First time building a Sump, can someone let me know if this is going to work before I start gluing everything in?

[Toaster427]

Here is the same pic that I edited to show how this is all going to work in my head.



Every sump design seemed to be different, and some had a smaller baffle wall right before the pump chamber, I'm not really sure why, is this something I should include?

thank you in advance if you can provide from advice, this is the first time I've ever done this so I'm pretty much just winging it based on pictures and diagrams I've come across on the internet.

 

[TwoTankAmin]

I never set mine up, but it was designed for me by Dr. Stephan tanner of Swiss Tropicals. basically is was a sump tank with several sheets of Poret foam spaced between where the water cane in and the pump returned it. It could not have been more simple. Here is a link for a pdf http://www.swisstropicals.com/wp_site/wp-content/uploads/Sump-layout.pdf

I do have Poret foam Hamburg Mattenfilters and foam cubes in about 1/2 of my tanks. I modified the design by using a taller sump tank with open space at the top. The idea was if the return pump failed, that space would act as a failsafe against an accidental flood. I also decide to raise the return pump locate in the sump so if the tank overflow clogged, the pump would be out of the water before the entire sup water culd be pumped into the tank and overflow there. My thinking was a fried pump from running dry was better than a flooded floor.

 

[dougall]

^^^

Having the baffles so close to the top of the sump increases how much water you need in there.

You will need to be incredibly careful with your overflow setup, and what all will be back-siphoned from your display tank in the case of failure.

You also need to think about evaporation, and how that might cause problems easily. But it isn't the direction I would go in just because of the work necessary to keep the water level up so it will work, and the paranoia about power ever going out,and the sumps ability to handle the extra water that siphons back via the return and pump.

It should be fine if everything is working well.

 

[Mr Fish Face]

I can actually give some input, I am well used to sumps having owned several saltwater and reef tanks.

First, overall looks good. Your third and last chamber are connected so the water will drop in both those areas with evaporation over time. You could do away with the baffle next to the pump honestly. I see why it's there (to prevent air bubbles) and it won't hurt to have it there but you could also free up space by removing it. In my own experience having the pump far away from where the water enters usually has no problems with air bubbles.

If you didn't want the water to drop in both 3rd and last chamber you could put another baffle there, but I would caution about that. The return pump area on its own is not very big and if you are not carefully monitoring that water drop it would drop to low levels quickly (because it's so small).

The biggest piece of advice I can give is make sure where the water enters the display tank is not TOO submerged into the water. When power goes off it will back siphon, so put the water entering the tank close to the surface of the water or you can install a siphon break in the pipe.

Once you get the sump setup and running in the tank, and everything is going great, unplug the return pump and watch it close. If water backsiphons into the sump you need to make sure the sump can handle it. If it gets too full have a hose on hand to start sucking water out. This is so that in the case of a power failure you don't flood around your tank!