Sump/refug (Squidd Please)

balistik1

balistik1

Member
Squidd I am in need of your help. I am thinking of using a 55gal tank as a sump/refuge but I have no clue where to begin seperating the sections. I tried reading some of the threads but many pictures are gone.
Could you please help me think of a design? I know you need lots of information so I am here waiting.
Thanks
 
pontius

pontius

Active Member
a 55 gallon is 4 feet long.
the first section should be close to a foot, this is where the water flows in from the main tank, and the section for the protein skimmer.
then 3 bubble baffles made of plexiglass from Lowes. this will allow the water to flow over, under, then over again, eliminating bubbles.
the water flows from the protein skimmer area, through the baffles, and into the next area....the fuge. this will be a little over 2 feet long.
then, more bubble baffles. if you are going to have fish or other critters in the fuge, you may use a sponge between these baffles, which will also help with any grunge that made it past the skimmer and fuge.
the final 8 inches of the tank is the sump. all that is here is the pump that carries water back to the main tank.
 
pontius

pontius

Active Member
in a fuge, most people put live rock, sand, and some macroalgae like caulerpa. you can also put kelp, maiden's hair, shaving brush plants, etc. you also may want to put a few shrimp, snails, or crabs. some people even put a small fish or two.
you'll have to have it lit, most put them on a reverse light cycle that the main tank.
 
balistik1

balistik1

Member
Thanks for responding, but could you please tell me what all of that stuff you suggested will do for me?
Also, what is this mudd stuff people talk about for the refuge?
 
pontius

pontius

Active Member
the sand and rock will allow for a safe breeding ground for pods, away from the main tank so they won't be eaten by fish.
the caulerpa will use up nutrients that nuisance algae needs. so by having this in the fuge, you won't be as likely to end up with nuisance algae in the main tank.
I've heard of the mud before, but I don't know what it's good for.
 
squidd

squidd

Active Member
a 55 gallon is 4 feet long.
the first section should be close to a foot, this is where the water flows in from the main tank, and the section for the protein skimmer.
then 3 bubble baffles made of plexiglass from Lowes. this will allow the water to flow over, under, then over again, eliminating bubbles.
the water flows from the protein skimmer area, through the baffles, and into the next area....the fuge. this will be a little over 2 feet long.
then, more bubble baffles. if you are going to have fish or other critters in the fuge, you may use a sponge between these baffles, which will also help with any grunge that made it past the skimmer and fuge.
the final 8 inches of the tank is the sump. all that is here is the pump that carries water back to the main tank.
This pretty much describes a "flow through" design rather than a pump in center design...
That can lead to excessive or too "quick" of flow in fuge as all water from return pump must go through fuge...
I'd suggest using 3/4 of the overflow water going to skimmer chamber and baffled over to return pump which goes back to tank...
Then the other 1/4 overflow water feeds fuge which then drains into return pump chamber...then to tank...
 
balistik1

balistik1

Member
This is great... I was thinking of the pump in the middle design myself.
Now that doesn't seem so hard but I do have a couple of questions.
How high should my baffles be? what do I put in my refuge? What type of lighting and other things?
I am ready to set up my 125 and this and the lighting are the only two things I need to be clear on.
You have also been helping me in my lighting thread. Have you seen the last post with my choice of lighting?
I was looking for someones approval.
 
squidd

squidd

Active Member
Lets work through this, one thing as a time...
The first chamber needs to be big enough to hold your skimmer and overflow drain chamber (bubble trap) but not much bigger..
Then two properly spaced baffles are all you really need going to return pump chamber...
How high depends on skimmer choice...First baffle sets skimmer running depth usually 6"-9"...but if you have room under stand to place skimmer on "shelf" you can set baffles higher and have more water in return pump chamber to cover evaporation losses...
Fuge really only need one baffle as it has a slower flow, and should be set as high as possible to gain useabl room in the fuge...then drain to return chamber...if skimmer doesn't allow a shelf and higher return pump level, you may need a second baffle by fuge to deal with "drop" from fuge level to RP level...
When setting all this up, you want to be sure you leave enough room for "backwash" from powerout situations...so to calc that measure the square area of your main tank in inches, multiply by 1.5 and divide by 231...that will give you the aproximate gallons of "extra" room you'll need for backwash...
Then do the same calcs on sump/fuge to set baffles leaving the appropriate amount of room for backwash above them...
 
squidd

squidd

Active Member
72x18x1.5=1944/231=8.4 gallons...
That's how much room you'll want to save in the sump/fuge for backwash to be safe...
 
balistik1

balistik1

Member
Ok that sounds like it would be very doable.
I think I am going to start on this project tomorrow to knock it out.
Sorry to be a pain but do you think you could look at my lighting issue from the other post?
 
pontius

pontius

Active Member
Squidd, 3 questions.....
1. is a pump that runs at 700 gph strong enough to return water from the sump to the tank? or would I have to have 2 of these pumps? (I'm talking about for a 180 main tank)
2. since the one pump (depending on the answer to #1) is returning water to 2 outputs, does there have to be a wave maker in between?
3. how do you control .75 of outflow water going to one side and .25 going to the other? I assume some kind of valve? what kind?
thanks. the diagram helped a lot.
 
shawnd61

shawnd61

Member
couldnt a check vavle be placed in the return line to keep water from returning to the sump during a power outage?
 
balistik1

balistik1

Member
squidd, I measured my 55gal 48x12x1.5=864/231=3.74
How is this to help me figure out how high my baffles should be?
Also I an not sure how to place the baffles.
How high off the bottom should they be? How far apart should they be?
 
squidd

squidd

Active Member
The top area of you r 55 is 48"X12".... you multiplied that by 1.5 and it gave you 3.74 gallons
What you want to figure out is how much room do you need to "save" to hold 8.4 gallons..
I'm betting it's more than 1 1/2" ..It's up to you to do the math to figure out "how much"...
That will determine the height of the bafffles...
OR... you can calculate for "usable cubic inches"... 8.4 gallons is 1944 cu.inchs...
Now do calcs to figure out how to get 1944 cu/in from your 55 with the baffles...It can all be "across the top...or a good bit of it can be held in the overflow/skimmer/return pump area
(see two pics below)

 
balistik1

balistik1

Member
Sorry but I wasn't sure whjat the 1.5 represented.
So I figured that out and I figure 3.5 should be enough for backwash. Is this correct?
This is also assuming that I will loose only 1.5 inches of water from my main tank.
 
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