Critique my sump design?

FishBeard · Apr 11, 2012

Worked up a rough first version for the sump I want to have built for the 180, note that no bracing or lids have been designed, I want to have the tank layed out first. There will be dual reverse durso draining into the 2 bubble pipes, which then flows into dual 4" socks, or possibly a single 7" rectangular sock. This leads to the ample skimmer and reactor pump chamber, media reactors will hang or stand to the left of the sump and drain back into the sock or directly out in front of the skimmer intake. From there thru a 3 pane bubble trap to the return chamber. On the opposite end there will be a reasonable size refuge with a bubble tower which will be fed directly from a tee off the right overflow drain. I'm going a little conservative on the fuge since I plan to run biopellets on this system, and primarily want a place to temporarily hold livestock and propagate pod life, rather than a large fuge for biological filtration. The one thing I did not model as I'm not sure where I want them yet is a probe holder. I'm toying with the idea of running the probes directly from a manifold in the piping system, rather than mounting them in the sump. This design will tweak a little here and there, but any major design flaws anyone sees please share. Sump dimensions are 42"x18"x14" FYI. It's for a 180g display.

cdness · Apr 11, 2012

it looks really nice!

BHHOWARD · Apr 11, 2012

What is the flow rate into your sump?

FishBeard · Apr 11, 2012

BHHOWARD said:
What is the flow rate into your sump?

Once it's all plumbed up I want to have around 900gph of total flow thru the system. I have dual 1" durso drains in the tank, and a 1400gph pump that should be pushing about 900-1000gph at the return outlets. I have a pair of mp40's providing plenty of flow in the display, I'd like a slower flow thru the sump/fuge to let all the filter mediums do their job.

Reef Breeders · Apr 11, 2012

Looks great to me, but the water level seems kinda high, I would raise the sides a little. I myself use check valves to reduce drainage, but like to pump new water from water changes into my sump, which will raise the level considerably.

FishBeard · Apr 11, 2012

anemonekeeper said:
Looks great to me, but the water level seems kinda high, I would raise the sides a little. I myself use check valves to reduce drainage, but like to pump new water from water changes into my sump, which will raise the level considerably.

The sump is 14" tall, the water level in the sump will be 9" or less except in the fuge. I have already calculated and accounted for power outage and water level will remain below the filter sock tray, leaving me a little more than 3" of freeboard in the sump. Part of my design was to shutoff flow and do a water change from the sump so I don't have to deal with the large heavy canopy every other week. I started with a 16" wide sump and quickly realized how beneficial the 2" extra width would make overall.