Does anyone know of a good article on how to make a Sump filter and what size you should use compared to how big your main tank is?

I am getting a 90 gallon tank with a built-in reservoir/overflow chamber for a Sump filter.

Now I just need to figure out exactly how to make one!

Thanks for any help!

welcome to oscarfishlover

Do you know if the tank is drilled ready to take the pipes?

One of the biggest advantages with using sump filters is you can pack enormous amounts of media into them. An 18" x 12" x 12" tank doesn't seem very big at all, in fact, it's not really big enough for much more than a few tetras. However, turn that into a Sump filter and use the correct media and you will have a filter that will service a tank up to 500 gallons. So you can see that you don't have to go completely mad. With a filter of this size, you could convert into a two chamber sump, biological media with mechanical media on top of a bio in one chamber, and your pump and heater could go in the other one.

If you can just tell us how the tank is set-up regarding drilling, we can help you more

for a tank your size i would go with a min 20 tank for your sump and setup a 2 chamber system as ofl said. i wrote an article on building sumps in the diy section of the forum. have a read there and it should explain how to do it.

Hey, I checked that article out and it will help me a lot for sure. Thanks!

I might be getting 150 gallon if i'm lucky. I'm just waitin for an e-mail from someone who is selling it. It does not have an overflow as far as I know. It was used as a salt water tank by his wife I think, so he doesn't know much about it. If it turns out to be a glass tank I think I will try out that piping where you don't need to drill into the tank. That is such a good idea!

Would a 20 gallon still be all good for a 150 gallon main tank?

p.s. any suggestions on how to clean out the salt water tank correctly/safely to convert to fresh water?

Thanks!

for a 150 gallon tank i would personally go with a 40 gallon sump. the general rule of thumb is a sump approx 1/4 the size of your main tank. however you should remember that sumps do not provide the best mechanical filtration so you might need something else to help in this department.

Hi I read the article on sump filters and get most of the information, but there are a couple of questions I have not been able to get answers for on the search function.
I have got a juwel (sp? sorry) rio400 which I intend to keep 2 oscars in, I have a small 2ft x 1ft x 1ft tank I am hoping to make into a sump filter. How many chambers will I need and what would be the best bio media to use. I have heard about bio balls but dont really understand what they are or exactly how they work.
Any advice is greatly appreciated as my girlfriend will go bonkers if I have problems with this tank as I have only just managed to convince her it is a good idea!

What do you hope to achieve by having a sump filter? let me just give you a couple of advantages of having a sump filter. Firstly, sump filters enable you to increase the amount of water you have in your system. They also enable you to use a lot more filtration than you would normally be able to get into commercial filters. You have mentioned dimensions of 2 x 1 x 1 feet. That's just a little bit over 12 gallons. That really isn't going to make any difference to your system. This is one of the main reasons why we use some filters, to increase the amount of water we have at our disposal. In my opinion, it's not worth doing it unless you have got a sump filter of at least 40 gallons, preferably more. Having said that, you will still be able to get a lot of media into even a small 12 gallon sump filter. So if you want to go to all the trouble of plumbing it in, you will still have a good filtration system. You will not however be able to stock your tank to the same limits as you would do if you are using a very large sump filter with the extra water.

Okay, now to answer some of your questions. Ideally, you want your pumps in the sump. This will go in the last chamber, you also want mechanical filtration in the first chamber, this could sit on top of some biological media. So really, you only need two Chambers. You will be able to get more than enough media in just the one chamber with the mechanical filtration sitting on top. The water will then enter the second chamber from underneath the divider and then both get pumped back into your tank.

It is such a small sump filter, I don't think it's really feasible to have any more than two Chambers.

The bac-balls you are referring to are round pronged balls a little bit smaller than a table tennis ball. They have a large surface area for bacteria to grow on so make a very efficient biological media. They are very good and would certainly do the job for you. 1000 of them provide enough media for around 3000 gallons of water.

Sump filters work best on very large aquariums where you are dealing with a large amount of water. Your tank is just less than 100 gallons, I have a 125 gallon tank and I use two external Eheim canister filters on it,they do a really good job and keep the water in good condition.

Hope that helps

i agree with ofl on this one. unless you have a tank in excess of 150 gallons it really isnt fesable to use a sump filter. you would be better off using a couple of canister filters for a tank that size. however if your heart is set on a sump filter i would recommend using a 20-25 gallon tank for it and only having 2 chambers. there is a multitude of things you can use for bio media some expensive and others relatively cheap. one thing to remember is the submersible pump in your sump will run a good price which is why a canister would be a better choice.

Good day! As I go over the responses of people around us, nobody did ask what is the capacity of your sump pump? Sump pump is usually used for an overflow filtering system (overhead filtering system) wherein gravity plays a vital role. The media catches the dirt and waste while the free flowing water aerates the tank. Sometimes, sump pump operates with split discharge wherein portion of discharge goes to overhead filtering box while other discharges circulate inside the tank.

I had to set-up a small wet/dry sump filter (Pro Clear Aquatic Systems model 75) for a 4footer, 40USgal Rainbowfish tank in order to install an in-line chiller to drop down 4 degrees Celcius. The only reason I choose this model/brand was due to best available model for my particular needs (quite limited options in Santo Domingo).

In order to see in detail their design, which might help your DIY sump, check the downloads for schematics on their models, as well as instructions on assembly and operation at the following link:
www.pro-clear.com/wetdry.html

My recently acquired Red-Salmon Rainbowfish school was decimated until I figured out what was wrong; they were dying due to a metabolic syndrome induced by high temperatures (29-30C). Unfortunately, one of the most reputable sites dedicated to Rainbowfishes reports for this particular species that their natural environmental niche temp range is 29-32C. Out of seven, two survived. The sump works great, still working on improving chiller's efficiency (e.g. going to replace the 370GPH powerhead for a 700GPH submersible pump if I can find one locally; might wire an external thermostat too).

My tank, tempered glass, is not pre-drilled so I use the overflow box, also called pre-filter. Took me about one hour to assemble and run the whole system, including the chiller. I keep a 350GPH HOB running too in that tank (AquaClear 70). Glad there's no such thing as over-filtration.

Once I have my custom made stand for my Oscars' tank, I will go for a proper sized wet/dry filter, so far the best biological filter system I have used.

If you can afford it, I definitely recommend using one.

Pepe
Santo Domingo

wow! I was amazed by your gadgets. My 125gal tank is equipped with powerhead 2200. it means 2,200 liter per hour flow rate. This is way behind by your 370 GPH and 700 GPH. How I wish we have that kind of gadgets here.

In one occasion, I design a filtering for a small ponds. I use submersible pump 1/8 HP for a fond having water of 1,000 gal capacity. Until now, it is working well.

hi again what canister filter would i need would Fluval FX5 be good inuf for a rio 400 with 2 oscars thanks