Visible sump - is it gonna be ugly?

[cracker]

I'd be concerned with electrical stuff & controllers that close to all the salt air . They do look very cool though !

 

[TheLadyCrash]

After seeing all these beautiful examples I am definitely leaning towards an open sump. I have about 18” on either side of the stand or if I were to set it up running the depth of the tank, about 24”.

I could empty the tank and slide it over but not sure how much havoc that would cause. Here’s a super brightened photo just to give everyone an idea of what I’m working. The brightening filter messed with the tank so trust me, it looks much nicer.

 

[n21benson]

If you think sumps are ugly, you haven't seen @Broadfield 's

OMG! How amazing is that!

 

[n21benson]

My sump is open... Open sumps are the new "cool" thing....

WOW! Beautiful set-up!

 

[Neptune1707]

I think this will be more of a trend once the plug and play tank setup like my Red Sea Max-500 get more digitally integrated. This solves a lot of problems and creates others. A more integrated tank with dosers, software, displays will help the hobbyist be at the top of his or her game in the hobby. On the down side, more to keep clean since you can see it and will all that gorgeous sump area and electronics, not much room for supplies. My cabinet house a good size sump but has generous space for supplies etc. on the upside, people that see these tanks will see the sump area and ask questions and hopefully people gain education on the hobby....and maybe in return bring more people into the hobby. Either way, will he very cool to see where all this goes. Some really gorgeous, smart and digital savvy tanks out there, way to go reefers!!!!

 

[MapleReef]

I LOVE a visible sump but how hard is it to keep them clean? I have enough issue with my display! HA!

This was a question I had when I was designing mine. I plan on using one of the manifold valves with a hose to wash down areas of the sump.

 

[wopadobop]

I think this will be more of a trend once the plug and play tank setup like my Red Sea Max-500 get more digitally integrated. This solves a lot of problems and creates others. A more integrated tank with dosers, software, displays will help the hobbyist be at the top of his or her game in the hobby. On the down side, more to keep clean since you can see it and will all that gorgeous sump area and electronics, not much room for supplies. My cabinet house a good size sump but has generous space for supplies etc. on the upside, people that see these tanks will see the sump area and ask questions and hopefully people gain education on the hobby....and maybe in return bring more people into the hobby. Either way, will he very cool to see where all this goes. Some really gorgeous, smart and digital savvy tanks out there, way to go reefers!!!!

Room for supplies!

 

[choss]

I personally think you can easily hide your sump if you approach the problem with a eye on design and what will work in your room. I have seen a few tanks where either the sump or the electrical (or both) have been moved into a cabinet next to the display. In my case, I designed my new tank build around the concept of creating a floating display - I was pretty tired of all the traditional tank designs and frankly many people don't put a lot of detail into their stands. This can make a great display looks average. Here are a few pics of how I'm handling this and you can read more on my build thread. I'm in the final stages right now of running the plumbing to the sump.

In my design, the sump sits in the larger cabinet to the right, the left is for electrical and dosing containers. In my case, I am leveraging a smaller cube sump, and I'm taking advantage of a "fish room" below this area that houses a frag quarantine tank and my RO top off, salt water mixing station, and facilitates automatic water changes to the sump above. This makes it possible for me to maximize the sump space, and minimize the maintenance.

Here is a picture before plumbing and tank.

Sump

Hope this helps inspire a few ideas. I will be posting pictures of how I ran the plumbing this weekend.

 

[Acan man]

All of these pictures that I am looking at looks as though they are new set up’s. The sumps are very clean. Can someone post a picture that has an established reef with an open sump that looks that well.

 

[JoshH]

On a side note..... Might be worth temporary moving the tank and going with a nice built in cabinet, you have a perfect spot for one... could make the built in strong enough for a larger tank as well for whenever you decide to upgrade

 

[JoshH]

All of these pictures that I am looking at looks as though they are new set up’s. The sumps are very clean. Can someone post a picture that has an established reef with an open sump that looks that well.

Take a look at broadfields above.... definitely an established tank and has been for a while now...

 

[choss]

Broadfield's sump (pictured earlier) is immaculate but so is his entire build and his sump is still hiden. I wouldn't suggest running a visible sump. For me there are just too many wires etc. I like a clean look but that is just me.

 

[Elder1945]

My old tank with open sump and everything exposed 1.5 years of running.


Apex board 1

Apex board 2


Sump.


It takes extra time to keep things clean but I find the cleaning of my tanks to be quite therapeutic

 

[choss]

I think if you are going the exposed sump route you have to go all in. Eider that is one amazing looking setup. One of the best I've seen. Well done.

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

After seeing all these beautiful examples I am definitely leaning towards an open sump. I have about 18” on either side of the stand or if I were to set it up running the depth of the tank, about 24”.

I could empty the tank and slide it over but not sure how much havoc that would cause. Here’s a super brightened photo just to give everyone an idea of what I’m working. The brightening filter messed with the tank so trust me, it looks much nicer.

View attachment 610330

I like to consider the furniture qauilty and use of negative space in a room when designing a display. Or decorating a room with no tank. Too.
So for me that's an impotant consideration.

A tank next to that tank would blow up my OCD.
I also would fill up six pages of notebook paper with scribbles of how I want to fill the space with different shapes.

 

[Broadfield]

Broadfield's sump (pictured earlier) is immaculate but so is his entire build and his sump is still hiden. I wouldn't suggest running a visible sump. For me there are just too many wires etc. I like a clean look but that is just me.

Mine has been open for exactly one year... I just put the doors back on a week ago because I cut windows out of the stand doors. Now it's partially hidden lol. It's actually pretty easy to keep it clean. I just wipe the inside of the sump down about once/month... takes 5 minutes tops.

 

[Grey Guy]

To me, being easy to access outranks appearance, but my tank is back in the bed room.

 

[ReeferMadness80G]

I was going to keep my sump like this, but the noise got old FAST so I put a sliding acrylic door on it, that’s easily removable for ease of access and if I feel like showing it off!
However, if you can figure out a way to silence it, I think it’s a great idea! I really appreciate a Sump filled with algae’s, they are the hearts of our tanks, they sacrifice so much so our DT can look pristine! And it’s cool to show that off.

 

[choss]

I was going to keep my sump like this, but the noise got old FAST so I put a sliding acrylic door on it, that’s easily removable for ease of access and if I feel like showing it off!
However, if you can figure out a way to silence it, I think it’s a great idea! I really appreciate a Sump filled with algae’s, they are the hearts of our tanks, they sacrifice so much so our DT can look pristine! And it’s cool to show that off.

Wow - if i had that sump I would show it off too! Great point about the noise. Designing my system to be silent. Did you spray paint the elbows to match the PVC pipe? Looks fantastic!

 

[ReeferMadness80G]

Wow - if i had that sump I would show it off too! Great point about the noise. Designing my system to be silent. Did you spray paint the elbows to match the PVC pipe? Looks fantastic!

I don’t want to hijack the thread but to answer your question quickly, yes I did, and thank you!