Custom sump

[swfishguy]

Hello. I recently had a custom sump made to fit under my 55 gallon tank. it is 47in x 9.5in x 13in. It was done a reduced price so I took advantage of it. One flaw I did notice was the flow. I should have lowered the last divider or put teeth in it to speed of the flow. Here are some images:
Full size image:

Under Tank:

Return: (has sponge for pods, phosphate bags, and of course the return pump)

Refugium:

Intake:

Basically its a flow through refugium design instead of refugium being in the last part of the sump. My intake is basically reduced in size to make just enough room for the protein skimmer area. The refugium is longer and bigger. There is a pod population of about 3000+ in the refugium and tank. I know because I purchased that much. The pods flow into the return area. I noticed some did not get suck in the return pump so I just put some sponge in there to basically keep them breeding and so on. Also by narrowing the box for the intake I noticed that a lot more stuff is being removed out the water because it more concentrated. please do leave your feedback. thanks for reading.

 

[snakeblitz33]

Looks good to me, however your macroalgae may benefit from a larger light that is closer to the water.

 

[swfishguy]

Thanks for replying snake. I was thinking about that as well but I wasn't sure should I do that and you just confirmed.

 

[snakeblitz33]

Try buying some electrical cord velcro... easy stuff to use - and it may help you organize your electrical work a little better. I like seeing how clean everything is - but to make it show-case, you may want to figure out where to stash your cords.
Floodlights are really good at growing macroalgae.

 

[acrylic51]

Quote:Originally Posted by SWfishguy http:///t/393346/custom-sump#post_3498511
Hello. I recently had a custom sump made to fit under my 55 gallon tank. it is 47in x 9.5in x 13in. It was done a reduced price so I took advantage of it. One flaw I did notice was the flow. I should have lowered the last divider or put teeth in it to speed of the flow. Here are some images:
Full size image:

Under Tank:
How high is your last baffle.......Honestly you don't want teeth on the last baffle. It creates turbulence and depending on the drop to the water surface can create a micro bubble issue in that area and sucked back into the DT......The flow should flow smoothly doesn't need to be a fast paced flow.....By the way looks very good!!!!!!
You might considering running your Phos remover in an active mode meaning through a canister or water being forced through the media.....Running it "passively" in bags not nearly as efficient and not getting the full benefit of your media, and remember to keep the sponge clean.....
Return: (has sponge for pods, phosphate bags, and of course the return pump)


Refugium:

Intake:

Basically its a flow through refugium design instead of refugium being in the last part of the sump. My intake is basically reduced in size to make just enough room for the protein skimmer area. The refugium is longer and bigger. There is a pod population of about 3000+ in the refugium and tank. I know because I purchased that much. The pods flow into the return area. I noticed some did not get suck in the return pump so I just put some sponge in there to basically keep them breeding and so on. Also by narrowing the box for the intake I noticed that a lot more stuff is being removed out the water because it more concentrated. please do leave your feedback. thanks for reading.

 

[swfishguy]

Well the last baffle, is 7inches high. The same as the other. By teething the last baffle it will speed up because the water in the the Refugium is not creating enough flow therefore it is becoming still water.

 

[acrylic51]

Agree on possibly lowering the last baffle, but putting teeth through it will create turbulence......Do you have a router handy or a Rotozip......The baffle could be cut down a bit to your liking, but will be rather tedious........

 

[2quills]

How does adding teeth to the baffles increase flow? You still have the same amount of water leaving the refugium as you do coming into it. What you're actually doing is creating more resistance, not decreasing it. Which will probably create more turbulence in the return chamber (as was mentioned) and potentially cause micro bubbles that will be picked up by the pump and blown into the display. And besides, didn't slow flow through a fuge used to be what was desired?

 

[acrylic51]

I think the thought about adding teeth would technically be that by adding the teeth you would in affect be lowering the point will water would pass over.....Being the top of the baffle is 7" and you add 1" teeth, so the water level would be 6" theoretically speaking,

 

[2quills]

Quote:
Originally Posted by acrylic51 http:///t/393346/custom-sump#post_3498664
I think the thought about adding teeth would technically be that by adding the teeth you would in affect be lowering the point will water would pass over.....Being the top of the baffle is 7" and you add 1" teeth, so the water level would be 6" theoretically speaking,
Correct. But effectively all you're doing is causing the water that leaves the fuge to fall into the return chamber at a faster rate of speed right? Correct me if I'm wrong but you would not actually be increasing the volume of water that passes through the fuge, but rather you would be increasing the velocity at which the water in the trap, travels through the teeth and over the last baffle. And typically this might actually create more micro bubbles than it would with no teeth?
I remember getting into a discussion with that bean animal character about my sump. He didn't like that I had teeth cut on both of my baffles on either side of the return chamber. He says that teeth just create more resistance, slow the flow down, cause the water level in the fuge to rise slightly higher but then just creates more turbulence in the return chamber due to the velocity at which the water travels through the teeth. In my case I told him I knew that but my sump was rather large for the system so the rate of flow does not cause this to be an issue with bubbles in the return chamber in my case. I just like the look of having the teeth on there and how it drains lol.

 

[acrylic51]

Quote:
Originally Posted by 2Quills http:///t/393346/custom-sump#post_3498666
Correct. But effectively all you're doing is causing the water that leaves the fuge to fall into the return chamber at a faster rate of speed right? Correct me if I'm wrong but you would not actually be increasing the volume of water that passes through the fuge, but rather you would be increasing the velocity at which the water in the trap, travels through the teeth and over the last baffle. And typically this might actually create more micro bubbles than it would with no teeth? Correct....All that would be increased is the speed in which the water would fill the return chamber......And you are correct depending on the drop from the last baffle into the return chamber could create micro bubbles, as I mentioned earlier, but I am under the impression with it set as it was built possibly his return pump returns faster than it's being supplied drawing the return chamber low......
I remember getting into a discussion with that bean animal character about my sump. He didn't like that I had teeth cut on both of my baffles on either side of the return chamber. He says that teeth just create more resistance, slow the flow down, cause the water level in the fuge to rise slightly higher but then just creates more turbulence in the return chamber due to the velocity at which the water travels through the teeth. In my case I told him I knew that but my sump was rather large for the system so the rate of flow does not cause this to be an issue with bubbles in the return chamber in my case. I just like the look of having the teeth on there and how it drains lol. I like the look of teeth as well, and Bean was correct in the resistance affect....That's why when the question is raised about teeth in an overflow box, most will recommend either going without or widening them.....They do cut flow down......
The only way the flow would be faster is bigger pump and in affect the overflow would have to be able to support the increase of return flow.....Most custom builders IMO would recommend the overflow without "teeth" and coming up with an alternative to "teeth", only because depending on what the plans are for the tank, the smooth "flow over" allows increased flow, and as pointed out less restriction, but depending on tank design creates a possible problem with fish and stuff being sucked over. That's why when I built designed and we hashed out the issues with the overflow I went with the removable grates...My teeth are wide, polished, which does cut down on turbulence, but as I pointed out you still need a way to keep things out of the overflow.

 

[swfishguy]

Ok of it this way. The overflow in the display tank creates a small current even with return and circ pumps off. It's not strong but the water isn't still. Because the baffles are equal in length the flow is steady and the current is ulta small do to it having to go through the bubble traps. Creates still water in the Refugium because the water in the bubble trap is slowing moving and filling up that area. If I lower, which requires tedious work, that would increase the flow because the water would exit the bubble trap at say 6in instead at 7in. Teeth is an alternate because its less tedious and can vary in size. You might have in mind .5 in teeth with .1 spacings. I'm thinking of bigger teeth and bigger spacing. Also I have sponge that collects the bubble as they come in and it reduces air bubble significantly. Also the chamber is quite spacious which means most the bubbles will float out before it even make it to the pump that's if I move the pump to the far end.

 

[2quills]

So the thinking here is that by creating a small waterfall on the fuge side of the bubble chamber that it's going to create more surface current and that this is going to effectively make the fuge more efficient somehow?

 

[acrylic51]

Quote:
Originally Posted by 2Quills http:///t/393346/custom-sump#post_3498695
So the thinking here is that by creating a small waterfall on the fuge side of the bubble chamber that it's going to create more surface current and that this is going to effectively make the fuge more efficient somehow?
Why not just add a small PH to the fuge area to stimulate water movement.....

 

[swfishguy]

Try buying some electrical cord velcro... easy stuff to use - and it may help you organize your electrical work a little better. I like seeing how clean everything is - but to make it show-case, you may want to figure out where to stash your cords.
Floodlights are really good at growing macroalgae.
It's a mini flood light fixture with a plant growing bulb. The algae has since grown and spread across the sump. I will upload a pic in a little bit for you to see.
Why not just add a small PH to the fuge area to stimulate water movement.....
Too much equipment to maintain. Even though I wouldnt have to maintain if for some time, it will still be another piece of equipment I would have to buy and make sure does its job. I'd rather modify the last baffle so that its automated, free, and will surely do the job without maintenance.

 

[acrylic51]

Looking and tossing the idea around, the only thing I can see you honestly gaining from cutting the last baffle down is the velocity the water moves will increase......To push the flow faster through the sump that is dependent on your return pump/overflow......