Sump Questions?

costa13

costa13

Member
Okay so I am thinking about buying a 75 gallon or 90 gallon drilled aquarium. I am trying to design a sump for it. I am thinking about using a 30 gallon sump. Its dimensions would be 36 1/4 x 12 5/8 x 16 3/4. I have tried to come up with one.(picture belown) My questions about it are:
1.What size should I make each section?
2.At what height should I put the baffles at?
3.What distince should I put between the baffles?
4.What return pump would I need for it to work effectively in my setup?
5.Also what size supply and return pipes should I use? I was think 1" not sure though.

Thanks I am really having trouble trying to make it just right.
 
chuckcac

chuckcac

Member
1. the sump should be large enough to house the skimmer & any other equip you intend to put in it... contact the manuf to find out the minimum 'footprint' needed in the sump for the skimmer
- same with the return section... it should be large enough to house the return pump
2. the height of the baffle in the sump 'can' be determined by what water height the skimmer requires to operate. (ie: if the skimmer needs to sit in 6" of water... 6" is the minimum baffle height.
- the height of the return baffle should be based on how much water the return pump sits in and how much evaporation you experience... evaporation will show up in this area by water level dereasing, you dont want the pump to run dry so provide enough water in that area... (LxWxH/231 = gallons)

3. the 'bubble trap' baffles... 1"

4. a 1" supply should give you 600 gph... you need to determine how much head loss you have in order to properly size the return pump (a mag 7 maybe?) head loss = linear feet + 1ft for each elbow
5. all depends on how much flow you want ... :notsure:
check out the plumbing 101 thread in the archives - its loaded with good stuff...
 
costa13

costa13

Member
hey chuck what are the pros of having your fuge off to the side and pump in the middle? Also how do you get your water to flow over the to skimmer? I am amsuming you close the ball valve above the fuge a little bit.
 
chuckcac

chuckcac

Member
I have it so my supply line is split with a "T" - half the water goes to the fuge and the other half goes to the skimmer (sump) section. and yes, pretty much control the water flow to each area with a ball valve in each line

as far as the benefits of the layout... i copied this from melevsreef dot... etc
"What is the best layout?
There are a number of ways to configure the compartments, including some comments:
Skimmer > Refugium > Return
This is a simple layout that keeps the flow going in one direction. One objection often voiced is that “you don’t want to skim out the nutrients in the water going to the refugium.” This isn’t possible to do, unless every drop of water had to go through the skimmer to get into the refugium. Most of the water runs right past the skimmer! Even with a very weak return pump, the water pumped into the skimmer is only a portion of the body of water traveling into the next compartment.
Benefit - all baffles are the same height.
Skimmer > Return >Refugium
In this situation, the two outer compartments receive their water from two sources (or one supply line that has been split), and pour into the central compartment.
Benefit - Refugium wall can be taller, and the amount of water flowing through it can be controlled with a ball valve.
Refugium > Skimmer > Return
This is a bad idea in my opinion, because the micro fauna (copepods, amphipods and more) that you hope to send up to your display tank as food are going to be skimmed out of the water before they ever reach the Return zone. If this is your layout, have the refugium drain via PVC pipe directly into the Return zone, bypassing the skimmer zone.
Benefit - none."
hope this helps...
 
costa13

costa13

Member
thanks, now all I have to do is take all the information I have read and put it all together to build my sump
 
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