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Sump improvement

First things that come to mine are all the hoses. The return lines look like they could use a cleaning, and I highly recommend either PVC or if you stick with vinyl go black instead. That way you don't get any algae buildup inside. The overflow hoses could probably be shortened a bit. Also in the front right corner, is that a bottle of sort? What is that for?

That said what issues are you experiencing that caused you to ask about improvements? I'm not a big fan of the oceanic sump. How much space do you have in the cabinet? Can you fit a 40Breeder in there? If so you could DIY a sump that would work very nicely for right around $100 for tank and baffles.
 

redfishbluefish

Officer Emeritus
Officer Emeritus
Agree with all above....a 40B would be nice. Also, hang that powerstrip up and away from water. I get shivers just seeing that thing leaning up against the sump.
 
First things that come to mine are all the hoses. The return lines look like they could use a cleaning, and I highly recommend either PVC or if you stick with vinyl go black instead. That way you don't get any algae buildup inside. The overflow hoses could probably be shortened a bit. Also in the front right corner, is that a bottle of sort? What is that for?

That said what issues are you experiencing that caused you to ask about improvements? I'm not a big fan of the oceanic sump. How much space do you have in the cabinet? Can you fit a 40Breeder in there? If so you could DIY a sump that would work very nicely for right around $100 for tank and baffles.
 
First things that come to mine are all the hoses. The return lines look like they could use a cleaning, and I highly recommend either PVC or if you stick with vinyl go black instead. That way you don't get any algae buildup inside. The overflow hoses could probably be shortened a bit. Also in the front right corner, is that a bottle of sort? What is that for?

That said what issues are you experiencing that caused you to ask about improvements? I'm not a big fan of the oceanic sump. How much space do you have in the cabinet? Can you fit a 40Breeder in there? If so you could DIY a sump that would work very nicely for right around $100 for tank and baffles.


I
 
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I've had the tank for about 10 years. My fish do great. Every year I buy new corals watch them grow a little and die. For the past 8 months I have on top of maintenance and checking parameters. I figured updating and improving my equipment would help. So i'm starting with my sump.That is a dirty filter sock in the front right corner. I decided to go with a 40 breeder for my sump. I was thinking putting my skimmer on the left, return in the middle and refugium on the right. My 3 baffles on the left are going to be 9" high and on the right 13" high. Are the teeth necessary on the refugium baffle? If another design is better let me know. Also since I have dual overflows, thinking of having one drain into the skimmer side and the other to the refugium. What about filter socks?

Thanks,
Jose

P.S. Would love for my tank to look like Sunny's one day. It's just amazing, could stare at it for hours.
 

Sunny

NJRC Member
Article Contributor
I've had the tank for about 10 years. My fish do great. Every year I buy new corals watch them grow a little and die. For the past 8 months I have on top of maintenance and checking parameters. I figured updating and improving my equipment would help. So i'm starting with my sump.That is a dirty filter sock in the front right corner. I decided to go with a 40 breeder for my sump. I was thinking putting my skimmer on the left, return in the middle and refugium on the right. My 3 baffles on the left are going to be 9" high and on the right 13" high. Are the teeth necessary on the refugium baffle? If another design is better let me know. Also since I have dual overflows, thinking of having one drain into the skimmer side and the other to the refugium. What about filter socks?

Thanks,
Jose

P.S. Would love for my tank to look like Sunny's one day. It's just amazing, could stare at it for hours.

You are making all the right moves Jose. I am sure you will succeed. I will do skimmer on left (this is where water comes in), fuge in the middle and return in the right. I do not use filter socks. Between the fuge and return I will try and put a sponge of some sorts.

Let me know if there is anything I can do to help.

Sunny
 
You are making all the right moves Jose. I am sure you will succeed. I will do skimmer on left (this is where water comes in), fuge in the middle and return in the right. I do not use filter socks. Between the fuge and return I will try and put a sponge of some sorts.

Let me know if there is anything I can do to help.

Sunny

If you go with this layout for the sump let me know and I'll forward you the plans I had for my old one. It had a good amount of room for each section and was a 40b also.
 
Here is the measurements I used, and a few pics of the build and finished sump. For the teeth I just used a piece of acrylic that I cut the slots in and just siliconed it to the glass. Then i had a couple of small pieces of glass that I wedged it in with. It would have held fine without them though. This sump worked wonderfully and gave me plenty of rooms everywhere. you can just adjust the sections to fit your skimmer and pump. I also ended up putting the heater between the baffles to get it out of the way so if you want to do that be sure to leave the space for it. Let me know if you have a question about it.

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You could just run them both to the skimmer section or run one to the refugium of you like. I don't see any real value in having a decimated feed of "dirty" water for a refugium. There is no way all water going through section 1 is going to be skimmed so some unskimmed water will still get to the refugium.

As far as haveing the drains going into the sump, look up "reverse durso". It will help cut down on bubbles. I've only seen them used with 1 drain each but I'm willing to bet you could get it built with 2 inlets for 1 durso.
 
In the process of building the sump. Any recommendations on pipe size for the overflows, return and manifolds? Should I stick with my 1" overflow size? My return is 3/4, was thinking of increasing to 1". I'm running my overflows separately to the sump and for the return was thinking a tee to split them. Running a Mag 18.

Thanks,
Jose
 

horseplay

NJRC Member
I highly recommend Herbie style drain. It's completely quiet and no splashing of water into the sump. For dual overflow you can have one setup as Herbie and use the other for return + a second emergency drain. Use 3/4" for the siphon drain and 1" for emergency.

I found bubble trap unnecessary. I had it initially but removed it later to save some space.
 
I highly recommend Herbie style drain. It's completely quiet and no splashing of water into the sump. For dual overflow you can have one setup as Herbie and use the other for return + a second emergency drain. Use 3/4" for the siphon drain and 1" for emergency.

I found bubble trap unnecessary. I had it initially but removed it later to save some space.

I can't change the overflows tank is up and running. I was just setting up a larger sump with a fuge. Wasn't sure on the and supply and return pipe sizing.

Thanks,
Jose
 
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