Removing Sand from Sump - Best Practice

Bainreese · 09/26/2014, 09:09 PM

So, put some sand in my sump thinking I was going to make it into a nice fuge area and then I realized(should have thought of this before) that there just isn't enough space for my sump to absorb all the overflow water. So now I need to get that sand out of there.

Certainly I can cup the majority of it out. But I was wondering what the collective experience here might be in removing sand from a sump that is still connected to your main tank, i.e. not being decommissioned and disassembled.

Any neat tricks?

mpderksen · 09/26/2014, 09:31 PM

Shop vac?

kelrn98 · 09/26/2014, 10:59 PM

+1 shop vac

RocketEngineer · 09/27/2014, 05:39 AM

Um, the sump overflows when the return pump stops? Removing the sand won't do anything for that. The volume of free space determines how much can drain into the sump before it overflows and the sand isn't part of the free space.

I see one of two scenarios:
a) It sounds to me like the sump is too small or there is more draining out of the display than you want. My first suggestion is to move the returns so they are right at the water surface. Then I would recommend filling the sump to within 1" of the top before turning everything on.

OR

b)The other option is you didn't account for displacement when you added the sand. If you add sand/rock to a system but don't remove any water, all the water you've displaced has to go somewhere. I typically pulled a 5g bucket worth of water out of my system before I added sand/rock and then put back what I could.

Good luck,

09/26/2014, 09:09 PM	#1
Bainreese Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2011 Posts: 55	Removing Sand from Sump - Best Practice So, put some sand in my sump thinking I was going to make it into a nice fuge area and then I realized(should have thought of this before) that there just isn't enough space for my sump to absorb all the overflow water. So now I need to get that sand out of there. Certainly I can cup the majority of it out. But I was wondering what the collective experience here might be in removing sand from a sump that is still connected to your main tank, i.e. not being decommissioned and disassembled. Any neat tricks?

09/26/2014, 10:59 PM	#3
kelrn98 Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Biloxi, MS Posts: 856	+1 shop vac __________________ ~Kelly~ Current Tank Info: 96x24x30 -300g mixed reef: 75g sump, 35g fuge, 2x MP60, 4x Radion Pros, reef octopus X5000 skimmer, way too much LR and a few fish

09/27/2014, 05:39 AM	#4
RocketEngineer Space is big. Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Maryland Eastern Shore Posts: 3,226	Um, the sump overflows when the return pump stops? Removing the sand won't do anything for that. The volume of free space determines how much can drain into the sump before it overflows and the sand isn't part of the free space. I see one of two scenarios: a) It sounds to me like the sump is too small or there is more draining out of the display than you want. My first suggestion is to move the returns so they are right at the water surface. Then I would recommend filling the sump to within 1" of the top before turning everything on. OR b)The other option is you didn't account for displacement when you added the sand. If you add sand/rock to a system but don't remove any water, all the water you've displaced has to go somewhere. I typically pulled a 5g bucket worth of water out of my system before I added sand/rock and then put back what I could. Good luck, __________________ -RocketEngineer "Knowledge is what you get when you read the directions, experience is what you get when you don't." - Unknown Current Tank Info: None Currently

09/26/2014, 09:31 PM	#2
mpderksen Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2012 Location: Manteca, CA Posts: 1,853	Shop vac?