my sump design???

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Leo1

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ive done a little sketch of my sump to get an idea of whats needed and to also ask for advice about it, so here it is:-

the ball valve and t joint in the skimmer area is to allow me to regulate the flow into the skimmer as its going to be gravity fed, the other outlet is just to let any extra water into the skimmer area without going through the skimmer, also im not to sure about how high the last baffle leading into the return area(from the fuge) should be. does this all look ok or does anybody have any ideas/alterations . also im not to sure what size pipework to use, the outlet of the overflow is 32mm, but what should i use for the rest of it???

thank you.

sump.jpg
 
Reefscape

Reefscape

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Hey there buddy...Nice to see things are making it onto paperwork now...

Made a couple of suggestions on the pic in Red...

Ok, very similar to my sump setup...

Firstly....the pipe, coming off the pipe coming from the overflow box should be directed into the fuge, does not serve any purpose really with the two pipes going into the inlet area..Going into the fuge area will give a little extra flow and this can also be directed to drop water onto the macro algae...

Next, have changed the inlet compartment size. I changed the inlet area size to compensate for the baffles so we dont reduce the fuge area in the middle...

On the baffles, i would swap around the baffle arrangement...I would have the single baffle next to the inlet area, and then the three baffle bubble trap next to the return area..Remember, the first baffle will be used to set the water height in the sump..

The three baffle bubble trap....space each baffle an inch apart, the middle baffle raised 1.5" off the bottom..I suggest doing a 8 inch high 1st and 3rd baffle and 10" high centre baffle...With this, we can have a 4 inch deep sand bed, some live rock rubble and macro algae in the fuge and all be covered with water....

Am sure lots of others will chime in and do it different...One thing i have learned with tank plumbing is that there are many ways to skin a cat ( its just a phrase by the way.....!!! ).....

I would use 32mm pipe for tank to sump, and 25mm from sump back to tank area...

Hope this helps a little buddy....

Niko

sump.jpg
 
jojo22

jojo22

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Ok I stink at paint so I will try to talk this out.

First of all there is no need for a ball valve on the overflow pipe comeing from the tank or for it to be "t'd". second of all the way you have things set up your fuge will be way to ffast of an overflow. If you put your return in the middle and your fuge on the other side you can then use a ball valve to divert some of your return flow to the fuge and obtain a 3-5X turnover which is ideal for a fuge. I will go get my camera and take some pics of mine. my plumbing and wire routeing are messy but you will get the idea.
 
jojo22

jojo22

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OK here are pics of my 10 gal sump.

100_0130.jpg 100_0131.jpg 100_0132.jpg 100_0134.jpg
 
Reefscape

Reefscape

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The ball valve is there to be used just in case you need to maintenance so your tank does not have to drain to the bottom of the overflow box..

Dont get what you mean by the fuge being a way to fast overflow??....


Niko
 
jojo22

jojo22

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if you build your sump like mine (return in the middle) it allows you to have less flow in the fuge which is what you want. You should only have enough turnover to keep water broke at the surface, maby 1-2X turnover. this allows ample time for the fuge to perform it's job. If your overflow box is set properly turning your pump off would not be a problem as you should have allowed ample room for overflow in the sump and it should maintain siphon just as it would in a power outage.
 
Reefscape

Reefscape

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that is exactly what i am saying though....there is not need for all the water to go back down to the sump, just turn the valve off and water level stays in the display tank...

There maybe a time when you want the minimum water in the sump as possible for maintenance...sump swap etc etc, and the ball valve gives you the ability to simply stop all the water coming back down to the sump...

Its the same with anything in tank plumbing...more than one way to skin a cat...

Niko
 
jojo22

jojo22

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Ok I see. I thought you where useing the ball valve to control the amount of water that went straight to the fuge.
 
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Leo1

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thanks again for your input, just one thing, jojo, when you say 1/2 x turnover in the fuge is that for the entire volume of the whole system or just the fuge, as my overflow is capable of moving 6x my tank volume per hour and my skimmer will accept 2x my volume so i don't know how i can achieve this. thanks
 
jojo22

jojo22

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Can you get some pics of your set up so that I can see what we are working with?
 
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