Sump layout Help

[jgraz]

In light of the crack I found in my sump last night http://www.njreefers.org/showthread.php?78832-Sump-crack&p=709515#post709515 . I am exploring options available to me. I need to do a few measurments but I believe I can fit a 40 breeder though the opening and would like some opinions about the layout I came to. If I use the breeder I will not have room for the top off container so I incorporated it into the design. If I want to have a seperate resovior then I need to use a 30" tank so either a 20l or a 29gal. Obviously I want bigger. Please check this out and let me know what you think. This is a rough sketch and some of the measurements may be off a hair. But you get the idea.

 

[curt]

If 7 gal. is enough for your top off that looks good. You can take a few inches from the refugium and make it a little bigger. Either way that should work fine.

 

[jgraz]

If 7 gal. is enough for your top off that looks good. You can take a few inches from the refugium and make it a little bigger. Either way that should work fine.

7 would be plenty, im only getting about 4 useable in my current set-up. I might actually cut it down a bit to add a bit more room for power down room. Also im cocerned about using clear glass in that section. I think there might end up being algae issues in the resovior, not good. I considered black acrylic, but have heard that it does not adhere well with silicone. Thoughts?

 

[curt]

I don't think you have to worry about algae in that section. You can put a piece of thin black plastic against the glass on the top off side if there are any algae issues.

 

[jpelzer]

Algae shouldn't be able to grow without nutrients.

 

[jgraz]

So I decided to cut out the top off resovior. Because of this ill add space to the fuge area. This will make my refugium quite large. Approximately 10"x18"x19", about 15 gal total. I plan on a sandbed in the way of 3.5"-4".
Will the water traveling over the baffle entering provide good flow throughout the section. Or should I lower the baffle entering the fuge to just above the sand depth so that the flow moves from bottom of one side to top of the other. Does this even make sense. Here's a pic

 

[Nickjr000]

swap the refugium and return so the return is in the middle. This way u can t off a line to the refugium with slower flow so it will work properly. The way it is now all the flow will b ripping through it

 

[jgraz]

I am plumbing dumb. Asking me to tee off the return is the same as asking me to plumb the whole house. LOL.
I know slower is better but to be honest I'm only moving about 500 gph through right now. Is that too fast.

 

[TanksNStuff]

I sent you a pic of my sump a while ago when you requested it. I prefer the skimmer/fuge/return model over the return in the middle model only because this way all the water flowing thru the sump has to travel through at least one set of filtration before going back to the DT. If you have the return in the middle, then some of the water going thru the skimmer section will bypass the skimmer and go right into the return section... unless your overflow drain feeds directly into your skimmer and is discharged directly into the return section. Otherwise, the skimmer pump won't send every drop into the skimmer. Most of it will just spill right over into the return section, then get pumped right back up.

Also, I would suggest moving the bubble trap baffles to the other side of the refugium. Any bubbles spilling over the skimmer/fuge wall won't hurt the refugium, but you want to make certain that none can get into the return section. It probably doesn't matter in all reality because there likely won't be any bubbles created in the fuge section... but my feeling is that it's better to trap the bubbles at the fuge/return end to be sure you're not letting any past that point. Having a nice thick mat of chaeto in the fuge will also help prevent any from getting through too.

Question for you John - Do you have any plans for running any reactors (GAC, GFO, and/or Bio-Pellets)? If so, make sure you have room in whatever section you plan to house the pump(s) to feed them. With a 40 breeder, you should have plenty of width to put them alongside your skimmer or alongside your return pump. BP reactors work best if you discharge them right next to your skimmer pump intake, so that would be something to think about if you ever planned on using them. GFO/GAC reactors (or a dual reactor for both) can have the pump and discharge right in your return section. Whichever section you have a reactor pump in, make sure the discharge of that reactor feeds right back into the same section. You don't want to pump out of one section and feed it back into another section because that can unbalance the water level through the sump.

You mentioned blocking the light to your top-off section that you originally planned. I think you should also consider that for your skimmer/fuge baffle too. My fuge light bleeds right thru that baffle in my sump and my skimmer gets coraline algae growing inside my skimmer cone because of it. I've been meaning to do this myself but never seem to remember... but you can just get some of that black (it usually has black one side, blue the other) background paper, which is really a thin plastic. Cut it to cover the whole baffle and stick it on there with the black side facing the light. I would think putting it on the skimmer side would let the water pressure keep it held in place.

Anyway, those are my suggestions.

 

[jgraz]

George I did get it. I thought I responded guess I forgot. I did get the sump done and went with the traditional skimmer-fuge-return. I currently run a dual reactor but my goal is to get rid if it if possible. Mainly cause its a PIA to change out and GFO is way over the top expensive. IMO thats got to be one of the biggest rips in this hobby. As for right now though its running. Feeding from the overflow section and discharging in the return section. Anyway here's a pic. And thanks again for the tips everyone.

 

[TanksNStuff]

Yea, I think you responded too. I couldn't remember myself.

Is that foam forming on the surface of the return section? If so, that's cause there is a waterfall effect going over the toothed baffle. That's what I was talking about when suggesting to put the bubble trap on that end.

Guess it's too late now, but if you have a valve on the return line going up to the DT, I'd close it a little until your return section level is just below the baffle. It might take some fine tuning, but it can solve that waterfall effect.

Only other option I see is to shorten the height on that baffle, but that will lower the level in the fuge section and it's considerable more work.

It looks like you did a good job on it though.

 

[jgraz]

No bubbles, no waterfall. That's was just an early shot before I had all the water in.