Sump Dividers

[Allen]

Should these all be the same height ?

Or should each section's divider be slightly lower to allow the flow to go one direction ?

 

[Allen]

i will be glad when the US wakes up - all day and no replies

I was hoping to order the glass today.

 

[mr.dark-saint]

I take it you're building. First you need to figure out bio-balls, media or no media since they need different styles. Then you also need to know the flow rate of the water coming down from the tank as well as the return water pump.

But for the quick "Nickel" fix I'd say to keep the hight lower than the lip of the tank so it has a hard time over flowing. Now if you want to gap the bottom and place a square of foam then make sure the opening is larger since there is a slight restriction from the foam. Look on line for some designs .

 

[SkiFletch]

Unfortunately it all depends on what you want to accomplish with your sump Allen . I forget if you're gonna use a skimmer, refugium, or what, but you might want to start with a little paint drawing and go from there

 

[Allen]

basically its gonna house the heater, skimmer, a chunk of live rock and a return pump

its 24 inches long

drain chamber with skimmer > main section with LR and heater > 3 bubble baffles > return section with pump.

skimmer chamber 6 "
main section 10 "
baffles 2"
return chamber 6"

the sump is 15" deep but I need 3" to take any water that will drain from main display in power out.

I though skimmer chamber 10" deep
main section 9.5" deep
bubble baffles 9.5" deep
return chamber 9" deep

would that work ?

 

[SkiFletch]

So your return chamber would be 6Lx10Wx9H"? Otherwise known as about a 2 gallon capacity on a 30g tank. That will work, but evaporation might get ahead of you in the summer. I'd keep the heights where they are and lengthen the final chamber to 8" and shrink the main chamber also to 8".

 

[Allen]

So the drop of 0.5 inches will keep the flow moving in one direction ?

tank is 24" x 12"

evaporation in summer, in the UK ?

 

[SkiFletch]

Oh yeah, evaporation in the summer. Remember, when evap occurs it only does so in the final chamber of the sump where the pump is. The pump is always pushing water through the system so if a little water evaporates from the display, its replaced from what the pump pushes up, therefore all loss of water is "seen" in that last chamber. If you dont have enough final chamber volume you're forced to topup frequently. Id still go with both main and final chambers at 8". I just measured mine now that I'm nome and its 12x10x8 and I wish it were larger. Now my tank is bigger than yours so it will have more evap, but still, you dont want to skimp on that last section.

 

[Allen]

so to clarify - my dividers should be lower than each other to enable flow ?

or should they all be the same height ?

 

[SkiFletch]

A picture is worth a thousand words. Both sumps assume that the tank overflow is in the left most side and the pump is in the right most side. The first sump has shorter baffles, water cascades downward. The second has taller baffles on the right and forces an even water level through out. Either way works.