Minimum height of sump?

[Kristonenicolas]

If my skimmer is rated at 9.5-11" what should be the minimum height of the sump?

 

[Meat locker]

What do you mean by "rated." Is 9.5 to 11" the recommended submerged operating range? If it is, than you want your skimmer section to be at least that. Your over all sump height can be whatever you want and have to room for. Better to be deeper than shallow. You can always raise the skimmer up.

 

[TMB]

I agree with Meat Locker, you want the sump to be as tall as possible, but it can only be so tall. You will need room to get equipment in and out of the sump, so make sure to take that into account. Another thing to consider is the height of the inside of the stand. If your skimmer is 24" and you need to raise it 3", you better have 30" under there so you can service the skimmer, or even just take the cup off. Taller stands are also better IMHO.

As with everything there is a give and take when building your tank, just try and think every angle through as best as you can.;)

 

[DesertReefT4r]

Your sump needs to be tall enough to handle the overflow from the return pump being turned off, to allow a deep enough water level to run your skimmer all while being able to fit in the space you plan to put it. Many of us are limited to the area under the stand so compromise must be made. With a water level rating of 9.5-11" I would shoot for a water level of 10" in the skimmer chamber. You will want to have at least a few inches of unused sump above the water line to handle that extra overflow water. Here are some pics of my sump and skimmer, hope it helps give you and idea.

 

[Kristonenicolas]

Thanks guys for the responses. I wanted to my stand as short as possible because I was afraid of my tank being top heavy. I measured how low the water level will drop in my tank and I estimated that about 4-5 gallons will drain into my sump whenever my return is shut off. My sump is currently designed to hold 16.5 gallons water. I estimate that I'll have 10 gallons of water in there while running. I was going to lower my sump another inch but after my calculations I think that extra inch will give me peace of mind.

 

[Meat locker]

Top heavy. What are dimensions.

 

[Rjukan]

If my skimmer is rated at 9.5-11" what should be the minimum height of the sump?

Sounds like the rating for a Bubble Magus... what skimmer is it?

 

[Erica-Renee]

Your sump should be designed around your Equipment.. Skimmer section should be a area the highest in the sump with a Constant water level. I would do this at the max skimmer level height plus 2 inches. Then raise your skimmer up. Gives you adjustment room..
That said you also have to think about holding water for a power off situation.. If you need 14 inches to hold the drain back. then your skimmer will need to be min of 15 inches or so.. Bigger and deeper is always better in my opinion ..

Think about the mechanics of your whole system and plan around that

 

[Kristonenicolas]

Top heavy. What are dimensions.

Tank is 36x12x12. Stand will be 36x12x30.

 

[Kristonenicolas]

Sounds like the rating for a Bubble Magus... what skimmer is it?

Yup it's the curve 5

 

[Rjukan]

Yup it's the curve 5

Nice, I actually have first hand info on the curve 5 since I just bought one yesterday and started it up today... in my case it's a very lightly used model I bought from a local hobbyist.

I have a custom king sump that has a skimmer section that keeps the water at consistently 10" deep, which falls inside that range they give in the specs. But I was doing some research earlier to find any tips on setting it up, and I ran into several threads of people that weren't happy with the skimmer. Great :rolleyes:. But after looking a bit more it seems like the people who didnt like how it performed were using it inside that suggested depth. Other people posted that they were having much better and consistant results when they put the skimmer up on a platform in about 7" of water.

So I made this before even trying it out:

It was supposed to put it at 7" deep, but it's more like 6+". I've been running it for the last couple hours and it's really performing well so far. Granted, it's only been a few hours but it's sooo much better than the EV180 I was using up till now.

 

[Kristonenicolas]

Nice, I actually have first hand info on the curve 5 since I just bought one yesterday and started it up today... in my case it's a very lightly used model I bought from a local hobbyist.

I have a custom king sump that has a skimmer section that keeps the water at consistently 10" deep, which falls inside that range they give in the specs. But I was doing some research earlier to find any tips on setting it up, and I ran into several threads of people that weren't happy with the skimmer. Great :rolleyes:. But after looking a bit more it seems like the people who didnt like how it performed were using it inside that suggested depth. Other people posted that they were having much better and consistant results when they put the skimmer up on a platform in about 7" of water.

So I made this before even trying it out:

It was supposed to put it at 7" deep, but it's more like 6+". I've been running it for the last couple hours and it's really performing well so far. Granted, it's only been a few hours but it's sooo much better than the EV180 I was using up till now.

Interesting! I've never read that. Ill definitely consider raising it. Thanks for the tip!