I heard Squidd is THE MAN

[chuckcac]

I have some large sheets of 3/8"acrylic that i intended to build a snake cage to house a 8ft boa-constrictor - that was ten years ago... i dont have the snake anymore, but i still have the acrylic...
I want to build my own sump/fuge :thinking: for my (empty) 55gal
to fit under my DIY stand it will be 36"long x 9"wide x 18"tall
the intention is to house the skimmer, one of my two heaters, and cultivate pods for a (long-time-from-now) future mandarin... and maybe some macroalgae...
I know only what ive read on Squidd's past threads - and even armed with that knowledge i'm not confidant that i'm setting this up right...
I hope this works... i never posted a pic before

 

[chuckcac]

i should also add;
I dont want to drill the 55gallon because ---in the future if i upgrade (and I'm sure i will) it is my hope to use the 55 as a fuge for a 150+tank.
So i will be using an overflow with a standpipe that i also intend to build myself...

 

[slugg3r]

OK, here are my thoughts but I'm sure others will chime in as well.
I don't see the need for the first baffle on the left, just let the water fall into the fuge directly.
I think you need another baffle between the fuge and the return. Your return section will rise and fall with evaporation and when it falls too low you will get bubbles from the water falling over the fuge baffle. I would put another baffle after the fuge for the water to go under at least.
If I am doing my calculations right your return section will only have 1.7 gallons (5.5 X 8 X 9), way too small. Do you have auto topoff? You could be losing around a gallon per day which would put the pump above water. Even with an auto toppoff system I like to have some leeway if it fails.

 

[slugg3r]

Oh, and I'm a big fan of putting Unions and ball valves all over the place. You'd be surprised how often something happens and you wish you had one somewhere else.

 

[chuckcac]

Slugg3r - thanks for the input -

just to make sure i get this :thinking:
1- loose the baffle in the fuge (wouldn't the flow disturb the sandbed?)
2- add baffle (1"?) between return & fuge
3- increase the size of the return (if i get the remora - not urchin & HOB at the right i can decrease the sump length and increase the return length) + (would it help to increase the return height as well?)
4- i dont have auto-top-off - my RO/DI will be in my laundry room and the DT is in my office- (any thoughts?)
how did you do that calculation (5.5x8x9 = 1.7gal) ? :notsure:

 

[slugg3r]

1) You don't need tons of flow in a fuge, I do about 2X turnover per hour in my fuge and have live rock rubble where the water comes out that keeps it from disturbing the sand. I have also seen people place 90 degree or even a U at the bottom of the return to stop what you are worried about.
2) Yep
3) Could help to increase the height, but know that will also increase the height in the skimmer section which may require you to put the skimmer ontop of a something to raise it up. I'm not familiar enough with your skimmer, but if it doesn't have much of a microbubble problem you could change the baffles to under-over only which would add some space.
4) No thoughts here other than I would assume the worst, 1gal evap per day, how many gallons needed to cover the pump and how often are you willing to have to top off. You could do a gravity feed topoff system with a 5 gallon reserve that would work well.
1 cubic inches = 0.00432900431 US gallons

 

[slugg3r]

One other major thing I noticed is you need 1" supply lines. 1" will drain 600gph if I remember correctly, or just a bit more then your Mag 5. 1/2" drains are way too small and won't be able to keep up.

 

[wangotango]

i would say go with at least a mag-7 return pump. my tank is drilled (AGA for 600 gph) and i use the mag-7. nice little pump.
-Justin

 

[coachklm]

yes you wont find much flow with 1/2 inch drains go 1" at least.

 

[chuckcac]

ok - i made all the adjustments you guys have reccomended - and i included the calculations of each area (without the area of the baffles) - thanks for the calc, SLUGG3R...
What do we all think of it now? - Am i going to flood my home ofiice?
I still need to figure out how i can auto top off - when i figure a way to 'gravity feed' an auto top off... where should i direct the water? i assume into the sump? or the return?

 

[saltn00b]

chuck -
its definitely looking better now.
have you calculated for overflow when you lose power? you said the tank is not drilled i believe, so you will anything from the lower teeth of the overflow, up, and whatever is in the overflow. shouldnt be that much, and that design likely has it covered, just throwing it out there for extra precaution.
im a big fan of triple baffle. 2 up , 1 down. this allows you to trap micro bubbles, which i have seen alot of people had problems with when building their own sump. Mine has no microbubble problem

 

[chuckcac]

saltn00b- thanks for checkin it out i really appreciate the input
i planned on having a HOB overflow with a standpipe...(please correct me if i'm wrong) i suppose i would calculate how much water would continue to flow into the overflow box - and figure out if the area in the sump/fuge could contain that amount of liquid...? :thinking:
example; the bottom of the teeth of the overflow(inside the tank) would allow 1" of water from the display tank to contiunue to siphon overflow(outside the tank) then down to the sump/fuge...
so 1"x13"x48" = 2.9 gallons could potentially siphon out of the DT during a powerfailure...
therefore...is there room in the sump/fuge for an extra 2.9 gallons in case of a power failure...? :notsure:
i have;
16"x4"x8.25"= 2.28gallons (will bring the water level up to the height of the fuge baffle)

+ 36"x4.625x8.25= 5.95gallons (will bring the level up to the tippy-top of the sump/fuge...

is that right? or am i a silly person

ill try to re-arrange with a triple baffle as well...

 

[saltn00b]

yea thats pretty much how i did it, so it looks like you are in the clear.

 

[chuckcac]

Sweet... Thanks a million saltn00b!

here is the latest adjustment to the plan...
Still open to comments/sugestions from all SW gurus

Thanks in advance

 

[saltn00b]

oops - you need to invert your baffles, maybe i was unclear. look at my thread i have a sump drawing, its linear but the baffles still work the same way.
you may also want to put the third baffle on the sump section , because you will not be happy with microbubbles in your DT!!
does the urchin need a pump, or is it housed inside of it? if not, then you need to account for the pumps volume.
oh and i would also have the skimmer section at least .5" higher than the return pump section to encourage flow

 

[chuckcac]

ok - i think i got it...
i added the extra baffle & the bubble foam
the urchin has the pump on the outside... (i confimed the minimum footprint w/ AquaC) so the 7"x 8.25" area is comfortable. its a maxijet 1200 (roughly 3"x3"x3")
i made the skimmer-side baffle 1" higher
your diagram really helped alot (its what i used as a jumpstart to make the first one) i missed the arrangement of the baffles somehow

thanks again -

i need to email you a beer somehow

 

[saltn00b]

i havent put the bubble foam on mine yet, as the baffles are working great thus far, but if you do, they should where the water flows up, so the two baffle chambers closest to the mag7, as the water flows in from the higher parts.
other than that, it looks like a great plan you have there!
if you figure out how to email a beer that be awesome, so let me know !

 

[chuckcac]

Originally Posted by saltn00b
i havent put the bubble foam on mine yet, as the baffles are working great thus far, but if you do, they should where the water flows up, so the two baffle chambers closest to the mag7, as the water flows in from the higher parts.
other than that, it looks like a great plan you have there!
if you figure out how to email a beer that be awesome, so let me know !
i suppose if i could figure out how to e-mail a beer, :thinking: I'd be filthy stinkin rich (&filthy stinkin drunk) & I'd be upgrading to a 10,000 gallon reef tank in no time

 

[chuckcac]

Originally Posted by saltn00b
i havent put the bubble foam on mine yet, as the baffles are working great thus far, but if you do, they should where the water flows up, so the two baffle chambers closest to the mag7, as the water flows in from the higher parts.
other than that, it looks like a great plan you have there!
if you figure out how to email a beer that be awesome, so let me know !

i suppose if i could figure out how to e-mail a beer, :thinking: I'd be filthy stinkin rich (&filthy stinkin drunk) & I'd be upgrading to a 10,000 gallon reef tank in no time

 

[earlybird]

I noticed the return for MD700 you have it at 0.5". My MD700 has 0.75" if I'm not mistaken.
BTW- Your diagram looks great. What program did you use?