I tried searching for it but I must be incapable lol. I am trying to set up my sump and I am having a hard time finalizing an ideal setup. I have a 100 gal tank that I am preparing for a reef tank. I have a 75 gal tank I am using for my sump. I am wanting to use a protein skimmer, a refugium and return. I was hoping to use my sump as a quarantine since where I will be getting my corals and fish is a very reputable dealer. Any help will be appreciated.
Sump Setup
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They are all reputable just before you get redbugs or some other scourge.
Quarantine the fish separately from the tank system - it's your best defense against ich.
I wouldn't rush corals.
Finally, you may be over thinking the "ideal" sump. The return end just needs to be wide enough to hold the pump if submersible. This is also where you will run your top-off, it's the only section that will fluctuate. Some will advocate a complicated baffle system, I do not. The other end needs to hold your skimmer and maybe a sock filter. Some use them, some don't.
Google images will bring up tons of sump designs.
HTH
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I also don't really utilize complex sumps. A simple, 3 chamber design is pretty much what I build. I focus on large fuge and overflow/skimmer area. I also use a 75 gallon tank as my sump. And with the heights indicated in the pictures, I added 30 gallons of water volume to the system..
And I want to say the overflow/skimmer section is 20", the fuge is 22" and the return section is 7".. Those are approximate and from what I remember. I just knew when I built it, that it was going in a larger system, so I may down the line utilize a much larger skimmer(which I actually do now- 10" body), along with the 7" filter sock..
But even with these, there is still a good amount of working room throughout. And the water level, when the pumps are off, good up approximately 2.75"(just below the overflow baffle).
But those are my little "KISS" requirements for building sumps that I use...
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And I want to say the overflow/skimmer section is 20", the fuge is 22" and the return section is 7".. Those are approximate and from what I remember. I just knew when I built it, that it was going in a larger system, so I may down the line utilize a much larger skimmer(which I actually do now- 10" body), along with the 7" filter sock..
But even with these, there is still a good amount of working room throughout. And the water level, when the pumps are off, good up approximately 2.75"(just below the overflow baffle).
But those are my little "KISS" requirements for building sumps that I use...
Sent from Note 4
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I was thinking of the way my sump is set-up today and was thinking I have mine installed backwards. I.e. the overflow drain going into the pump section. etc
But I have a question though as why there are the baffles that are right next to each other. Mine has something similar, but I am not sure what the intent is for. In picture 1 it is the pair of baffles to the left. In picture 2 it is the pair of baffles on the right.
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the baffle your speaking of(the one marked 10") sets my skimmer chamber depth. Most of the skimmers for the systems I have had, typically have a working water depth between 7.5 and 9.5". I tend to set mine a bit higher. That way, I can always add an eggcrate stand to sit the skimmer on. And I always, easily meet an "in the middle" range of how I like to set/tune my skimmers. I typically don't have to use a ton of gate or whatever valve the skimmer utilizes for massive adjustments of skim. Maybe I have been lucky(lol, my ego would like to think not), but that, between 9.5 and 10" height for skimmer chamber has been pretty golden..
When I did that little screen grab note, it was the height of the glass baffle that is in there.. I am not the best with cutting glass(though,I am getting better with time), so I give myself an extra 1/2". So that if I make any mistakes, and my handy dandy sloppy silicone jobs, I have it just about right..
And the over and under baffles(on the right in the first pic), I basically just use those in all actuality for keeping cheato out of the return pump section.. The advantage of building a longer sump and growing lots of cheato or having rock in the center, is, I really have never had bubbles past a few inches into the fuge section. Those bubbles then, get disbursed by the cheato. And by the time the water gets to the baffle, it's still flowing good, but it's not turbulent.
Add to that, I discovered that, if i don't make the baffles extremely different in height, there isn't a ton of fall into the return pump section either.. And with that in mind, I pretty much have a standard 1 to 2 inches height increase I make the one "trap" that I always have.. That "usually" brings the water, when the pumps are off, to slightly below the skimmer baffle top.
On this one, when the return is off, with back siphon, it's a half inch lower than my skimmer section height.. Unless something goes massively wrong,I don't worry about back siphoning. That's just a bunch of sleepless nights I don't need..
And over the years, I have had a lot of sumps. For a while, once I got used to and began modifying them to suite "my" purposes, I thought to myself "what am I paying all this money for, if I'm going to end up fabricating anyhow"? So I started building my own and never looked back.. It's really not a backwards or forwards thing as far as what your saying. It's just what works for your situation and tank setup. This just tends to be, in the end, how ask of mine face, or it seems weird to me, when working in and on them..
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