75Gallon Sump Ideas

cdness · Nov 22, 2011

Hi All,

I am looking at using a 75G as a sump in my 125G build. I am looking for ideas on design as I have not been happy with my current sump. Here is my thoughts:

12" Skimmer chamber -> 19" Fuge/Frags -> 3" bubble trapping baffles -> 14" return

I currently have the return in the middle of the fuge and skimmer, but I don't like the results I am getting so I want to change it up a bit. Should I baffle off the frag section or just put some racking in the fuge?

Should I put sand in the fuge for a deep sandbed as well?

Ideas or pictures would be great!

cdness · Nov 29, 2011

Any recommendations?

goody · Nov 29, 2011

Tagging along. I'm also looking at building a 75g sump for my 150g upgrade. I was planning on keeping it pretty simple. Not sure of dimensions: Skimmer section (15-18"), Fuge (16-18"), Return chamber (8-10")but thinking of having ~9g ATO. Here is a top down view of my idea.

Braves Fan · Nov 30, 2011

I really don't like the design by goody for several reasons. If you want a dedicated refugium area in your sump, I would place it (in the design above) all the way to the left, have a return line from the display tank feeding it with an inline valve to set the flow rate. I would have a set of baffles between the skimmer section and the middle section (the now return section) and fill the return section with live rock and the return pump. If you want a frag tank, which I would, I would set up a separate small frag tank outside of the sump tank and feed it off of the line that feeds your refugium, put in a small power head and have the overflow line from the frag tank feeding into your skimmer area. jmo

cdness · Nov 30, 2011

I currently have the fuge on one end and the skimmer on the other with the return in the middle. It hasn't worked out the best for me which is why I was looking for mroe designs.

I don't think I'd add the ATO as part of the sump unless there was no more room under the tank for an ATO reservoir. I know with my 6 foot tank, I am hoping to add a 10 or 15G tank next to the sump which will hold my top off water. That will be a futre add on as my 7G bucket is still working OK for me so far.

Braves Fan · Nov 30, 2011

You say your current set up hasn't worked out to well, can you explain why.

cdness · Nov 30, 2011

Well there's a few different things. First off the fuge area became too much of a detritus trap on the bottom requiring draining and cleaning way too often. Second, there was not enough flow in the tank to allow for the splitting of the drains to get full use out of either export method. Also there was very little chaeto growth even with changing out the lights, adding a powerhead for flow, or cutting the algae to give new growth areas...

I thought about removing the drain split and adding a pump to pump water into the fuge, but I didn't want to add the additional pump.

What am I doing wrong or why do you feel this is the best sump design?

goody · Nov 30, 2011

Braves Fan said:
I really don't like the design by goody for several reasons. If you want a dedicated refugium area in your sump, I would place it (in the design above) all the way to the left, have a return line from the display tank feeding it with an inline valve to set the flow rate. I would have a set of baffles between the skimmer section and the middle section (the now return section) and fill the return section with live rock and the return pump. If you want a frag tank, which I would, I would set up a separate small frag tank outside of the sump tank and feed it off of the line that feeds your refugium, put in a small power head and have the overflow line from the frag tank feeding into your skimmer area. jmo

I was pretty tired when I was doing that drawing last night. The set of baffles are going to be after the skimmer section, then one baffle before return pump. I will edit drawing. I've never had a frag tank in my sump, and I understand what you are saying with having separate sections and return lines feeding these, but like I said, I wanted to keep it simple. Most likely, I will have a small powerhead in the fuge/frag section. Since it is not a huge area, I didn' think I would need much flow anyway.

To OP, if your 75g is 48" in length like mine, then I don't think you are going to have enough room for a standard 10-15g tank. I just wanted to leave more room for my reactors, dosing pumps, supplements, etc...

Braves Fan · Nov 30, 2011

cdness said:
Well there's a few different things. First off the fuge area became too much of a detritus trap on the bottom requiring draining and cleaning way too often. Second, there was not enough flow in the tank to allow for the splitting of the drains to get full use out of either export method. Also there was very little chaeto growth even with changing out the lights, adding a powerhead for flow, or cutting the algae to give new growth areas...

I thought about removing the drain split and adding a pump to pump water into the fuge, but I didn't want to add the additional pump.

What am I doing wrong or why do you feel this is the best sump design?

I am not saying this is the best sump design, those are the changes I would make to the design above if you wanted a refugium in your sump. I wouldn't put a refugium or a frag tank in my sump. I would keep it simple, overflow drain, then a under then over baffle, into the skimmer section live rock on the other side of the skimmer, the live rock will also help break up any bubbles coming out of your skimmer before they go thru the baffles and into your return area, then a set of baffles and then the return pump. A small refugium is like having no refugium, its work for not much gain, go big or not at all.