough to run your return line in a loop with taps.

about 12 months later ........Cheers Mark

[malawi sand diver]

Mark, your garage is looking awesome. What are you keeping in that big round aquaculture tub?

[lloydashton]

Thanks Guys. Mark, what is your water turn over with the pump you are using?

[markfnq]

PM sent Lloyd. hi sand diver the 2000 litre grow out tub has a colony of 12 mdoka and a heap of fry growing out .

but as mentioned in another thread its driving me nuts trying to observe and catch fish in there !!!!!!

pretty sure the mdoka have spawned and need to get the girls out . there is also half a dozen fry savers bobbing around just to make things interesting .

going to give my diy monster net a go tonight .

cheers mark

[ex0h]

I got my inspiration for the rack setup from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3uygtPGDR-o . He's got some other videos detailing the build of the sump system etc. Been running now for 2 months and no issues so far!

[CThompson]

330 x 4 = 1320 L

You want the tanks to turn over 4-6 times per hour, so that means you need a pump that can do 5280 - 7920 litres per hour.

Sump size will be determined by how much water will flow from tanks when the power is off. That is, it needs to be big enough to contain all the runoff + the water that is in the sump when the tanks are running through it.

4'x2'x18" tank (48x24x18 / 231 = 89.7 gallons) = in fact nearly 340 litres ( so pump should be 5440 - 8160 lph capacity). Tank run off can be calculated by the tank length x width x lowest outlet from the tank. For example, if the lowest inlet or outlet in the tank is say 10 cm (bottom of lowest bulkhead's ID), then for a tank that was say 1m x 1m (for an easy example), you would calculate the volume at 100 x 100 x 15 / 1000 = 150 litres per tank x by 4 tanks = 600 litre minimum run off. So, what ever sump size you have, where ever the running level happens to be, it must have enough space still unused in it to take an extra 600 litres should there be a black out. For the sake of a sump size, better to have larger than smaller, and I see you have the room, so to mention a size, go for a 5-6 foot tank, make sure it can fit under the bottom with enough room extra, say, a minimum of 150mm so you can access the sump with your hands. More space = easier access, but the lower the sump = less volume in sump. So the longer the length of the sump, the bigger the gap you can leave above it for your access.

Size of all plumbing, can be taken from the inlet and outlet size of the pump you decide to use. The pump you intend to use is actually one of the first decisions to make. They have been designed by engineers, who have used the optimum size plumbing IDs for their pump. So if the pump has a say 40mm ID inlet, KISS = all plumbing leading from the tanks TO the pump should have a 40mm ID. If the pump outlet = 45mm, then all tubing leading from the pump, KISS = 45mm ID, with inline taps to control how much goes to each tank.

Recommend plumbing the pump, which ever one you get, inline, and not submerged. I see you are in QLD, so even more relevant for you than southern states, but good advice for everyone. Pumps will produce heat when operating. If the pump is submerged in the sump ALL this heat will be absorbed by the water. In summer your tank's temperature will be getting critical with just the ambient room's temperature controlling the tank's temperature. Do you want to have the tank the same temp as the room (35 degrees for example in summer) and then have an extra10-20-30 extra degrees of heat added to this, with the pumps heat being born away by the water it is sitting in? On critical days, this can = a fish tank full of dead fish. If you wonder how much extra heat can be added to your tank by having the pump immersed, put your hand on the metal or plastic surrounds of the motor itself. Metal is a much better conductor so will be easily felt by hand and may even burn you. But a motor surrounded by plastic can be just as bad as the motor is what determines the heat produced, not what it is covered in.

The solution to this is simple, put your pump plumbed in line, and not immersed.

Would also recommend if you drill and bulkhead the tanks, to drill the hole in the tank the next size up required by the bulk head fitting, and plumb it down to = the plumbing ID size. That is, for example, if the pump's inlet size is 40mm as mentioned above, buy a bulkhead to plumb to this 40mm size, but drill the hole in the tank for this bulkhead the next drill size up. The 40mm bulkhead will still fit this, but if for example at a later date you decide to change pumps, and the inlet size is bigger, then you can simply change the bulkhead fitting/s and plumbing, but not need to get the tank redrilled to take a larger size bulkhead. You never know what may happen in five years....and even if you get another pump with the same capacity, a different manufacture may mean their pump's inlet/outlet size is bigger than your previous pump even though it is meant to move the same amount of water.

Would also recommend in the sump's design to have a section for the heaters that will not run dry should the sump be pumped out or otherwise empty. All this means is two barriers/walls where the heater/s can be stood upright (with their tops out of the water), say 80mm apart with the wall height enough to keep the heater's elements fully in water. This section of the sump will do no filtering, it is meant only for a place for the heaters to go that will not run lower with less water in the sump.

In regards to were you can get a sump. A sump is just a fish tank made for a different purpose, so anywhere that makes tanks can make a sump.

Hope that helps.

Craig

PS hope all the maths is correct (-;

[lloydashton]

Thanks for that Craig, that makes alot of sense and give me some great ideas. Im going to drill the tanks this week and arrange getting the sump aswell.

Thanks for the detailed advice.

[yellow]

First, Craig!

Second, build the sump yourself. I built a few back in the day with no previous experience. Youtube/fish forums will put you on the right track. Here's a few I built.

http://smg.photobucket.com/user/yellow123456789/library/fishroom%20pics?sort=3&page=1

If I had my time again, I would even consider building them out of ply (makes construction easier) and coating them in one of the pond coat products you can buy from Bunnings.

[Link2Hell]

You know Craig will add that to his signature

[yellow]

You know Craig will add that to his signature

That's okay Chris.

Besides, after last night, I also run the risk of Joel adding I can't quit you to his signature. It's the lesser of two evils.

[Hutto05]

Craig's advice is gold. The only thing I disagree with is the hole size for the bulk head.