# Design for sump on a planted tank with co2



## kacairns

Just starting my initial brain storming on how to properly and most effectively build my custom sump for my 180g planted tank with co2. I currently have a Marineland sump model 4 but unfortunately the design of it and height makes it not efficient for a planted tank with co2. Off gassing the co2 is horrible and if I keep up the current co2 usage I'll be spending almost $400 for a year of co2 so I must change this.

With my marineland sump I have 3 trays for media plus the bio-wheel on each intake from my tank. Tray 1 contains filter floss, Tray 2 Purigen, Tray 3 bio-chem stars on one pot scrubbers on the other. With that said, I'm sick of using filter floss, so on my new sump design I'm hoping to incorporate socks and have 2 sets, every couple of weeks or as needed swap them out and wash the old. I've enjoyed using Purigen and plan to incorporate it into the new sump as well which leaves me down to what should I use for bio-media, but that question can be figured out as long as there is room left for it in the design.









Known details:

 40" long x 22" deep x 12" high
 Top right and left will be a 6x6" chamber for the 2 intakes from the tank, the tops will be fully sealed so that off gassing can not occur.
 The T looking thing is the 2 return pumps connected to a T made from PVC pipe that I have my diffuser inside, so that co2 diffused into the pvc pipe gets sucked into the return pumps and moved into the tank through a spray bar that is submerged.
 UV unit will be mounted on the glass above the return pump unit
 Will run 2 heaters, I think best place would be right before the intake for the return pump in a straight line with the return pump running front to back on the sump

With the above layout as seen in the image which is missing the heaters that would leave two areas on either side of the heaters that could each have a foot print of approximately 16" x 16" which I would need to figure out how to incorporate filter socks, purigen in "the bag" which work out to 5" x 8" of purigen per bag, can have upwards of 4 of them easily with what I have here, pot scrubbers or some other form of bio-media and need to keep in mind planted tank and I need to limit the amount of surface agitation with no free falling of water to limit off gassing of the co2.

Thanks for your input!


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## 77_Bus_Girl

Oh!Oh! I'm subscribing to this thread!! I look forward to seeing how you solve this problem...


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## 2wheelsx2

Have you considered using a needle wheel pump and injecting CO2 into that instead of using a diffuser? Tom Barr really likes this method on big tank and it seems to work well for a lot of people.


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## kacairns

2wheelsx2 said:


> Have you considered using a needle wheel pump and injecting CO2 into that instead of using a diffuser? Tom Barr really likes this method on big tank and it seems to work well for a lot of people.


Interesting =), had not considered that, it looks as though you can buy needle wheel impellers for certain pumps, as I've got 2 pumps I wonder if I could just replace the impellers and still use the pvc setup that I have my diffuser in, bubbles would come out of the diffuser small, then get sucked into the impellers and get chopped up even finer. Which is what the setup is doing now except the impeller doesn't chop them up too much due to having large blades.


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## 2wheelsx2

The pumps designed for protein skimmers will have needle wheel options, or if you're keen to DIY you can make the impeller a needle wheel yourself by drill holes, wrapping mesh around it, etc. Lots of youtube vids and threads out there for that. The reason I got away from diffusers is that they need to be cleaned so often, but now that I'm using the Bazooka ones I've only ever cleaned the 2 of them once, so maybe it's not an issue depending on the diffuser.


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## kacairns

2wheelsx2 said:


> The pumps designed for protein skimmers will have needle wheel options, or if you're keen to DIY you can make the impeller a needle wheel yourself by drill holes, wrapping mesh around it, etc. Lots of youtube vids and threads out there for that. The reason I got away from diffusers is that they need to be cleaned so often, but now that I'm using the Bazooka ones I've only ever cleaned the 2 of them once, so maybe it's not an issue depending on the diffuser.


Thanks, will have to go DIY in one form or another will be looking at this for sure. Replacing 2 pumps or even one is out of the budget for sure!


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## 2wheelsx2

What pumps do you have now? I know Mag makes and sells replacement needle wheel impellers for their pumps and so does Eheim.


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## Reckon

Where are you getting off gassing? A sump is great but a reactor is less work?


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## kacairns

Reckon said:


> Where are you getting off gassing? A sump is great but a reactor is less work?


Off gassing is happening at multiple points in the sump as I'm unable to completely seal it. Water entering the intake chamber on the sump entering at 300-500gph is creating lots of turbulence in the water at that point, with the way the marineland sump is designed I'd have to completely seal the 3 media trays in, and thus wouldn't be able to change filter floss without cutting it open every 2 weeks. Also the water falling down to the bio-wheel I would assume is causing off gassing and from the bio-wheel chamber to the centre chamber where I have the heater is another water fall which is causing off gassing.

I'm trying to design a sump to replace my current one and not have to spend $1000 on canister filters. Technically the pvc setup I have for my co2 is a reactor to some extent which I will modify the pumps to maximize the co2 utilization, which then just leaves me with designing the sump to prevent the loss of my co2.


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