2quills
Well-Known Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by mcmasterson http:///forum/thread/381467/eshopps-vs-lifereef-overflow/60#post_3327461
Posted and didnt even see the new posts from today! Corey, that is a great idea about using the plastic baffle underneath the glass. Since i already have the glass pieces purchased, maybe it will make sense to go the glass route over acrylic for better adhesion. The nice thing with my skimmer is that it is magnetized so i can raise and lower extremely easy. So i think making the baffle a tad higher than the skimmer requirements which are 8-8.5" might be easier to give the skimmer a little breathing room. If the sweet spot ends up being lower or higher i will have some wiggle room to work with.
I am thinking of opting for Al's 3rd drawing implementing the bubble tower and using the 1st baffle as part of the tower to save space. I will however swap the refugium with the return and make the middle the refugium. It seems like you guys really like the return in the center. If i am really looking to slow flow down wont it be more beneficial to have the return last in line to let the flow hit up against the rocks/algae in the refugium to aid in slowing down before hitting the return? I guess less plumbing for me that way as well. Also, the last drawing will have a 4x4" bubble tower allowing more rocks in it to slow flow compared with 3.25"x3.25" in the middle drawing.
My tank is in dire need to get this up and running! Hair algae is getting so sickening to look at
Sounds like a good idea on the baffle height for the skimmer section.
The thing about having the return in the middle is that you can split your drain line and control the amount of water going through the fuge. The reason being as that you can increase the dwell time of the water in the fuge. If you're running things like a sand bed and macro algea it is but better to have a slow amount of flow traveling though it because it gives the macro and bacteria in the fuge more time to do what it's supposed to do. The way alot of people do it is to have 75% of your drain water going through your skimmer and approximately 25% going through the fuge. This is not to say that the other way WON'T work...I'm just trying to point out that your fuge will be more efficient if done in the other fashion as illustrated above.
Your return pump will determine the rate of flow through your sump. Your overflow is going to drain the excact same amount of water that is being pushed into your tank by the pump. Having the fuge before the return won't to anything to slow the rate of flow down. If that were somehow to happen would you would end up with is your pump pumping water faster into your tank than it would be recieving in the return chamber. If that makes sense. Again, not trying to knock anybody elses design or what the previous builder you spoke with was trying to sugguest. Guys have been doing it that way for years. But more recent studies have shown this newer way to be quite efficient.
Originally Posted by mcmasterson http:///forum/thread/381467/eshopps-vs-lifereef-overflow/60#post_3327461
Posted and didnt even see the new posts from today! Corey, that is a great idea about using the plastic baffle underneath the glass. Since i already have the glass pieces purchased, maybe it will make sense to go the glass route over acrylic for better adhesion. The nice thing with my skimmer is that it is magnetized so i can raise and lower extremely easy. So i think making the baffle a tad higher than the skimmer requirements which are 8-8.5" might be easier to give the skimmer a little breathing room. If the sweet spot ends up being lower or higher i will have some wiggle room to work with.
I am thinking of opting for Al's 3rd drawing implementing the bubble tower and using the 1st baffle as part of the tower to save space. I will however swap the refugium with the return and make the middle the refugium. It seems like you guys really like the return in the center. If i am really looking to slow flow down wont it be more beneficial to have the return last in line to let the flow hit up against the rocks/algae in the refugium to aid in slowing down before hitting the return? I guess less plumbing for me that way as well. Also, the last drawing will have a 4x4" bubble tower allowing more rocks in it to slow flow compared with 3.25"x3.25" in the middle drawing.
My tank is in dire need to get this up and running! Hair algae is getting so sickening to look at
Sounds like a good idea on the baffle height for the skimmer section.
The thing about having the return in the middle is that you can split your drain line and control the amount of water going through the fuge. The reason being as that you can increase the dwell time of the water in the fuge. If you're running things like a sand bed and macro algea it is but better to have a slow amount of flow traveling though it because it gives the macro and bacteria in the fuge more time to do what it's supposed to do. The way alot of people do it is to have 75% of your drain water going through your skimmer and approximately 25% going through the fuge. This is not to say that the other way WON'T work...I'm just trying to point out that your fuge will be more efficient if done in the other fashion as illustrated above.
Your return pump will determine the rate of flow through your sump. Your overflow is going to drain the excact same amount of water that is being pushed into your tank by the pump. Having the fuge before the return won't to anything to slow the rate of flow down. If that were somehow to happen would you would end up with is your pump pumping water faster into your tank than it would be recieving in the return chamber. If that makes sense. Again, not trying to knock anybody elses design or what the previous builder you spoke with was trying to sugguest. Guys have been doing it that way for years. But more recent studies have shown this newer way to be quite efficient.
