Advice needed: manifold design or other idea...

Wrasse-cal · Dec 24, 2017

I’m considering building a manifold from my return pump to feed my skimmer and potentially down the road a calcium reactor. The main reason for this is space. I have a pretty small sump and I can’t fit both my protein skimmer and algae reactor in my sump if I have a dedicated skimmer pump in the chamber. I can though fit both in the chamber if there is no pump in there. If I build a manifold, I could also plumb the skimmer externally from the sump off of the manifold for maximum sump space.

The other option is to use a dedicated return pump and plumb the skimmer externally with a second pump and build a manifold off of that pump to feed any other reactors. That second pump could fit in the skimmer chamber. My gut says the second option is better, but I’m curious what others think.

mcarroll · Dec 24, 2017

Do you already have the skimmer in mind for this? Most skimmers won't work from a feed like this.

If you don't mind the asking...

What makes the sump space so limited? There are some very space efficient skimmers out there.

What's the available footprint space? And what are the display tank size and dimensions?

What makes you think an algae reactor is going to be necessary? (It will run fine off a manifold, BTW, but I'd still run something like that from its own pump if possible.)

Wrasse-cal · Dec 24, 2017

The tank is 75 gallons. The sump is 25 gallons.

I already have the skimmer, a lifereef SVS2-24. Not a small footprint: 8 x 12.

My sump has a built in 5 gallon ATO, so that takes up a lot of real estate. The skimmer chamber is only 13.22 x 8.46.

I also already have the Skimz 157 macroalgae reactor, which has a 7 x 7 inch footprint.

My mistake was buying the equipment without thinking about how I was going to fit it in the sump!

The algae reactor doesn’t need to be plumbed to anything since it has its own pump internal to the 7 x 7 footprint. I’d like to heavily stock the tank, and run a sort of modified Triton method, hence the plan to use the reactor.

The simplest things problaby would be to plumb the skimmer external to the sump, with a dedicated pump in the skimmer section of the sump.

mcarroll · Dec 25, 2017

Algae Reactor
I think the simplest thing would be to not install the algae reactor at all.

That was you can either re-sell if for a new/like-new price or just save it and figure out a better install plan. Any chance of replacing the sump with (e.g.) a 40 Breeder now or in the future? No need to rush into anything sub-par as you won't need anything like an algae reactor for a good while even after the tank is up.

Skimmer
I also think that it shouldn't matter too much where the skimmer pump is within the sump, as long as it can reach the skimmer with a 2-3' section of vinyl tubing. Can you post a pic of the sump?

Lifereef claims this skimmer can be built to fit an 8x10" space...maybe investigate with them to see what changes that mod would take so you'll know if that would help buy you a little space?

Last, I don't know if you'd consider a different skimmer that favors your sump dimensions a bit more, but an AquaC EV-120 would rock your 75 gallon and fits into an 8x9" space with a little room to spare! It should use the same pump or even one or two sizes down from the Lifereef. An AquaC Urchin Pro has an even smaller 4x8" footprint. Technically the non-Pro Urchin would even be great for a 75 Gallon, and its footprint is really tiny.