Sump size??

[abe77901]

What is the general rule of thumb for sump sizing. i am putting together a 100 gallon reef ready and want to adda a sump with calupera. What size sump will I need.

[GaryP]

Are you talking about a sump, a refugium, or a combination? You might want to drop Dan a PM about this.

Gary

[abe77901]

combination sump and refuge...is a 20 gallon enough

[GaryP]

Not really. After you put in the pumps and protein skimmers you're only going to end up with about a 10 gal. fuge. While 10 gal. is better than no fuge, I think you won't be happy with it. Talk to Dan about buiding you one.

A combination fuge is also going to need baffles to prevent bubble flowing through and that's going to take up more room.


Gary

[matt]

Agreed; make your sump as big as possible. Something along the lines of 40 gallons would be adequate, fit under the stand, and you'd have a decent size refugium. Then you should run the water level fairly low in the sump area to make sure you have enough capacity to hold the drainage from the tank when the power goes out. I made a nice sump/refugium combination for my old 100 gallon; I was able to get almost that much capacity and still leave room in the stand for my big skimmer, reactor, and 3 pumps. It was kind of cramped, but it fit. If I were doing it over I think I'd make the sump/refugium much larger and run the skimmer and reactor externally.

[GaryP]

I have a 30 gal. sump and a 30 gal. fuge under my 125 gal.

[::pete::]

As far as sump size is the volume being calculated from tank height or water height?

[GaryP]

Mine is tank size. Both are kept about 75% full.