Would This Be Ok For A Sump/ref

[dannywrc]

need to get the sump dividers siliconed in, this is where they are atm . iv never made a sump so not sure where they need to be and at what height. please help

 

[-Nemo-]

Sump dividers (Called baffles) have many ways in which they can be placed. What different chambers are you looking for? Most of the placement will be based on your equipment, ie. the chamber for your skimmer has to be able to FIT your skimmer.

If you need to know how high to make all of your baffles, they need to be as high as your water level, or slightly lower. Just make sure your water level is low enough in the sump to take in extra water from the main tank in case the pump turns off!!

The only other thing I can suggest is to have a bubble trap, which work well.

Here is a picture of my new sump with chambers labeled

I wanted as large as a refugium chamber as possible, so I made my other two sections as small as possible. The first chamber just fits my skimmer (skimmer is not in there yet), and also houses a chemical reactor. Next is the bubble trap I was talking about. The point of these three baffles is to remove bubbles created by the first chamber. Next is the refugium, the egg crate is not necessary on top. I have there as I plan to house critters in there and I don't want them escaping. Then next is the pump section which barely fits the pump. I have slits cut in the baffle between the refugium and pump section so that when water evaporates, water from those two chambers lowers instead of just the pump chamber. I didn't want to run the risk of the pump somehow running dry.


If you want more info on the bubble trap, here's how it works:
It's made of three baffles each ONE INCH apart from one another,
the first and third go from the bottom of the tank up to the water level
the second in the middle, is ONE INCH off the bottom of the tank and extends higher than the water level

This makes the water flow over the first baffle, under the second, then over the third which decreases bubbles.



If you want more information on sump design in general, this is a very good resource: http/www.melevsreef.com/allmysumps.html


Hope this helps you out.

 

[dannywrc]

Sump dividers (Called baffles) have many ways in which they can be placed. What different chambers are you looking for? Most of the placement will be based on your equipment, ie. the chamber for your skimmer has to be able to FIT your skimmer.

If you need to know how high to make all of your baffles, they need to be as high as your water level, or slightly lower. Just make sure your water level is low enough in the sump to take in extra water from the main tank in case the pump turns off!!

The only other thing I can suggest is to have a bubble trap, which work well.

Here is a picture of my new sump with chambers labeled

I wanted as large as a refugium chamber as possible, so I made my other two sections as small as possible. The first chamber just fits my skimmer (skimmer is not in there yet), and also houses a chemical reactor. Next is the bubble trap I was talking about. The point of these three baffles is to remove bubbles created by the first chamber. Next is the refugium, the egg crate is not necessary on top. I have there as I plan to house critters in there and I don't want them escaping. Then next is the pump section which barely fits the pump. I have slits cut in the baffle between the refugium and pump section so that when water evaporates, water from those two chambers lowers instead of just the pump chamber. I didn't want to run the risk of the pump somehow running dry.


If you want more info on the bubble trap, here's how it works:
It's made of three baffles each ONE INCH apart from one another,
the first and third go from the bottom of the tank up to the water level
the second in the middle, is ONE INCH off the bottom of the tank and extends higher than the water level

This makes the water flow over the first baffle, under the second, then over the third which decreases bubbles.



If you want more information on sump design in general, this is a very good resource: http/www.melevsreef.com/allmysumps.html


Hope this helps you out.

thats helped me a lot wasnt really sure on what i needed to do

the plan was to have a really small inlet chamber with carbon and phos remover in it, a ref with macro algae & pods and a pump chamber as wide as the pump. didnt know what the bubble trap was until you just said so need to get some more perspex tomorrow

i was just gonna leave the skimmer in the hood for now as its a V2 compact one and not that noticable. hopefully it wont be too loud or ill have to put it in the sump.

the tank will be filled with the return pump off to get the levels right.

 

[john.o]

Ok just to add to what nemo has said...
I would personally cut the down flow pipe a little shorter than what you have it, {so that you can get a filter sock on and off it, {you won’t believe how much crap these cache!}
Also your refuge, are you having a dsb if so I would consider placing a baffle at each end so that the water flow gets forced down and runs across the top of the sand bed keeping it clear of sludge, also one other thing to remember is evap {this will always happen in your last chamber of your sump} so the smaller the chamber the more fluctuation you are going to have height wise {what I am trying to say is the smaller it is the more likely it is that the water could drop below the return pump inlet and start pulling air or worse still burn the pump out, so you might one to consider a auto top up if you’re going to have a really small return pump chamber.

 

[john.o]

Ignore section 6 that’s my RO water chamber for auto top ups

 

[dannywrc]

thanks, thats similar to what iv done. heres a pic. does this look like it would work?

do the teeth have to be narrower? all of the ones iv seen tend to have big gaps between them. gonna open up that slot in the inlet chamber wall and cover it with mesh to allow flow over the sand.

 

[-Nemo-]

Teeth are fine, mine aren't large either, you can see the water coming out in my picture from them. The only real reason for them is too help break the fall of the water and also I wanted to again, keep any critters from escaping. Like me and John both stated, be careful with your pump section, you might want to do what I did and put slots in the middle of the baffle in between the pump and refugium section. This way, the water will lower slowly in both sections instead of quickly in the pump.

Here's a close up I had taken previously of that baffle.

Do you have the middle baffle of the bubble trap 1" off the bottom? Difficult to tell in the picture. Also make sure it extends high enough above water level so the water HAS to go under it.

Looks good otherwise.

 

[john.o]

gonna open up that slot in the inlet chamber wall and cover it with mesh to allow flow over the sand.

Umm what depth is your DSB going to be?
Just that slot looks really low down on the baffle

 

[dannywrc]

thanks was wondering if it was gonna work or not. yeah the baffle is pretty much 1 inch up, maybe a little less and it should be above the water line. was gonna put the sand bed to just under the line and put some macro algae and LR in there. is that ok or do i need more sand?

 

[john.o]

I personally would recommend a minimum of a 6 inch deep sand bed, making sure you use the correct size sand grain, {this is very important if the DSB is to function properly}

Also a DSB won’t work miracles over night, it takes a lot of patience and time for a DSB to fully mature, the best way to speed things along are to lay small pieces of LR rubble over the top of the sand bed {or even better the sludge from the bottom of your LFS live rock curing tank is ideal }

 

[dannywrc]

I personally would recommend a minimum of a 6 inch deep sand bed, making sure you use the correct size sand grain, {this is very important if the DSB is to function properly}

Also a DSB won’t work miracles over night, it takes a lot of patience and time for a DSB to fully mature, the best way to speed things along are to lay small pieces of LR rubble over the top of the sand bed {or even better the sludge from the bottom of your LFS live rock curing tank is ideal }

iv sealed up the low slot now and made it a bit higher, thanks for the HU on the maturing of the refugium, had no idea you had to do anything.

 

[dannywrc]

just filled the tank and everything is spot on only thing i would different is maybe raise the central bubble trap divider a couple more cm, still work good and when the return pump is off the water level is just under the baffle. result

got some sludge and rubble from the LFS LR holding tank too, cheers for the suggestion