is my sump ok??

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eric b 125

Guest
i would nix the bio-balls/rubble in that chamber, they will collect detritus before it can get removed. i would also add a bubble trap b/w skimmer and fuge, and some egg-crate so your macro doesnt go wandering. also, the chamber that the return line is plumbed into should be much larger for evaporation.
 
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flukes

Guest
Im with Eric, I would lose the first chamber and just have it for the flow from the DT with the skimmer then bubble trap, refugium, another bubble trap then your return and I too would go bigger for the return, it is amazing how fast that one chamber goes down do to evaporation. I drew this up quickly and I would even go larger than what i have in the drawing for your return chamber. you may want to close the gaps between the bubble traps from 1.5" to just 1 inch.
 
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eric b 125

Guest
what are the dimentions of your sump? dimentions of your tank? also, how far down does the overflow drain until it stops? -- let me know these things and i can work out some math for you.
as far as the fuge goes: you can lower the one baffle on the L side of the fuge to about 5", that will keep the LR in the fuge, and it will allow water to flow THROUGH the macro and tumble it, rather than OVER the macro. keep the baffle on the R of the fuge the 12". the eggcrate would mimic the sides of the fuge, only all the way to the top of the sump tank, so that the macro algae stays where it's supposed to and doesnt wander with the current of the water. i would still increase the size of the return chamber. i cant tell how big it is without the dimentions of the sump tank. obviously it's 29" L X 17"H, but what about width?
 
small triggers

small triggers

Active Member
for the chamber the tank water is flowin in to,, i would have either a floss or a sock filter to catch the large debris... also have you figured out how much tank water goes back when you have a power outage? what is the optimal height for water for your skimmer? no your fuge soes not necessarily need to be 12 inches deep....
 
angrygoat1214

angrygoat1214

Member
ok, the sump tank is a 29 gallon it is 29x17x12" and my main tank is a 55g and thats 48x20x12. should i do my incoming water like that? and the egg crate?
 
small triggers

small triggers

Active Member
im still trying to figure out why you are stuck on this 12 inches??You may have to put your skimmer on a stand or something cuz most dont like to be more than 8 inches deep...and again, how much water flows back into your sump when the power is out???
 
angrygoat1214

angrygoat1214

Member
i have no idea how much water is going to go in if/when the power is lost.. i have a siphonless overflow box.... so i guess the water would stop once it gets below the teeth on the OF
 
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flukes

Guest
I dug up a few pics of mine when I built it. I used a 40 gallon breader tank. I hope that this helps.


 
F

flukes

Guest
Originally Posted by AngryGoat1214
http:///forum/post/3176263
i have no idea how much water is going to go in if/when the power is lost.. i have a siphonless overflow box.... so i guess the water would stop once it gets below the teeth on the OF
It will also go back down your return aswell, which ever is lowest.
 
mkroher

mkroher

Member
just some advice... make sure your return compartment is as large it can be.
When the pumps are off, the water level in your DT drops significantly. Imagine how much water needs to be pumped into the DT before it starts to flow down the overflow.
If your return section of your sump is too small, you will run out of water in that compartment to pump up to the DT.
I have 20 long for a sump. It *had* a refuge. The return compartment was too small, and it ran dry trying to pump water up to the DT. I had to cut out the dividers with a razor blade, and I lost the refuge. Luckily I didn't have any sand in the refuge yet.. that would have been a mess.
Just my .02 cents.
good luck
 
angrygoat1214

angrygoat1214

Member
ok, thanks for the info, i'll make some changes and post my new plans.
for some reason i thought my refuge had to be the largest compartment
and does DT = display tank?
 
mkroher

mkroher

Member
yes, DT = display tank.
for example.. my 75 gallon drops about 1" when i shut the pump off.. right at the bottom of the overflow box teeth. (it's a drilled tank with internal overflow box)
1" drop x (18" x 48") = 864cubic inches of water.. which is almost 4 gallons.
So I need at *LEAST* 4 gallons of water in my return chamber just to bring the DT back up to the normal level. And of course my pump needs to be submerged in a certain level of water to run appropriately.
Simple math.
P.S. Your refuge CAN be the biggest compartment. I'm just saying don't short youself on the return part and regret it after you plumb everything up and turn the sucker on :)
 
E

eric b 125

Guest
okay, lets just say that mkroher's 1" of drainage is a standard. that would mean that your 55 gallon tank would drain almost 4 gallons, so you need at least 4 "empty" gallons in your sump.
considering the dimentions of your sump tank, for every 1" in H, the tank holds roughly 1.5gallons.
---1"X 29" X 12" = 348 cubic inches / 231 = 1.50649351.
so, if your DT drains one inch of water ( ~ 4 gallons) then your sump tank will need about 3" of empty space. now this is assuming that your returns AND overflow box only drain 1" total of water from teh DT.
now, as far as the return chamber is concerned: technically it's longer than 6" because of how your baffle is set up, and i'll assume that's a 1" gap b/w the baffles making the return chamber 7". considering you have a maximum of 12" water possible, even though it would be less than that, i'll use the 12" water depth as a factor in the equasion. thats 7" X 12" X 12" = 1,008 cubic inches of water in return chamber. 1, 008 / 231= 4. 36363636

[hr]
gallons. (thats a very generous equasion since the water in your return chamber most likely wont be 12" deep) but since you will have the return drilled into the side of the tank, once the water level falls below the top of that bulkhead, your pump will be pushing air.
 
angrygoat1214

angrygoat1214

Member
ok, i got out of all that (if all the info i gave you is correct)
i need 4 gallons of space and with that equasion i should have the room to make everything work with what i drew.
you may need to but that in simpler terms... maybe for somone who needs a helmet
lol
 
posiden

posiden

Active Member
Your 55 gallon tank has 2.493 gallons for every inch of height.
Your 29 gallon tank has 1.558 gallons for every inch of height.
When you say you have a siphon less OF box, what does that mean? Is the tank drilled?
mkroher's example is for his 75 gallon tank. Not your 55 however, yes you can handle 4 gallons of back siphon.
How deep of water does your protien skimmer require?
The last pic shows the drain going through foam well above the water line in the sump. Bad idea IMO. The splash will kill you in salt creep.
As for the return section, Just add some more water to the tank. The level will rise in that section. Being that you are using a externial pump helps but, a little larger section would be nice. If you have an ATO the the small area is not so bad.
Your return section??? 7x12x6 is 2 gallons of water. Depending on where you have the hole drilled, that will dictate the actual resivor for evaporation.
 
posiden

posiden

Active Member
Originally Posted by mkroher
http:///forum/post/3176596
I have 20 long for a sump. It *had* a refuge. The return compartment was too small, and it ran dry trying to pump water up to the DT. I had to cut out the dividers with a razor blade, and I lost the refuge. Luckily I didn't have any sand in the refuge yet.. that would have been a mess.
Unless your 20L was full to the top when the pumps were off, all you needed was a little more water in the system.
 
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