Officially joined the hobby today!!!

gcgrad

gcgrad

Member
Today I made my first purchase in the SW hobby (other than books). I bought a 30 gallon tank off craigslist and plan on using it as a sump/refugium. The next purchase will probably be the baffles and 100% silicone. I have been researching the hobby for a couple years now and have finally made the leap of faith.lol If I have any questions during the build I will be sure to post them here. Just thought I would let everyone know and look forward to updating ya'll with pics and so forth!
 
flower

flower

Well-Known Member

I also read books for years before I dived in...This is also a great place to just hang out, you don't have to have a question
 
scott t

scott t

Active Member
Welcome Gcgrad, I think you had been on here before and we had talked I am ready to get my tank going you should check out my thread in the Reef section here to see how far I Have gotten... Good Luck to you!!!
 
gcgrad

gcgrad

Member
Thanks Scott! I was on here frequently during the summer then hibernated until recently. I emailed you the excel file with the fish list. I've checked out some of your other threads but haven't seen the one in the Reef section. I'll be sure to follow and good luck with your build!
 
gcgrad

gcgrad

Member
This is the sump design I have come up with so far. The bubble trap baffles are 1" apart and 10" tall with the center piece 1" from the bottom. The fourth baffle is 14" tall. All baffles are 11 3/4" wide and 1/4" thick. Water will flow from a split line into the skimmer and refugium compartments. The skimmer compartment is largest due to the size of the skimmer. I plan on using the Reef Octupus NWB 110 4" skimmer (10" x 6.75" x 19.75"). If the skimmer were turned 90 degrees then the skimmer section would be slightly smaller. I don't know if doing this sacrifices skimmer efficiency. I may be overthinking it. I have read that this skimmer operates in an 8" water depth. If the depth is supposed to be lower then I can just set it on a stand. All thoughts and suggestions are welcomed!!! Thanks
 
gcgrad

gcgrad

Member
New modification to sump design. Fourth and fifth baffle are now 13" tall. The skimmer compartment was made 1/2" smaller. But still debating on whether to make this compartment a few inches smaller and simply turn the skimmer 90 degrees to allow for a smaller area to work with. Width of tank is 11 3/4" so there should be room.
 
flower

flower

Well-Known Member

You have the same design I am planning on my sump...I also see you plan only two baffles for the refugium. I thought it needed three just like the return baffle chamber. So can those in the know comment...
 
mkroher

mkroher

Member
Make sure the return compartment is large enough to fill the DT up to the overflow
Quote:
Originally Posted by gcgrad http:///forum/thread/383014/officially-joined-the-hobby-today#post_3347481
New modification to sump design. Fourth and fifth baffle are now 13" tall. The skimmer compartment was made 1/2" smaller. But still debating on whether to make this compartment a few inches smaller and simply turn the skimmer 90 degrees to allow for a smaller area to work with. Width of tank is 11 3/4" so there should be room.
 
flower

flower

Well-Known Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by mkroher http:///forum/thread/383014/officially-joined-the-hobby-today#post_3347503
Make sure the return compartment is large enough to fill the DT up to the overflow
Quote:
Originally Posted by gcgrad http:///forum/thread/383014/officially-joined-the-hobby-today#post_3347481
New modification to sump design. Fourth and fifth baffle are now 13" tall. The skimmer compartment was made 1/2" smaller. But still debating on whether to make this compartment a few inches smaller and simply turn the skimmer 90 degrees to allow for a smaller area to work with. Width of tank is 11 3/4" so there should be room.

How can you design a sump to determine that?
I just thought you have your DT full as it should be, and then fill the sump one inch above the return pump and keep it one inch until everything levels out as it runs. That there should be enough room in the sump for when the system closes down so it won't overflow.
 
gcgrad

gcgrad

Member
I have understood that the bubble trap is composed of 3 baffles. I don't know that the refugium needs a bubble trap as well. I've read that the majority of microbubbles come from the skimmer. But I could be wrong.
 
gcgrad

gcgrad

Member
Ideally I would like for the return to be the largest compartment. The larger it is the less risk you run with potentially running the pump with no water as evaporation occurs substantially in the return compartment. Once again I'm going strictly off of what I have read, no experience here.lol
 
ofalegend

ofalegend

Member
Have you considered an auto topoff system, gcgrad? That's probably the route I'm going to go because I'm terribly bad about missing topoffs. The bulk site has a topoff kit pretty cheap, not sure if its any good or not, but worth looking at.
 
gcgrad

gcgrad

Member
I saw a diy automatic topofff system that melevsreef did. It was too difficult for me to grasp and I haven't shopped around for one online. Guess I haven't given it much thought since then but I'm not too worried about missing topoffs. Figured making the return section the largest was just a preventative measure for that. Thanks for the suggestion!
 
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