Krish
RF STAFF
Thought I'd put together a little write up on sumps for those new to the hobby who have heard of them, but aren't quite sure what they are or what they are all about. This write up is entirely my views and opinions on it and no-one elses so keep that in mind. Some views and opinions may vary. 
So let's get started with the first obvious question...
What is a sump?
In general, a sump is basically a tank, container, or anything that can hold water that is a seperate unit from your main display tank, but is plumbed/connected to it, in which both work as one unit/system. (Well that's my definition )
What is the purpose of a sump and is one needed?
A sump has many purposes and can add quite a few benefits to your system, but is not necessary to have in order to have a successful saltwater aquarium. Infact, many people run sumpless aquariums with great success so it isn't a must, so why use one you might ask?? Well here are a few "pros" to using a sump.
- First off, it adds water volume to your system and the more water volume you have, the more stabilty your system will have. Just think of the effects you would have of accidentally dropping a cup of oil for eg. in a tank with only 50 gals of water volume vs a tank that has say 200 gals water volume. It is obvious the oil will have more affect on the tank with less water volume because there will be less water to dilute the "problem". Another example could be with temperature. You have a heater malfunction in a system with 10 gal water capacity vs one with a 50 gal capacity. The 10 gal will get colder a lot quicker than the tank with 50 gals of water volume so the increased water volume a sump provides in itself is a major advantage.
- Secondly, it creates an environment to house and hideaway un-sightly equipment like skimmers, heaters, reactors, thermometers etc which if a sump was not present, these pieces of equipment would have to sit in your tank or hang on it which takes away from it's natural beauty.
- Thirdly, a sump can have a sort of refugium incorporated into one of it's chambers which in itself, has many benefits including a place to harvest and grow a macro algae of some sort to help aid in nutrient export, a place to add a deep sand bed for those that want to use one for increased biological filtration, a place to house picked on fish or inverts (or even the bully's themselves) isolating them away from the other tank inhabitants, as well as even a place to grow food for the main display which you can choose to use and feed the tank at your own leisure or convenience. This is something not possible if you tired it in your main display as you would have no control over things etc.
- Lastly, can help with tank circulation as water is drained from the tank to the sump (via a pre-filter/overflow box of some sort) and returned back to the tank with the aid of a return pump that can be used for increased flow in the tank or even to add a bit surface aggitation which helps with gas exchange.
So what are the "cons"?
The only draw backs I can think of to having a sump is well the obvious...An increased expense seeing it isn't really a necessity although I think the benefits to having a sump far out-weighs the price, but just my opinion. Another drawback could be added noise to your system as some overflows can get quite noisy as well as some of the pumps associated with a sump. Sometimes, micro-bubbles can be an issue, but all of these things can be addressed and solved it's just one of those extra headaches you may have that you would have to sort out. And lastly, it's just one more possible thing that could break and leak which no-one wants...Trust me, my wife didn't find it funny at all when my sump back-siphoned half of my 75 gal onto the floor
Ok...How does this thing connect to your tank??
Connecting your sump to your tank is fairly simple. It starts out with an overflow box (could be built in or hang on style) where water is drained from the tank via plumbing (hose or pvc is usually used) from the overflow, enters the sump, passes through all of the chambers and then is returned to the tank via a return pump. The main thing to be sure about is your return pump is not putting out more flow than your overflow can handle so you don't want a 800 gph return pump when your overflow is only rated at 500 gph. The other way around would be much better and if you follow this simple guidline, then you won't have any problems. An overflow will only drain water down to the sump at the rate the water is pumped back into the tank (granted you don't exceed the overflow's flow rate) which is why you are able to maintain a constant water level.
So here are a few pictures to explain. Here are two of the most common types of hang on style prefilter boxes people use.
Eshopps style overflow.
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
CPR Style overflow
Sumps come in a variety of shapes and sizes as well as they are made from a number of different types of materials. The most common types of sumps you will find will either be made of glass or acylic. Both have their pros and cons.
A glass sump made from a standard glass aquarium with baffles added on the inside(picture taken from google c/o fishforum.com)
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
A type of acrylic sump
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
Sketch on water flow from tank to sump and back to tank
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
So let's get started with the first obvious question...
What is a sump?
In general, a sump is basically a tank, container, or anything that can hold water that is a seperate unit from your main display tank, but is plumbed/connected to it, in which both work as one unit/system. (Well that's my definition
) What is the purpose of a sump and is one needed?
A sump has many purposes and can add quite a few benefits to your system, but is not necessary to have in order to have a successful saltwater aquarium. Infact, many people run sumpless aquariums with great success so it isn't a must, so why use one you might ask?? Well here are a few "pros" to using a sump.
- First off, it adds water volume to your system and the more water volume you have, the more stabilty your system will have. Just think of the effects you would have of accidentally dropping a cup of oil for eg. in a tank with only 50 gals of water volume vs a tank that has say 200 gals water volume. It is obvious the oil will have more affect on the tank with less water volume because there will be less water to dilute the "problem". Another example could be with temperature. You have a heater malfunction in a system with 10 gal water capacity vs one with a 50 gal capacity. The 10 gal will get colder a lot quicker than the tank with 50 gals of water volume so the increased water volume a sump provides in itself is a major advantage.
- Secondly, it creates an environment to house and hideaway un-sightly equipment like skimmers, heaters, reactors, thermometers etc which if a sump was not present, these pieces of equipment would have to sit in your tank or hang on it which takes away from it's natural beauty.
- Thirdly, a sump can have a sort of refugium incorporated into one of it's chambers which in itself, has many benefits including a place to harvest and grow a macro algae of some sort to help aid in nutrient export, a place to add a deep sand bed for those that want to use one for increased biological filtration, a place to house picked on fish or inverts (or even the bully's themselves) isolating them away from the other tank inhabitants, as well as even a place to grow food for the main display which you can choose to use and feed the tank at your own leisure or convenience. This is something not possible if you tired it in your main display as you would have no control over things etc.
- Lastly, can help with tank circulation as water is drained from the tank to the sump (via a pre-filter/overflow box of some sort) and returned back to the tank with the aid of a return pump that can be used for increased flow in the tank or even to add a bit surface aggitation which helps with gas exchange.
So what are the "cons"?
The only draw backs I can think of to having a sump is well the obvious...An increased expense seeing it isn't really a necessity although I think the benefits to having a sump far out-weighs the price, but just my opinion. Another drawback could be added noise to your system as some overflows can get quite noisy as well as some of the pumps associated with a sump. Sometimes, micro-bubbles can be an issue, but all of these things can be addressed and solved it's just one of those extra headaches you may have that you would have to sort out. And lastly, it's just one more possible thing that could break and leak which no-one wants...Trust me, my wife didn't find it funny at all when my sump back-siphoned half of my 75 gal onto the floor
Ok...How does this thing connect to your tank??
Connecting your sump to your tank is fairly simple. It starts out with an overflow box (could be built in or hang on style) where water is drained from the tank via plumbing (hose or pvc is usually used) from the overflow, enters the sump, passes through all of the chambers and then is returned to the tank via a return pump. The main thing to be sure about is your return pump is not putting out more flow than your overflow can handle so you don't want a 800 gph return pump when your overflow is only rated at 500 gph. The other way around would be much better and if you follow this simple guidline, then you won't have any problems. An overflow will only drain water down to the sump at the rate the water is pumped back into the tank (granted you don't exceed the overflow's flow rate) which is why you are able to maintain a constant water level.
So here are a few pictures to explain. Here are two of the most common types of hang on style prefilter boxes people use.
Eshopps style overflow.
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
CPR Style overflow
Sumps come in a variety of shapes and sizes as well as they are made from a number of different types of materials. The most common types of sumps you will find will either be made of glass or acylic. Both have their pros and cons.
A glass sump made from a standard glass aquarium with baffles added on the inside(picture taken from google c/o fishforum.com)
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
A type of acrylic sump
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
Sketch on water flow from tank to sump and back to tank
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
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