How to position my sump

mook1178 · Jan 8, 2024

I recently bought a 75 gal DT with a 40 gal sump.

The tank will have a Dorso Drain and return coming from the left corner.
Should I have the sump position so that the drain is straight down or the return is straight up?

With the drain straight down, I see the advantage of not clogging around a bend. However, I see the advantage for the return pump to have less head pressure.

Both could be cured by using flexible tubing. I think it may just be a matter of preference maybe. Thoughts?

TX_REEF · Jan 8, 2024

mook1178 said:
I recently bought a 75 gal DT with a 40 gal sump.

The tank will have a Dorso Drain and return coming from the left corner.
Should I have the sump position so that the drain is straight down or the return is straight up?

With the drain straight down, I see the advantage of not clogging around a bend. However, I see the advantage for the return pump to have less head pressure.

Both could be cured by using flexible tubing. I think it may just be a matter of preference maybe. Thoughts?

I'd personally lean towards having the drain straight down into the sump, there are more instances where a drain gets clogged than a return line, since the return line is positioned after all filtering is done and the return pump is generally insulated from anything that may clog it. On the return line, I'd recommend using either sweeping 90 degree elbows, or 2 45 degree joints in lieu of normal 90 degrees which are extremely restrictive. If you check out my current build thread, I've done exactly that to avoid flow restriction, if you need some inspiration/ideas. You can do flex tubing for everything, I'm not personally a fan because it's less solid and less visually appealing.