sump ?

[photokid]

i am buying a new stand for my 29gal and now i have the opportunity to add a sump. i would like to have a fuge in the the sump but i have been reading that if your flow in the sump is too high the fuge looses its point. i was going to go with a mag 3 for a pump which will gives me around 280 gph. is this too much flow, or should i just be happy with a normal sump.

 

[cameron]

This is a depends on who you ask question. The more dwell time you have in the sump the more time your skimmer has to clean that water before it returns to the tank. The faster you move water through your sump the sooner waste gets to the skimmer. The answer (and this is strictly opinion) is faster through the sump requires more power and more noise beyond that to my knowledge there is no advantage/disadvantage unless you have skimmer that is oversized.

 

[photokid]

for a sump i am looking to use a 20 or 29 gal tank. unless i go DIY but i am not sure how much that would run. the sump needs to have the same foot print as a 29gal. i am just not sure i have the skills to make my own sump and trust it. if some has one or wants to build one even better.

 

[dbm5557]

You can have a higher flow through the sump and still use it as a fuge if you lay out the sections of the sump to support it. You can take your sump into 3 basic sections: In from tank (skimmer goes here), out, and then fuge. Then T off your return line so that some of the return pipe leads back into your fuge section. I would be sure to add a ball valve on the pipe into the fuge so you can manage the flow but this will allow you to have as much flow as you want through your sump.