Baffle Height

[Thomas GRANT Quinlan]

Hello,

I am making a sump with a thirty gallon tank. How does one determine the height of the baffle in the sump? Is there a rule of thumb?

Thank you,
Tom

 

[ndrwater]

Hello,

I am making a sump with a thirty gallon tank. How does one determine the height of the baffle in the sump? Is there a rule of thumb?QUOTE]

I would set the baffle height to the recommended water level on your skimmer. The baffle height will hopefully allow your skimmer to do what it does with a constant water level.

 

[Less]

You have to determine how much water will flow back when power is shut down, only then can you decide how high to run sump baffles.
Pump return rate along with drain rate all have to be accounted for.

 

[Thomas GRANT Quinlan]

I am planning on putting back flow stops in my feedlines. So, I am anticipating very little flow back when the system is shut down. On recommendation for the Reef Octopus Clear Vue 150 I have was to put the water lever between 8-9 inches as a rule of thumb

 

[Bayareareefer18]

There are lots of options for baffle kits out there that will come with an adjustable baffle to tune your water level for your skimmer

Keep in mind things fail so you always want to be sure your tank can handle the volume that can potential drain from DT....plumbing lines, overflow box etc

 

[Thomas GRANT Quinlan]

Great, thank you I will keep all that in mind and test it as I go along.

 

[George Lopez]

Don't plan on check valves working when you need them anything will clog them. Make sure you use siphon breaks on your returns and plan for that flow back into the sump.

 

[mikee002]

My check valve from BRS didn’t work on my previous tank. I don’t think there was enough pressure to force the flap closed?

 

[Thomas GRANT Quinlan]

How far apart do the Baffles have to be in order for them to work properly?

Also, do you recommend glass or plexiglas for the Baffles?

 

[TaylorPilot]

Even if your siphon break, you will still have water flow back as the water level in the tank drops. How are you planning on setting up the sump? Really the only baffle that sets height is the skimmer baffle. i would just set it so that it is at the level you want to run your sump at. The last region is set by the height of your sensor for your ATO.

 

[Thomas GRANT Quinlan]

Even if your siphon break, you will still have water flow back as the water level in the tank drops. How are you planning on setting up the sump? Really the only baffle that sets height is the skimmer baffle. i would just set it so that it is at the level you want to run your sump at. The last region is set by the height of your sensor for your ATO.

My set up will be 125 gallon tank, refugium 50 gallon next to it and a 30 gallon sump below the main tank.

The sump will have three compartments.

1. The main drain for the 125 tank into compartment one. Compartment one will have the Sock and Marine Pure Balls in the bottom
2. Three baffles measured to the recommended height of the skimmer. One inch separation between baffles
3. Protein Skimmer compartment with the drain hose from the refugium
4. Baffle between Skimmer compartment and the Clean return for the 125 tank and the refugium.

This is my plan