Help!!!

[whodeydan76]

I am fairly new to the hobby as I am just starting my first saltwater tank. I have had numerous freshwater tanks with great success. I have had water, live rocks and my substrate in my tank for 4 weeks today. My substrate is a layer of sand, a layer of crushed corral, sand, crushed corral, a layer of grunge (from garf.org)
I have been connected with numerous people within the time that I have started this tank and had lots of help with the things I need along the way. I was speaking with a gentlemen tonight about somethings he was selling and he told me he would be changing tanks soon and he would be selling a sump with pump for $100. I honestly have no idea what a sump even does? I know that may seem stupid but I really dont know.
I am looking to find a used protien skimmer to add to my tank, as I am currently using a fluval 404 canister filter and a generic powerhead to keep the water moving. I am also not sure what a protien skimmer does. I am really just looking for someone to hook me up with some knowledge without making fun of me for being stupid lol. Any help you can provide would be greatly appreciated.

Please let me know. Thanks in advance for your help

[whodeydan76]

My tank is a 75 gallon.

[gonebad395]

Look around here there is a lot of info if you take a min also all that info is here recently

[Maaka]

A sump is a great way to add extra water to your system increasing its total gallon size. The more water you have to more forgiving the tank is on your mistakes most the time. They are also a great place to hide all your equipment (heater, skimmer, pumps, etc) they also make it easier to add chemicals and top off water to the tank (so you don't have to disturb the livestock with it)

As for a protein skimmer I'm sure someone else while chim in hopefully( I don't have room for one

But I do know that they are used to pull waste out of the water.

Hope this helps a little and like gonebad395 said all the info is here it just has to be found.

[cdineen0823]

Usually people buy tanks that have built in overflows that plan on having a sump. However, you can drill tanks and put in overflow boxes to accomplish this. Only certain things can be drilled though. I believe you cannot drill tempered glass, BELIEVE...not 100% sure. Sumps are purposeful ie. refugiums, but mostly used to hide unpleasing equipment like maaka mentioned above (heaters, pumps, protein skimmers)

[birdsandsoap]

Like someone said above. A sump is a place to store all of your equipment, dose, and increase your water supply for a healthier tank. A sump is usually made up of three areas: a place for the skimmer, refugium (fuge), and return area to store your pump that takes water back up to your display tank. These three areas are separated by baffles which help regulate the flow of the area to ensure filtering.

The skimmer is supposed to simulate the natural cycle of oceanwater filtering. The water goes through the skimmer and is aerated usually by an impeller (usually a needlewheel), the bubbles rise to the top, and the dying detritus (waste) from your saltwater attaches to the oxygen molecules. In the ocean, the waves naturally aerate the water, this junk will rise to the top and attach to the foam that washes on shore where it is filtered out by sand. In your skimmer, it forms a slick which fills into your skimmer collection cup. It's nasty and you will see posters here refer to it as "nog."

After the water goes through the skimmer, it moves on to the fuge, most people add a few pieces of live rock, sand, and grow chaeto algae down there to help clean your water. You can also store snails, shrimp, or whatever down there. The next section is the return area where a pump takes the water back to the display tank.

The rule for sumps is: the bigger, the better. I'm still in the planning stages for my tank and that is some info I've found along the way. I also had someone post this on one of my threads:


"As for sump size there is really no ratio of sump to display tank size. The bigger the better is correct though and that's true for a few reasons.
1. If your power ever goes out and your return pump shuts off, your sump is going to fill up because the water level in the tank is still above the drain pipe. If your sump can't handle this extra water then you will have a flood
2. It increases total water volume in your tank. The more water volume you have the better and easier it is to keep your tank healthy.
3. Larger sump usually means more room which means more options. You're able to purchase a larger protein skimmer, have larger filter socks etc.

I would go as large as you can for the sump while still giving yourself some room under the stand for a top off reservoir, a place to store your test kits, meters, food, frag discs and all the other fun stuff you obtain with this hobby. "

I purchased a small sump (and I mean tiny) for my 72 gallon tank and will be adding another section to make up for the size. You can attach two tanks together using bulkheads and PVC pipe and I've even seen some ingenius ones made out of rubbermaid totes. Personally, I would not want to have a saltwater tank without a sump. Because of the extra water to keep my display tank healthy, and also because with the amount of work required to maintain a saltwater tank, I actually want to enjoy it. I don't want a bunch of powerheads, heaters, and filters ruining the view of my reef. It can be messy underneath because it's behind a cabinet door.

Anybody, feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.

[birdsandsoap]

And you definitely cannot drill tempered glass because it will shatter so if you plan on a built in overflow, you will need to verify that from your tank manufacturer. There are several overflow designs and after reading, I am deciding to go with BeanAnimal's silent and failsafe overflow. If your return pump fails, or a circuit trips, then you will have a flood. This design has an overflow pipe and an emergency drain that is supposed to make sure that doesn't happen. Here is a link to his design: http://www.beananimal.com/projects/s...ow-system.aspx The other method is the Herbie design, which only uses 2 standpipes, both of these systems also have a return line. For the BeanAnimal system, we will be drilling 4 holes in our tank.

For an overflow design, we will be using a Coast to Coast overflow. This is a weir (dam) that spans the length of the rear of the tank. It is only a couple of inches deep (enough to fit the plumbing) the idea is that the wider the overflow, the more surface area of the tank will be skimmed. All of the junk in the tank floats on top and makes a shiny slick. A nice wide overflow intake will get a lot of that versus corner overflows with a much smaller surface area. I think BeanAnimal's site explains it too with pics. This gross surface water goes in the overflow box and straight down the plumbing into the skimmer to draw out that nastiness.

[whodeydan76]

wow, thanks for the info everyone. This really helps. My tank does not have a built in overflow and I think it is tempered glass, so I am not sure if I can make a sump work.

[Maaka]

They do make hang on the back overflow returns for sumps but they are less reliable than a built in or drilled tank.

[daplatapus]

And if I'm not mistaken, usually (from my limited knowledge and experience), if there is tempered glass on you tank it will only be the bottom.

[whodeydan76]

Ok if that is the case would I have to drill a hole close to the bottom of the tank or by the top... not sure that I want to drain the whole thing lol. How much does a sump help? Is it worth messing up my whole tank and having to buy new and start over again or will a protein skimmer be sufficient?

[Waddleboy]

Originally Posted by whodeydan76

Ok if that is the case would I have to drill a hole close to the bottom of the tank or by the top... not sure that I want to drain the whole thing lol. How much does a sump help? Is it worth messing up my whole tank and having to buy new and start over again or will a protein skimmer be sufficient?

The hole needs to be drilled at the top. If you drill it on the bottom you are going to drain your whole tank and that would be bad. A sump is not needed. Its not a true requirement but it is definitely helpful. it add volume to keep your tank more stable, hides equipment, and allows places for dosing as said. I think they are helpful but it does require some planning. If you do not want to drill your tank they have hang on the back (HOB) ones that siphon water out and then go down to the bottom of the stand.
As for as messing it up i guess do you mean if you break the glass or something? Also a protein skimmer is recommended however it does more than pull detritus out. It works based on charge to pull inorganic and organic particles out of solution. So it is helpful, but they also sell HOB ones of these to handle this if you do not want a pump.
As far as drilling goes, you cannot drill tempered glass but most tanks are only tempered on the bottom but not always. You can call the manufacturer and ask or you can take polarized sunglasses and a laptop screen ( one that when you turn your head with glasses on the screen darkens or lightens) stick it in the tank and turn your head. The screen should darken or lighten the same, if you see that it looks like lines of dark and light, then its tempered.
The need for a sump is preference. I run a sump on my 90 gallon and putting a sump on my 150 im making now. My roommate has a 36 and runs no sump and everything is HOB and her tank looks and is just as fine as mine, but she has pumps, heaters, ect in her tank and visible. The refugium is a benefit for sumps because it adds a place for algae to grow and if algae is growing in one place it is unlikely to grow in another. Its a competition game. That being said they make HOB refugiums also.
That is a lot of information and is like an intro to everything. I am new so I feel as if i still have tons to learn but i think i have a good start and i hope it helps you. Feel free to ask more questions, best way to learn. Ill follow along and help as much as i can

[whodeydan76]

Waddle, Thanks for all of the info. I really appreciate any advice I recieve. I am setting up a mixed water solution to do my first water change as we speak, hoping I dont kill everything that is living doing so lol.... wish me luck.