New sump design...input welcome

wantvws

wantvws

AC Members
Jul 15, 2007
861
0
0
Waynesboro, VA
After browsing through melevsreef, I think I want to try and build a sump/fugevthis spring or summer. I would love to find a tank and just modify it with baffles, but I also want to utilize the space as best I can. My plan is to cut a piece of cardboard and keep trimming it until I can fit it under my stand and get it in place. I hope I can find a tank that will be close, but if not I think I'll try and make my own out of acrylic. Then I will probably pay someone to make it for me:D.
Here is crude drawing of what I want. I will put my heaters in it, but I'm not sure about the skimmer. It is only 3" shorter than the total height under my tank.
Gimme your thoughts on it....it's pretty simple.
Robbie

SUMP1.jpg
 
If you have taken a look at Melev's sumps then take a closer look at the refugium areas. He has teeth on the walls of those areas to "catch" those pieces of floating stuff that can break away from your macros and having it get into your return pumps etc. Otherwise I think it looks good. Are you going to go with an in-sump skimmer then since you'll have the room?
 
My Sump/Refugium is very similar to your design. In the first chamber on the left, I have my intakes and skimmer. I only had room for a 20L to work with with after some research and talking with someone who had skipped the bubble trap, I did as well. This made the complexity and room constraints much easier to deal with. I have live rock rubble right after my first baffle. I then have 1"-1.5" sand bed. 1 Large piece of live rock just because I didn't have spot for it in my DT and then I grow macro algae in there. The third baffle was primarily to hold the sand in place and then I have an egg crate to keep the Chaeto in place. The return pump is in the 3rd chamber. I have no problems of any kind with micro bubbles as they all disperse . The only thing I would do differently with the same sized setup would be that my third baffle would be alot higher. I really wanted to go with a DSB but that baffle is to short to get the minimum requirements. All in all I have been very happy with the results.
 
I hope to be able to fit a 33L under there, although if that fits then a 55 will fit. The 55 would complicate placing my skimmer in there, but I think it would work well with the 33. The 33 is short enough that my skimmer would sit low enough to fit and be somewhat accessible. The 55 would it make it more difficult to access the skimmer.
Thanks for the teeth idea, clown. I had not thought about that. I guess if I use an existing tank then I will put acrylic dividers in it and cut the teeth in those.
Vorlx- the guy at my LFS suggested the same thing about the bubble trap...that if I went with a 33 or 55 then I could probably get away without the baffles. I want as much room in the fuge as possible. Do you have a pic of your sump somewhere?
One reason I would like to go with the 55 is more room in case of a power outage...I just don't know if I can deal with the skimmer issues with the 55. I think I will also increase my return pump size to a either an Eheim 1260 or 1262 when I do this. I am also going to get an RO/DI unit soon....maybe an auto top off.
This all hinges on whether the money tree I planted in the back yard bears fruit or not:D.
Thanks!
Robbie
 
Ooooo....good idea....now I know what to do with my extra egg crate from my canopy:thm:. And I can use glass instead of acrylic I suppose.
Thanks!
Robbie
 
vorlx said:
I don't have any pics of mine handy but if you look through my LOG (link in my sig) a guy posted one that is very similar to mine. Same size/basic concept. I used his for my design.
Click to expand...
Thanks...I remember it now that I have re-read it. That is basically what I'm hoping to do. Did you use glass or acrylic for your baffles?
Thanks!
Robbie
 
wantvws said:
Thanks...I remember it now that I have re-read it. That is basically what I'm hoping to do. Did you use glass or acrylic for your baffles?
Thanks!
Robbie
Click to expand...

I used Acrylic. I am not great with cutting glass and figured cutting the Acrylic would be much easier. It was. Granted you can have your local hardware store (Lowes/Home Depot) cut the glass for you if you can provide exact measurements.
 
It turns out the largest tank I can fit under my stand (now, at least) is a 30g long. It has a 36x12 footprint, and according to my high tech piece of cardboard I used, 38x12 is the largest footprint that I can get through the doors and turn. So I have a 30g on order....I figure the water volume I would gain with the extra 2" in length is not worth building my own or buying a custom one. The downside to the 30 vs the 33 long is height...skimmer hanging on the sump will be 1/2" taller than the total height available:wall::angryfire::wall:.
Anyone ever modified a skimmer to make it stand alone? I really would like to have my skimmer skimming from the first compartment of my soon-to-be sump.
Also, I am looking at a MAG 9.5 pump to replace the Eheim 1250 I have now...will this be sufficient? I think it has like 750gph @ 5'. Also, could I put my Eheim pump to some use elsewhere in the tank (some sort of circulation)?
Thanks for the input....I will post pics when I start!!
Robbie
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
AquariaCentral.com
Top Bottom