Flower's Sump/Fuge Build

flower

flower

Well-Known Member

A tank that is 14.5 X 16 X 15 how much water does this tank hold?
A tank that is 24 X 14.5 X 16 how much water will that tank hold?
I have tried to calculate it but I'm a math cripple. I don't want to add the sand, rock and skimmer to see what water volume I would have, I just would like to know what each tank holds in water only. Can anyone do the math for me?
 
acrylic51

acrylic51

Active Member
Don't panic Flower!!!! When we originally had drawn up plans and dimensions I had taken into account space inside. I didn't want it to be snug with no wiggle room... The sump would need to go in first and rotated correctly into place and the the fuge should easily go in!!!
 
acrylic51

acrylic51

Active Member
As far as capacity you would need to measure to where the water woul start to flow out of the bulkheads. That would be your height. Then you just need to multiply your length x width x height / 231=.
 
2quills

2quills

Well-Known Member
Hey Flower I had already worked out those calculations for you. I broke it down by how much each tank would hold if they were completely full and then I broke it down again to what each tank will hold once they are running with the baffle and drain heights figured in. I think it's somewhere in the first 10 pages of the thread. If you can't find it by this evening then I'll double check when I get home.
Off the top of my head though I believe the combined total of both tanks was going to increase your overall water volume by 28 Gallons if I'm not mistaken. That's with just water only. Once you add in the sand and equipment then that number will probably drop to somewhere around 25 Gallons. Again, I'll double check later for you, unless someone else wants to calculate the numbers as well to see if we're within the same range.
 
flower

flower

Well-Known Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by 2Quills http:///forum/thread/380517/flower-s-sump-fuge-build/1380#post_3335454
Hey Flower I had already worked out those calculations for you. I broke it down by how much each tank would hold if they were completely full and then I broke it down again to what each tank will hold once they are running with the baffle and drain heights figured in. I think it's somewhere in the first 10 pages of the thread. If you can't find it by this evening then I'll double check when I get home.
Off the top of my head though I believe the combined total of both tanks was going to increase your overall water volume by 28 Gallons if I'm not mistaken. That's with just water only. Once you add in the sand and equipment then that number will probably drop to somewhere around 25 Gallons. Again, I'll double check later for you, unless someone else wants to calculate the numbers as well to see if we're within the same range.

LOL...Page 10...I will go look for it.
Can’t find it. I remember the calculations, and the reason I had asked was because I wanted at that time to know how much extra volume of water so when I made saltwater for the new system and a water change I had enough made up. That’s where my mind was, and that’s all the info it retained.
Now when I tell people about my sump and fuge they ask me how big are the tanks...LOL..I hold out my arms and say “about this big” what they want to know is how many gallons like a 10g tank or a 20g tank. It was a detail I didn’t really care about at the time and now I need it so I won’t look stupid, which is getting harder to pull off as the years pass.
 
J

jstdv8

Guest
well, using shawns calculations and your measurements then total gallons for the small one is about 15 gallons and the large one is 24 gallons. That is total volume, not the actual volume of water since the water won't fill up the whole thing.
 
2quills

2quills

Well-Known Member
Sorry Flower it was actually on page 16. I don't trust those online tank calculators. I prefere to add it up the old fashion way. This is what I had your tanks pegged at with the origional measurements. They should still be pretty much the same as I don't think they guys did anything different than what was origionaly planned.
24G sump
18G fuge.
Quote:
Originally Posted by 2Quills http:///forum/thread/380517/flower-s-sump-fuge-build/300#post_3314724
The over all size of the two tanks will be a 24g sump and a 18g fuge. For a total of 42g.
But since they aren't going to be filled to the top when I put the actual measurements of where the water lines will be into the calculater I come up with 13.2g in the sump and 15g in the fuge. Backflow will only happen in the sump tank (not the fuge) since water is just going to drain from the fuge into the sump. So I figure at best we can shave off a gallon of overall water volume in your sump to account for the equipment (skimmer and pump/return pump, float switch, heater...etc.) yet the water level is still going to remain the same. There will be a little fluxuation with evaporation inbetween the times when the level in the return chamber drops and when the ATO actually tops the chamber off.
What it boils down to essentially is that your sump system would be able to handle Approximately 10G of backflow, should it need to. But with proper installatioin of your return and the moderate amount of water that remains in the tank untill it drops below your overflow we should be able to minize that to just a few gallons or less.
Basically you will be increasing the overall water volume of your tank by approximately 28 Gallons.
 
flower

flower

Well-Known Member

I answered this post hours ago or at least assumed I did and I look at again and my post doesn’t exist….I don’t know what’s going on with this site but it’s really annoying.
Thank you for the answer. I looked from page 8 through 13 and gave up. Now at least I can answer a simple question and not look foolish.
 
flower

flower

Well-Known Member

I got my fuge all set, my boss grinded the holes last night and made sure they fit the bulkheads.
My boss also gave me a 20g tank to use for a QT or HT in exchange for my 10g. So it's all coming together..I can't wait to get tis up and going.
 
flower

flower

Well-Known Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by acrylic51 http:///forum/thread/380517/flower-s-sump-fuge-build/1380#post_3335753
Cool.......Was it super easy? It probably took him 5-10 minutes tops????

Yes ...LOL..I stood right there watching every move. One coworker commented that he was surprised I would trust anyone to touch it or carry it besides me. My boss loves fish tanks so I felt I could trust him, I knew he understood how important this fuge was to me. I had let him read the posts on my laptop a few weeks ago.
It didn't take him long at all, the grinder got hot and it really went fast..he would stop and check to make sure the bulkhead fit..as soon as it did he cleaned the edges up a tiny bit and stopped.
I must admit I was worried. I even thought of just replacing the fixtures, but then I wouldn't have the custom ones you made with the little grills and extensions. But he did a nice job, not perfect like a drill hole makes (it's free hand) but it seals good and it fits exact so that's good enough for me.
Is there any trick to getting all the havings out? I can take a vacuum hose to it, with the rim if I use water I will always have something left...I haven't made any effort on it yet.
 
flower

flower

Well-Known Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by Al&Burke http:///forum/thread/380517/flower-s-sump-fuge-build/1380#post_3335782
That is great Flower, you can vaccum out the plastic chips. Let's see a picture of the mod's.

Okay here you go...it isn't pretty but it's functional. He made a superficial scratch mark but it didn't compromise the integrity of the fuge. LOL..You should have seen the look on his face when he noticed the look on mine. He was doing me a favor so I couldn’t be too upset.

It did the job..he said to use a piece of fine sand paper to get the edges real smooth to make a good seal. So I still have to do that.
 
J

jstdv8

Guest
sweet, easy fix :)
Heck even the scratch you could buff most of the way out, but its not gonna be seen much anyways, thing of beauty. I'm jealous, I got a regualr old 55g sump with a gallon of silicone holding my acrylic baffles in, your's is so pretty.
 
flower

flower

Well-Known Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jstdv8 http:///forum/thread/380517/flower-s-sump-fuge-build/1380#post_3335829
sweet, easy fix :)
Heck even the scratch you could buff most of the way out, but its not gonna be seen much anyways, thing of beauty. I'm jealous, I got a regualr old 55g sump with a gallon of silicone holding my acrylic baffles in, your's is so pretty.

Don't be too hard on yours..mine gives me 28g of water volume when it's all said and done because my stand is so cramped. That regular 55g sump is pretty sweet for functional reasons.
I wouldn't trade my fuge and sump for anything because of all the love that went into making it for me, I agree it sure is pretty!
 
flower

flower

Well-Known Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by Al&Burke http:///forum/thread/380517/flower-s-sump-fuge-build/1380#post_3335928
Flower - it looks great, never mind the scratch, he did a good job, nice to see the bulkheads in it.

I was so excited when it arrived, the first thing I tried to do was put them in...I was so upset that I had given you the wrong size...Finally its ready to go. I can hardly wait to get the tank set up with everything running.
Everyone at work admired your handywork. Seeing how heavy duty it is really drove home how hard the gorillas had to mishandle it to have the first one ruined.
 
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