Best sump features to date

[gettaReef]

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[gettaReef]

You can browse them at Genio-systems.com but I'm sorry to say they are well above $1600....the one that I believe is in the picture is 2850 in EUROS (so around $3,057). And without knowing how well the Genio Systems products work (skimmer, calrx, pumps) due to them not being on the market long and with not many trying them/no reviews, buying this beautiful and understandably expensive setup is quite the risk (compared to say Royal Exclusiv's sump setup where their products have been around and tested). You can see it here:
http://www.genio-systems.com/shop/filteranlage-meerwasser/genio-superbox-complete-1000/

 

[jsbull]

1. Rollermat instead of socks
2. Ability to drain main chamber for water changes
3. Drain chamber bypass so tank keeps running during water changes
4. Heater brackets to hold heaters
5. Water level marks on glass
6. Lids
7. MarinePure area for biological filtration
8. Probe/dosing holders

 

[Maritimer]

I'm not sure it's possible to have "too large of a sump". Compare the area / volume of a natural coral reef to the area / volume of the open ocean that washes over it, removing waste and bringing nutrient . . .

~Bruce

 

[don_chuwish]

To bring us down to earth: DIY kits for standard glass aquarium sizes like 20G & 40B (or larger). @TaylorPilot of ExoticMarineSystems provided mine for 40B. Loving it.

 

[TaylorPilot]

To bring us down to earth: DIY kits for standard glass aquarium sizes like 20G & 40B (or larger). @TaylorPilot of ExoticMarineSystems provided mine for 40B. Loving it.

I try...I try...LOL

 

[Maritimer]

I've got the same set of baffles - all put together and itching to get wet - under a 220 gallon aquarium with scattered pieces of PVC pipe accumulating around the sump . . .

Thanks, @TaylorPilot !

~Bruce

 

[justingraham]

I to have @TaylorPilot under my tank in a 40b.
Kinda sounds sexy but it's not

 

[TaylorPilot]

I to have @TaylorPilot under my tank in a 40b.
Kinda sounds sexy but it's not

Not sexy?! Well maybe not...but functional!

 

[jason2459]

This thread is awesome. Amazing looking sumps. This goes well with show me your stands thread.

I just replaced a trigger system elite sump with my own design and a 75 gallon $1/gallon sale tank. I'll have to get the plans for it uploaded here.

 

[DidAc]

if u don't mind me asking who build it??

 

[Reefcowboy]

if u don't mind me asking who build it??

New Island Aquarium in Brooklyn, NY.
I actually added a Marine Pure media holder section to the sump, felt the skimmer compartment was too open and I could use a bit more of the space. It turned out exactly as I wanted.

I can fit two 8"x8"x4" blocks, one in each tray of the compartment. I designed it so on the top tray, part of the block sticks out of the water in order to house aerobic nitrifying bacteria, while the bottom, with low flow, houses anaerobic to also help with the process. I could have just placed the blocks on the bottom of the sump, but this design allows for more flow through them. The lower tray is off the bottom by 1" so water can also flow from the bottom-->up.

The holes hold frag plugs so I can remove a tray and use it as frag holder. In case I ever want to add more equipment, such as a calcium reactor, I can remove them and have the space to store equipment. I will be running a GFO reactor from the return, plumbed so it sits over the sump top bracing, saving room in the sump.

 

[gettaReef]

Great design for your marine pure blocks, very clever! Might have to build something similar for my sump; thanks for the idea

 

[jason2459]

I have had a few sumps now starting with a 40 breeder I picked up from a $1/g petco sale. It was very simple straight through design with a return section where my skimmer sat. A baffle that water flowed over into a cryptic zone like area that I had an ATS waterfall type from Turbo's aquatics on top and a bunch of live rock inside and a Reversed Undergravel filter plate on the bottom. Then an over, under, over baffle setup to a return section.

It was a simple setup and silicone in some pane glass was easier and just as messy as I thought. For me at least. I think I looked at many over at Melev's reef too and decided on that one. http://melevsreef.com/category/articles/diy/sumps


I then moved where my sump was located in the basement last year and I ran across the design of the trigger systems crystal elite 36 and really liked it's layout and would work better then my 40 breeder layout in the new location. Except I didn't exactly use it in the way it was designed. Area 1 was where all my drain lines ran too and had several marine pure blocks in and the ATS sitting on top of. Area 2 is where my skimmer was. Area 3 the return.

Just beautiful huh? I'm much more about function and maximizing space then aesthetics.

It wasn't perfect as I would rather the skimmer first in the series and couldn't fit a very big UGF plate anywhere in there and didn't get around to it yet. I was planning on using that setup for who knows how long but Petco this year offered 75 gallon tanks in there $1/g sale in my area....

So, I designed this and again used some silicone to easily and messily slap in some glass panes.

I based it off the trigger system design but with some tweaks so I could have the skimmer first and a "bio" like area. I don't really want to call it a refugium as it's not your typical one as I don't keep it lit at all and just let what ever grow and settle in there.

So, just like I had with the Trigger sump all drains go to that first section where the skimmer now sits and to the bio area is a flow over baffle. Then to the return is an under/over/under baffle setup.

This is to prevent the left side from ever being emptied. Say for some really terrible reason my skimmer goes nuts and starts filling up the skimmate bucket and murphy is really on his game and either the switches in the buck don't work to shutdown the skimmer or what's happened before starts siphoning out just the skimmer section could get drained. Assuming my other failsafes don't fail too. Lots of failsafes in place. Basically from failures of others or myself that I've learned from and put something into place to help prevent from happening again.

The flow over from the skimmer section also forces all the microbubbles to the surface. The return section is pulling water from the bottom where they shouldn't be. The ATS drains may cause some bubbles, which they do, but those are bigger then the skimmers microbubbles and rise pretty quick and even if it got under the returns first baffle would be killed by the second set of them.

The space between and under the baffles are 2" so allows the 1400gph that I have going through the sump go through fairly smoothly and not like a raging rapids causing bubbles.

I tried to calculate out the baffle heights to maximize water volume but not over flow the sump when the return is off. Which after implementing the new sump it was perfect with about 2" to spare. The baffle height and running height is just over 14" and drops about 2" into the return section. Bubbles have 0 chance of hitting the return pump. The bio area was the perfect size and I was able to get a bigger UGF plate to place on the bottom. I got one for a 90 gallon that comes with 2 plates. So, in 40 years if I accidentally crack the one I have a spare (PaulB knows what I'm talking about... lol) . I think it's a 16"x22.5" plate. I have about 100gph being pushed down into the plate. My turbo's aquatics ATS sits nicely on top of that section too and looking to get a bigger one with his Rev4 version.

and everything fitting in there perfectly.

 

[bif24701]

Hey I am not sure but it looks like you have a skimmer in the beer cooler

Lol. No it's a Brute 25g tote I found at Lowes. It's great! Heavy plastic, makes the perfect skimmer section for my system. When I was building the system I couldn't think of a way to keep my skimmer in steady water in that huge sump. Just saw it in Lowes and thought PERFECT instantly!

 

[gettaReef]

I have had a few sumps now starting with a 40 breeder I picked up from a $1/g petco sale. It was very simple straight through design with a return section where my skimmer sat. A baffle that water flowed over into a cryptic zone like area that I had an ATS waterfall type from Turbo's aquatics on top and a bunch of live rock inside and a Reversed Undergravel filter plate on the bottom. Then an over, under, over baffle setup to a return section.

It was a simple setup and silicone in some pane glass was easier and just as messy as I thought. For me at least. I think I looked at many over at Melev's reef too and decided on that one. http://melevsreef.com/category/articles/diy/sumps


I then moved where my sump was located in the basement last year and I ran across the design of the trigger systems crystal elite 36 and really liked it's layout and would work better then my 40 breeder layout in the new location. Except I didn't exactly use it in the way it was designed. Area 1 was where all my drain lines ran too and had several marine pure blocks in and the ATS sitting on top of. Area 2 is where my skimmer was. Area 3 the return.

Just beautiful huh? I'm much more about function and maximizing space then aesthetics. [emoji14]

It wasn't perfect as I would rather the skimmer first in the series and couldn't fit a very big UGF plate anywhere in there and didn't get around to it yet. I was planning on using that setup for who knows how long but Petco this year offered 75 gallon tanks in there $1/g sale in my area....

So, I designed this and again used some silicone to easily and messily slap in some glass panes.

I based it off the trigger system design but with some tweaks so I could have the skimmer first and a "bio" like area. I don't really want to call it a refugium as it's not your typical one as I don't keep it lit at all and just let what ever grow and settle in there.

So, just like I had with the Trigger sump all drains go to that first section where the skimmer now sits and to the bio area is a flow over baffle. Then to the return is an under/over/under baffle setup.

This is to prevent the left side from ever being emptied. Say for some really terrible reason my skimmer goes nuts and starts filling up the skimmate bucket and murphy is really on his game and either the switches in the buck don't work to shutdown the skimmer or what's happened before starts siphoning out just the skimmer section could get drained. Assuming my other failsafes don't fail too. Lots of failsafes in place. Basically from failures of others or myself that I've learned from and put something into place to help prevent from happening again.

The flow over from the skimmer section also forces all the microbubbles to the surface. The return section is pulling water from the bottom where they shouldn't be. The ATS drains may cause some bubbles, which they do, but those are bigger then the skimmers microbubbles and rise pretty quick and even if it got under the returns first baffle would be killed by the second set of them.

The space between and under the baffles are 2" so allows the 1400gph that I have going through the sump go through fairly smoothly and not like a raging rapids causing bubbles.

I tried to calculate out the baffle heights to maximize water volume but not over flow the sump when the return is off. Which after implementing the new sump it was perfect with about 2" to spare. The baffle height and running height is just over 14" and drops about 2" into the return section. Bubbles have 0 chance of hitting the return pump. The bio area was the perfect size and I was able to get a bigger UGF plate to place on the bottom. I got one for a 90 gallon that comes with 2 plates. So, in 40 years if I accidentally crack the one I have a spare (PaulB knows what I'm talking about... lol) . I think it's a 16"x22.5" plate. I have about 100gph being pushed down into the plate. My turbo's aquatics ATS sits nicely on top of that section too and looking to get a bigger one with his Rev4 version.

and everything fitting in there perfectly.

It's cool to see the progression to what sump you have now. The diy is perfect for you as you designed it to have everything you want in the places you want. I also have one of Turbo Aquatics ATS (an older model 2 version with some revisions). I totally see the appeal of his newer models and to upgrade to a bigger size.....best ATS out there imo with outstanding service (now he is someone who stand behind his product!).

I see you use an reverse undergravel filter like PaulB (I follow his threads too, he is amazing and love his advice/stories/methods). Could you explain exactly how a reverse undergravel filter (and non reverse I guess) works, it's benefits, and it's benefit in regards to how you're using it (in the cryptic zone of your sump directly below the ATS)? Thanks!

 

[jason2459]

It's cool to see the progression to what sump you have now. The diy is perfect for you as you designed it to have everything you want in the places you want. I also have one of Turbo Aquatics ATS (an older model 2 version with some revisions). I totally see the appeal of his newer models and to upgrade to a bigger size.....best ATS out there imo with outstanding service (now he is someone who stand behind his product!).

I see you use an reverse undergravel filter like PaulB (I follow his threads too, he is amazing and love his advice/stories/methods). Could you explain exactly how a reverse undergravel filter (and non reverse I guess) works, it's benefits, and it's benefit in regards to how you're using it (in the cryptic zone of your sump directly below the ATS)? Thanks!

Bud is great and has put a lot of thought into his scrubbers.

I got the idea of the RUGF back in 2009 from PaulB when I was rebuilding my 55g after loosing everything my family owned due to a historic flood in 2008. Any Iowa folk on here know what I'm talking about.

The RUGF made the entire tank bottom a breeding ground for little critters like pods which helped maintain a very active breeding pair of mandarins.

I don't know what else it might do but that alone is enough for me. I had mine covered in dolomite before but this time around I'm going to try out some seachem matrix pond. Basically pumice stone. Very porous and some of it is still floating so I have it in a couple mesh bags until it all settles down. I have an Aquaclear 50 reversible pump which comes to around 100gph into the plate. Keeps it aerated and full of life down there.

Some more talking about it by PaulB
http://reef2reef.com/threads/how-to-make-a-tank-last-over-forty-years-with-few-problems.283516/

 

[gettaReef]

Haha small world, I live in Iowa City/Coralville area, originally from Cedar Rapids. Worked for the park department in Coralville in summer 08 (was in undergrad at UOI) and was in charge of sandbagging the Marriott. So sorry about your house. Anyways thanks for answering my questions, much appreciated

 

[Mebeknob]

Here is another with the rollermatt built in the sump by Royal Exclusiv. Looks like that may be the next must-have for high-end sumps...

So is the container that is top left the ATO?

 

[Mebeknob]

1. Rollermat instead of socks
2. Ability to drain main chamber for water changes
3. Drain chamber bypass so tank keeps running during water changes
4. Heater brackets to hold heaters
5. Water level marks on glass
6. Lids
7. MarinePure area for biological filtration
8. Probe/dosing holders

Love the water change chamber and bypass. That'll make water changes a breeze. Did you get that idea from the Vertex Supra sump?