20L Sump Design - Comments/Assistance

[SoonerFan]

During PetCo's sale I bought a 20 gallon long to use for a sump under my 55 gallon DAS tank which I gutted the built-in filter. Here is a drawing and my comments below:

Here are my questions:

1.) Should I use acrylic or glass baffles? If I use acrylic, what width (3/4"?), and would rough sanding the sides help silicon adhere to it?

2.) Are the height of my baffles between the skimmer/drain section and the return area okay?

3.) I will feed the refugium from a T off of the return line. With 1" teeth on the refugium baffle, is that enough for reasonable draining from refugium back to return area given the height of the other baffles?

4.) Does it appear that the sizes of the three areas are sufficient? I will probably use an Aqua C Remora or Urchin for a skimmer.

Thanks for your help.

Lee

[GKarshens]

I think the overall design is sound since it is the same one I use. Here is a pic of mine(30g) when I was testing it:

I used 1/8" glass which was a mistake because 2 of the panes cracked. I built another sump out of a 55g using 1/8" acrylic. I sanded the edges and the silicone adhered fine. The only problem is that the 1/8" acrylic bowed once water was added. I fixed that by making "U" shaped braces that slid over the tops of the baffles. Since you are starting from scratch I would use 1/4" acrylic. That should be plenty strong enough to hold up. My only other suggestions would be to make the baffles a little wider. That way it will be easier to clean down in there later. Also get your skimmer before putting the baffles in so that you know it will fit before hand. GL!

[Entropy]

I agree on the skimmer comment. 7" seems really tight for most skimmers on the market. Also the drop from the refuge to the return section might be a bit noisey.

[thedude]

I'd like to comment on the order of the sections as well. I personally would have the water overflow into the skimmer chamber. Anthony Calfo recommends this to increase skimmer efficiency. This chamber would then overflow into the fuge then finally to the return.

I also agree with the observation that the chamber for the skimmer is in fact quite small. What skimmer where you considering using to help you design a large enough chamber?

[GKarshens]

John, the reason for putting the fuge after the return and using a tee from the return is so that the water level can be higher in the fuge. If you had it second the water level would either have to be below the bubble trap level or if you kept it above it you might end up with a micro bubble problem.

[Entropy]

On my old setup I had the return chamber in the middle with a refuge on one side and the skimmer chamber on the other. Both fed the return chamber in the middle. That way, as you mentioned, the refuge chamber can be at a completely different level (mine was an inch from the top).

Another thing I forgot to bring up is that your return chamber much be big enough to handle evaporation unless you plan auto topoff. On mine it held over 10g, so I could evaporate the normal 2-3 gallons a day and not worry about the pump running dry.

[hammondegge]

looks like a sound design. i too would reconsider the size of the return area unless you are planning auto topoff. you may need more area for future skimmers (9x14?). if you divided it into thirds you may satisfy all of these issues.

acrylic will work for the low pressure design in a sump.

move a and c down and b up for a stronger design.

[SoonerFan]

Wow, LOTS of great comments for me to learn from and use. I was busy pulling up carpet all day yesterday in my house and didn't have time to check my posting. Thanks for all the help. I will play with the design and repost.

I took the 1.5" for the baffles from the floor from Melev's website. Would 1" be okay?

I have had many say the skimmer area and return area should be a bit larger (I was trying to maximize the fuge area), but understand the problem of evaporation and making sure a skimmer can fit.

I am going to probably go with an Aqua Pro or Coralife skimmer. A little noise isn't too bad, I have a whole room dedicated to my tanks, Tarantulas, scorpions, and centipedes. I would have my snakes in there, but my wife makes me keep them at work. Says she can't sleep with them in the house. They are venomous so I don't argue with her.

I will incorporate comments and get back to everyone. I hope to meet some of you at MACNA.

Lee

[hammondegge]

1" from the bottom on the baffles will work.

re: size of fuge. you can grow a lot of pods and chaeto in a small space.

I find that my entire sump is a fuge full of crazy little critters.

have you looked at Tunze Skimmers?

http://www.marinedepot.com/md_viewItem.asp...dproduct=TZ5353

they are often forgotten but they work really well in small spaces, do not harm pods, and are quiet. if you do consider them read up well on them and oversize as suggested if you are running an sps tank.