Sump plan help

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opie77

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I found a tank thats 50gal to use for a sump/fuge. 48"long, 12"wide, 17"high. My plan is to have the skimmer on one side, fuge on the other, with the return in the middle. The skimmer I have is an in sump. No instructions were included, but what Ive read, the skimmer likes 8"-9".

My first chamber/bubble wall will be 11". That way I can adjust up or down by raising the skimmer. First baffle will be 11" from bottom of tank. 2nd will be off 1" from bottom and 1" from 1st baffle. 3rd will be 11" off bottom and 1" from 2nd baffle.

For the fuge side, Ill place another 11" baffle.


Skimmer side will have 12" of room. 12" for return chamber, and 22" for the fuge. I plan on putting 2 200w heaters in the return chamber along with a mag18.

What Im looking for is advice on this. Good, bad, WTF!, anything.
 
What skimmer will you be using and return pump?

I think the return area can be smaller, but depending on above questions..
 
Looks good but I would flip/flop your bubble trap so the panels are arranged as under/over/under, setting the middle one to about 1/4" lower than the water level you want in the skimmer section and making the other two 1" above bottom and 1-2" above the middle one at the top. You may want to give yourself more room at the skimmer for a sock holder to prevent detritus buildup.
 
Skimmer is an sc-180. Return is a mag 18. Side problem is my heaters need 14". Can they go in skimmer area? Also want to make sure it doesn't overflow. I'll have it hooked to a 125gal 6' with a drilled back.
 
Tks fish, ill have to try that. The skimmer is 9 x 9.5. Not sure how big a sock holder is.
 
You "should" be able to fit your heater in at an angle. You just need to keep it submerged below a marked point on the housing, it does not need to be mounted vertically. The 14" thing is just how tall your tank needs to be to mount it vertical like if it was on the back glass of a display tank.
 
Sock filters are good, but well become a PITA after awhile.. If not changed in a timely manner will cause NO3 problems..

Keep it simple ;)
 
Ive been playing with the heaters trying to see if theyll work at an angle. May have to cut some acrylic and try again.

I went to my LFS and was told not to use acrylic to glass as baffles cause it will fail no matter what. He also told me theres no need for a skimmer. :doh:

Lil, any hints at anything simpler than a sock?

Puffer, Ive seen his site. Wish I had half that guys skills.
 
There's nothing wrong .220" acrylic for baffles and no reason to stay away from them. They work fine, and the people that say the silicone won't hold them in place didn't use enough silicone on theirs or just repeating something they read without firsthand experience themselves. Just cut the baffles to be a snug fit and be generous with the silicone, no problem.
 
I would increase the skimmer area and decrease the return. Make the return area just a tad bigger than the return pump.

What is this tank for that you don't need a skimmer? And what LFS? Cause I am familiar with all of them in the NWI area.

You can use acrylic baffles. Just use the silicone to wedge into place as opposed to seal. I have a 9 year old DIY sump that is still running with acrylic baffles in a glass tank.

And a filter sock is ok, you just have to clean it like anything else. If you're looking to run carbon or GFO, a reactor is a better way of doing it anyway. Which would also require a larger skimmer section. I run socks at water changes just to catch any debris that I stirred up and then chuck em.
 
Ok so as small as I can fo for return, and make the skimmer area larger. Ive noticed everyone is ok with the size of the fuge. Keep that as large as possibe?

Man you guys are fast with the help! Thanks all!!
 
I would make the baffle for the fuge taller now that you mention it. 15" or 16" will maximize the water volume in that area. just be sure its a low flow circulating into the fuge so it gives your macro algaes plenty of contact time to do their job. With a low flow, you should not have any issues with microbubbles, as the water will literally just trickle down the baffle to the return.
 
FishBeard said:
I would make the baffle for the fuge taller now that you mention it. 15" or 16" will maximize the water volume in that area. just be sure its a low flow circulating into the fuge so it gives your macro algaes plenty of contact time to do their job. With a low flow, you should not have any issues with microbubbles, as the water will literally just trickle down the baffle to the return.
Click to expand...


+1 If you want you can check out my 40 breeder I converted to a sump.
 
Ok so higher on the fuge, smaller return, larger skimmer. Now what about my worry with pump shutdown? Will I still have enough room to hold drain down water? Im guessing this is relative to my overflow height. I really like the setup that Glass-Holes sells. They told me I need the 3000 kit. Seems odd that Id need 2 2" outs on a 125g or am I wrong. Is there another way to do this?
 
There are endless ways to do it, but it really just depends on how much flow you want.

IMO, a 125 gallon tank does NOT need a Mag18 for return. Sump turnover should be from 4-9 times display tank turnover, so the high end of flow would be around 1200gph. Granted you'd need to include flow reduction from head loss and plumbing, but still. A mag 18 is very overkill. Granted, if you're pushing from a basement sump then that's another story.
 
Why don't you give a rundown of what exactly you want to set up, and that will help determine what you need.
 
Well, to prevent a flood, you would just fill the system while NOT RUNNING, and let the water flow down to your sump from your display tank. Once the sump is like an inch from the top, stop filling the system, and turn your return pump on. this will top-off the display tank and slightly drain your sump water. Once the water levels have stabilized, look to see that the return section water level is just slightly lower than the skimmer section. If they are the same level, take some water out. If the return is lower, turn your return pump back off. Let the system settle out. Then you will mark where this water level is while the system is NOT RUNNING. This is your safety mark. Never fill beyond that point during water changes. Then turn the system back on, and again mark the water level. This mark will be your TOP-OFF mark. Always manually fill or set your ato float switch to THIS mark to maintain proper salinity in the tank (always fill with fresh water, not mixed saltwater). Also might need to point out, do all this with your sand and rocks in the tank to allow for their displacement of water.
 
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