building 1st sump/refugium (pics)

[draginit]

right, now that you mention it i dont think im going to drill as it wasnt in my original plan to do so. and i like how chuckcac set his up.
i took this pic from chuckcac's thread...hope you dont mind! but after rereading his entire thread i realized i need this too.(circled in red) so im going to push the fuge back just enough to incorparate this. im going to read up on pumps a little more and i think im ready to assemble this weekend.

-i gotta look still, but are OF boxes pretty cheap or should i attempt to build my own too. suggestions?

 

[wattsupdoc]

Well, cheap is a relative term. Chucks design is a good one. Incorpoarate that into you design and you should be OK. However, you could do well to wait for someone to double check your calcs. Tim and the others here now their stuff! Couple things I see with the design. Not bad mind you but worth looking at. Utilizing mechanical and chemical filtration through the baffles is a good thing. However, with carbon between the baffles of the skimmer compartment. The media is going to collect debritouse and plug up. Also air bubbles will do this. The water level in that compartment will raise and thow your skimmer off. Not a problem if you only run it periodically for a few days then remove it. But if you plan to run it continuosly...... Also the foam in the other bublle trap will do the same thing, only easier. Eventually, with it in that seaction, it will push out from it. I would recomend running BOTH chemical and mechanical filtration through the fuge's set of baffles. Placing them in the fisrt set leaving the fuge. You can cut a couple small pieces of acrylic.(1/2in wide the length of the baffles will work). Glue them to the inside of the first two baffles leaving the fuge. So water flows down into them. Then place a small pice of eggcrate on top of that. To lay the media on. As well as keeping it from being pushed down. Do this far enough down to hold whaterver sponge you'll be using, and a sock with carbo in it as well as maybe room for another. But high enough up to reach it easily. Follow me? The water will rise in the fuge and wont have any effect on the skimmer. I'll post a pic.

 

[joncat24]

I would recommend that you only go with 1" spacing on the baffles and 1" up from the bottom. I have tried several various designs and 1" seems to be the best for bubble elimination. Also I would not go 14" high with your fuge baffle if your total height is 16". I would go mor like 11.5 -12 " with your fuge section hieght. pm me if you would like to talk about it.

 

[wattsupdoc]

Redd = acrylic "blocks"
Blue = eggcrate
Yellow = sponge
Black = carbon
Of course this is just my opinion and preference here.