Let’s talk about sumps!

[REEF24]

i dont know about the rest of you, but i have a big sump and i LOVE it! for some reason it fascinates me lol. i love just sitting and watching stuff run and the different creatures i find down there. (yes, i know im strange ) what about you?
i would also love if someone would give a break down of the different areas in the sump. what they are for and the best place to put things

What about cleaning it? I’ve seen sumps that are crystal clear with only equipment. Mine has sponges and detritus and other things growing on the glass. Do I remove all my bio bricks and balls and spit shine my sump and keep it crystal clear all the time or is it good to have all that life down there.

What do you guys think about this.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

i dont know about the rest of you, but i have a big sump and i LOVE it! for some reason it fascinates me lol. i love just sitting and watching stuff run and the different creatures i find down there. (yes, i know im strange ) what about you?
i would also love if someone would give a break down of the different areas in the sump. what they are for and the best place to put things

I prefer to have a large sump whenever possible. I can use it to house equipment or to grow macroalgae on a reverse light system. One thing I don’t think that sumps are good for is to house fish that you’re trying to isolate from other fish in your display tank I think you have a hard time keeping an eye on them down there they can get caught up in equipment, things like that.

 

[Peace River]

I had always made and used DIY sumps until about five years ago when I got an OCTO 36 sump, and I quickly realized what all the fuss was about. That sump, or comparable, are not cheap but if you can afford it, it is worth the expense IMO.

 

[Euphylliaphyle]

Reminds me of this

 

[X-37B]

Basic IM sump on my ext 170
Heater
400 micron mesh in hole 1
Other 2 holes open
28" LifReef skimmer in #1
Geo 818 carx in #2
Tunze 9430dc in return
6 gal kalk reservoir

 

[TokenReefer]

What about cleaning it? I’ve seen sumps that are crystal clear with only equipment. Mine has sponges and detritus and other things growing on the glass. Do I remove all my bio bricks and balls and spit shine my sump and keep it crystal clear all the time or is it good to have all that life down there.

What do you guys think about this.

I made a strategic shift about 6 months ago when I replaced my diy sump with a new fancy off the shelf one. Got rid of the refugium display and any macro algae down there and all light. A new bigger skimmer (piped outside) gave me a better immediate PH boost than the chaeto reactor did...at least while I was paying attention. Now it's just a dark sump and for water polishing. That's my strategy at the moment. I'm slowly removing ceramic bio blocks and replacing with a few maxpsect nano block tech ones. Detritus accumulates but I do my water change from the sump and occasionally clean one of the chambers at a time...maybe, if I feel like getting the hose out. No idea if it's a good idea yet. It's far from clean as I've seen others for sure though

 

[BeanAnimal]

I have large sump. It is very simple. If I had the room i would have a very large rubbermaid stock tank. No compartments, no baffles, just a big open sump.

I see absolutely no use in these complex 52 compartment sumps, but to each their own I suppose. What works for me doesn't mean it will or should work for anybody else.

 

[smitten with ocean life]

What about cleaning it? I’ve seen sumps that are crystal clear with only equipment. Mine has sponges and detritus and other things growing on the glass. Do I remove all my bio bricks and balls and spit shine my sump and keep it crystal clear all the time or is it good to have all that life down there.

What do you guys think about this.

good question. i have also seen those sparkling clean ones but have personally never cleaned mine

 

[smitten with ocean life]

I had always made and used DIY sumps until about five years ago when I got an OCTO 36 sump, and I quickly realized what all the fuss was about. That sump, or comparable, are not cheap but if you can afford it, it is worth the expense IMO.

pics!

 

[smitten with ocean life]

Reminds me of this

hey dont make fun of my plumbing! it was my first plumbing job!!

 

[vcnt]

If im making a DIY Sump, how should I plumb the inlet(s) so I maintain full siphon without the buildup of detritus?

Do I drill a hole in bottom middle of one of the pannels so water flows into there up and into socks?
Should the pipe go right into the sock?
Something else?

 

[Tom_Dinka]

After 18 years and having some fancier multi baffled and sectioned sumps, I learned to love simple non-braced sumps and fit the largest unit possible under my three tanks. About 5-6 years ago after getting my RedSea Max 750 G3, I quickly loved the sump that came with it. I removed the refugium baffle since I don't like the mess it makes of the sump and removed the sock chamber and replaced with a 1200 reef mat. The bigger the better as I like running any reactors inside the sump in case of leaks.

I love the sump that also came with my Waterbox peninsula 7225 I purchased the beginning of 2025. Again
I just run the base baffles and took out the refugium baffle. Also replaced socks with 1200 fleece roller.

I ran a ZeroEdge sump on my Oceanic 145gal half moon for years but just changed it out for a simple acrylic sump from Advanced Acrylics. I ordered it along with a 70gal acrylic frag tank (hooked into my Red Sea sump) after my deep blue started to leak. John did a great job and is the sump pictured below. It also fits my third 1200 reef mat (yes love the reef mat and hate socks). The most important is keep a level of water in the main section to avoid pumps and heaters from blowing.

I also fill in empty space in sky sumps with live rock as I feel it greatly benefits and the system biologically.

 

[UncommonSense]

If im making a DIY Sump, how should I plumb the inlet(s) so I maintain full siphon without the buildup of detritus?

Do I drill a hole in bottom middle of one of the pannels so water flows into there up and into socks?
Should the pipe go right into the sock?
Something else?

The only prerequisite is that the primary drain outlet in-sump remains submerged (to maintain a steady siphon), you can have it inside your filter sock, or you can have it discharge into a small chamber which overflows into a filter sock or floss holder!

Just note that not all solutions are particularly easy to service!

 

[vcnt]

Just note that not all solutions are particularly easy to service!

Yes... that's a big part of my concern too, my current sump has one of those pipes into a chamber that overflow and its so so so dirty and one just cannot reach into it.

 

[UncommonSense]

Yes... that's a big part of my concern too, my current sump has one of those pipes into a chamber that overflow and its so so so dirty and one just cannot reach into it.

- standby 4 photo

Use a small pump to suck the detritus up, or turn off return pump(s) and stir it up/siphon it out of the drain chamber!

 

[vcnt]

Use a small pump to suck the detritus up, or turn off return pump(s) and stir it up/siphon it out of the drain chamber!

might work...

 

[c4haskett]

Sumps are one of my favorite parts about the hobby. I too love seeing all the equipment integrated in them. My favorite section of the sump is the refugium. I recently moved last year and my goal for the new house was to finally set up a 100 gallon stock tank refugium which I have always wanted. It's still in its infancy but it's coming together nicely.

 

[Chuck_e]

My tank is a 90 g mixed reef, drilled for the return pump and a single overflow. I know - recipe for disaster, but it's what the LFS sold me...

Added a Trigger Systems CRYS30E about 2 years ago to replace the under-the-tank sump the LFS also sold me. The CRYS30E is 3 or 4 chambers, depending on whether you want to count the media space between the weirs.

The drain can either go into the refugium or one or both filters. I don't use the filters unless I'm doing a major cleaning in the main tank. The refugium has a deep sand bed, live rock, snails, crabs, worms, chaeto, and a healthy amount of GHA. Which i'm ok with as long as it stays in the refugium. I run a GroLight for about 6 hours at night when the DT lights are off.

The 2nd chamber has the heater, skimmer, & pumps for a Phosphate Reactor & UV, the 3rd chamber has a biomatrix & bag for carbon. The single overflow weir keeps a constant level in this chamber and the underflow weir directs flow through the media. There really is no need to have 3 weirs in a row. The 4th chamber has the return pump. I do all my dosing into the 4th chamber, and that's where my ATO sensor is as well. The ATI reservoir on the left is a 10 g tank that was chosen because it fit. The discharge for the ATO is above the sump water level so there is no risk of a siphon forming.

To be honest, the refugium was added to reduce the daily pH swings and to help control nutrients. I'm not sure that either objective has been met...

 

[TokenReefer]

I grow Bubble Tip Anemones and have a pair of Clownfish in my refugium section.

I bet they filter a lot. Does anyone grow tubastrea in a dark refugium?

 

[Euphylliaphyle]

hey dont make fun of my plumbing! it was my first plumbing job!!

Not making fun at all. It looks good! Just the colors and elbows reminded me of the old Win XP screensaver. *That* is what I thought was funny!