So instead of buying a sump for my soon to be 125 gallon tank I've chosen to take an old 75 gallon tank and turn it into a sump and refugium. What I am wondering what some of you consider the best designs. I was thinking the refugium should be on the far end of the tank so I can control the flow going through it best with the pumps going back to the tank being in the middle chamber. And filter socks and skimmer on the opposit end. I want the refugium to be the largest chamber with live rock and macro algae. Any opinions and advice would be welcome on this.
75 gallon sump and refugium
- Thread starter Gene S.
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redfishbluefish
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There are a number of factors that determine sump layout. However, with a 75 gallon, you have a bit more freedom with the size of that 75 gallon tank. I'm going to assume it's a dual overflow 125 DT, with overflows in each of the corners. That being the case, having filter socks and skimmer on one end for one of the drains, and the refugium on the other end for the other drain, with the return in the middle makes sense.
What you need to do is decide on a skimmer, and then make that section the size to fit the skimmer....with enough room to remove the skimmer if need be. If this sump is going in a stand below the DT, skimmer size and height are critical.....also the depth at which the skimmer will operate.
The other consideration are the baffle heights. I prefer to maximize these to maximize the volume of water. Make sure you have sufficient volume above the baffles for flow-back once the pumps are turned off.
As far as bubble traps, only one will be needed going from the skimmer section to the return section.
What you need to do is decide on a skimmer, and then make that section the size to fit the skimmer....with enough room to remove the skimmer if need be. If this sump is going in a stand below the DT, skimmer size and height are critical.....also the depth at which the skimmer will operate.
The other consideration are the baffle heights. I prefer to maximize these to maximize the volume of water. Make sure you have sufficient volume above the baffles for flow-back once the pumps are turned off.
As far as bubble traps, only one will be needed going from the skimmer section to the return section.
JAWS 32
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I am upgrading my 75 gallon dt to a 125 gallon dt and we custom made our sump/ fuge also... we bought a 33 long and made 3 sections.. the tank is 48 inches long.. the two end sections are 8 inches long, one side being used for the drain line w/ filter sock and the other side for my return pump... that leaves us with a 32 inch fuge... my skimmer is an external one, so I did not have to use space in the sump/ fuge for it..Iwanted the fuge to be big because I currently have a mud shrimp living in my 20 fuge now, and I wanted him to have alot of room to dig his tunnels in... plus it gives me extra space for any cool hitchhiker that cannot stay in the DT... Good luck!
racin2438
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I have a 110g sump on our 150g DT.....dual sock and skimmer chamber 1, fuge chamber 2, return in 3. Bubble trap between 2 n 3.. I make them all same style, depending on sump size, we or my customers need. The one in pics is a 40g breeder I made for our 48g frag tank.
