Thoughts on a 20G sump for 125G freshwater

[PineHill]

I have an extra 20g lying around that I could easily turn into a sump for my upcoming 125G FW Oscar tank.  I could make it work, however would it waaay too small?

Chris

[beowulf]

I don't think it would be to small.  But the bigger you can get the better of course.

[PineHill]

Yea, I figured the bigger the more water volume I would be adding to my show tank.  However the 20G fits nicely under the stand and leaves a lot of room for other equipment.

[bitterman]

20G might not be enough. This is depependant on how much water you need above your water pump intake and how much runoff front he tank occurs when the power goes out. For a 125 I think a 30 Gallon tank might be the smallest you want to use. A 50-75 gallon tank would be ideal.

To determine if it will work for you setup the system, get it running at the level of water you want in the sump (Probably not allot) then unplug the power. Then see how much the water level increase.. Be very carefully and watch to see if the bottom tank overflows (Plug the water pump back in to avoid a flood if needed)

Bruce