[Mr.Bob]

I have a 29 gallon aquarium which I am useing for a sump right now. I have no chambers in it right now either. But now I want to but chambers into my 29 gallon and this is what I was thinking of doing.... The deminsions of the 29 gallon aquarium are Length is "30" Height is "19" and the Width is "13". The first chamber Length will be "9" this will contain my tube what pous the water into my 29 gallon aquarium and my sump. The 2nd chamer will be "15" long and will contain macro alge and live sand. The 3rd chamber will be "8" long and will contain my mag drive. The height of the plixie glass in the first chamber will be "15" high. In the 2nd chmber leading to the 3rd chamber the height of the plixi glass will be 13 inches high.
Do you guys think this will be good for a refugi in my sump? Also do you think htis will be ok too?

 

[Mr.Bob]

Anyone think this is ok?

 

[ryan72]

it sound fine to me, but do the math to make sure if power is off, the display draining into the sump won't overflow it.

 

[shorty]

In my opinion, I think you should limit the size of the incoming chamber and increase the return chamber that contains your return pump by whatever length you saved on the the first chamber.
6 inch 1st chamber - drain from tank
15 inch 2nd chamber - refuge / sump
9 inch 3rd chamber - return pump.

By increasing the size of the 3rd chamber you will greatly reduce how often you top off. Your original plans will probably require you to top off at least once a day.

 

[Mr.Bob]

In my opinion, I think you should limit the size of the incoming chamber and increase the return chamber that contains your return pump by whatever length you saved on the the first chamber.
6 inch 1st chamber - drain from tank
15 inch 2nd chamber - refuge / sump
9 inch 3rd chamber - return pump.

By increasing the size of the 3rd chamber you will greatly reduce how often you top off. Your original plans will probably require you to top off at least once a day.

but since the 2nd chamber is taller the wateer cant get over it so then it will go bak in the first chamber the water and overflow..

 

[gofishbiz]

My thoughts would be to go with 3" first chamber, a 18" second chamber, and leave the rest for the pump chamber. Like shorty said, you will have to top off more often, but I would go with as large of a live rock/algae chamber as you can.

As for the height of the baffles, I would make them the exact same height. If you make your first one too high, when the water starts to evaporate, you will create a water fall effect and that will lead to faster evaporation. For example, if your first baffle is 15" tall and your second baffle is only 13" tall, you have 2" of water fall. This may not be a big deal overall, but just extra cause for evaporation. I would also add a third baffle about 2" away from the second baffle that comes down from the top of the tank. This will be a "bubble trap" so you are pushing bubbles back up into the tank.

I will be honest, sometimes I have a hard time explaining things that are in my head. Does this make sense?

 

[gofishbiz]

but since the 2nd chamber is taller the wateer cant get over it so then it will go bak in the first chamber the water and overflow..

If water can't get over the second baffle, water can not get to the third chamber, so it can't be pumped up to the tank which means it can't get back down to the sump to overflow. (Long enough of a run on sentance ? )

 

[Mr.Bob]

More responces please!

 

[primetime]

go with what gofishbiz said

 

[Mr.Bob]

My thoughts would be to go with 3" first chamber, a 18" second chamber, and leave the rest for the pump chamber. Like shorty said, you will have to top off more often, but I would go with as large of a live rock/algae chamber as you can.

As for the height of the baffles, I would make them the exact same height. If you make your first one too high, when the water starts to evaporate, you will create a water fall effect and that will lead to faster evaporation. For example, if your first baffle is 15" tall and your second baffle is only 13" tall, you have 2" of water fall. This may not be a big deal overall, but just extra cause for evaporation. I would also add a third baffle about 2" away from the second baffle that comes down from the top of the tank. This will be a "bubble trap" so you are pushing bubbles back up into the tank.

I will be honest, sometimes I have a hard time explaining things that are in my head. Does this make sense?

Im new to this so I dont know what alot of this means but whats a baffle also explain how it will work please

 

[thisiscmd]

A baffle is nothing more than the "walls" that separate your chambers. You can find a lot of designs for DIY sumps online if you google it.

 

[15milerd]

Mr. Bob
Check out this site. You can gain alot of info from this guy who builds sumps and refugiums. He is also good at answering any question you E-Mail to him.
http://www.melevsreef.com/ or just put melev reef in your google search bar.
Regards,
Ken

 

[jswidorski]

Skimmer

If you think you might want to add a protein skimmer you might want to go bigger in the first chamber. My 29 is setup as 11in (Protein Skimmer), 8in (Fuge), and 11in (Return Pump). I use ALL of the first chamber for the skimmer.

John

 

[shorty]

I used the small sump/refuge design described on http://www.melevsreef.com/. I made mine taller in an attempt to maximize the volume. The picture lacks somewhat but shows that the water enters the sump in a small partitioned section in the rear RH corner (I keep a sack of carbon in this area). Water then flows out of this small chamber through slots located just above the sand line. the water moves through the refuge over/under/over the bubble trap and then is returned to the main tank.