# Questions about a sump?



## Tony_3a (May 7, 2010)

Ok, as some of you may know im very new to this, i have the hagen osaka so a sump could be hard, but i think i want one. I have a 70 gallon tank, what gph pump do i need? I need a overflow as well, where should i get that? Also what is the minimum size of sump i should have for this tank, i am squeezing it into the stand which doesnt have a whole lot of room in it.

I was at oceanic corals where i have bought my live rock from and the guys there are amazing, he said for about 300 bucks i could get the overflow and the pump, id just need a container that would fit under my tank, he suggested a rubbermade container or something.


Thanks
tony


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## Mech Eng (Apr 21, 2010)

You want about 5 to 7 x the main tank fro flow rate. 70g = 350gph to 490gph.

When you size the pump add up the head (height) from the pump to the highest point on the return line. Add 1ft for every 90deg bend and make sure the pump you purchase can meet the flow requirements.


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## upster (Apr 21, 2010)

300 sounds a bit steep for a pump and overflow box. Check out King ed's. You could probably get away with a mag 7 ($110ish) and one of their overflow boxes ($70ish). I saw a Tunze 1073.020 at J&L recently for a really good price.

Here's a head loss calculator:

http://www.reefcentral.com/index.php/head-loss-calculator


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## Rastapus (Apr 21, 2010)

Tony_3a said:


> Ok, as some of you may know im very new to this, i have the hagen osaka so a sump could be hard, but i think i want one. I have a 70 gallon tank, what gph pump do i need? I need a overflow as well, where should i get that? Also what is the minimum size of sump i should have for this tank, i am squeezing it into the stand which doesnt have a whole lot of room in it.
> 
> I was at oceanic corals where i have bought my live rock from and the guys there are amazing, he said for about 300 bucks i could get the overflow and the pump, id just need a container that would fit under my tank, he suggested a rubbermade container or something.
> 
> ...


An Osaka is a unique cabinet and is not designed to hold a sump of any decent size. I have seen one who has done it and it was noisy and tight. The sump was on the middle section, not hidden from view.


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## architeuthis (Apr 22, 2010)

I had a 10 gallon aquarium as a sump on one of my 65 gallon reef tanks and it worked fine. 
That's as big as could get in the stand and still fit in the protein skimmer.
The smaller the sump the more often you have to top it up though..

Buy a good sized pump and put a ball valve on it so you can adjust the flow to the overflow's capacity.

My 65 gallon reef had a 3600 gph pump on it.(It was left over from some of my bigger reef tanks, so I used it)
I ran branches from it to power a beckett style protein skimmer and 6 return outlets.


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