DIY sump help

[sp1187]

greetings,
so this is my sump design. mid chamber will have ceramic blocks and a SURF4X.
water depths?
chamber 1 = 14"?
mid chamber = 12.5"?
should the panel ballooned 002 be flush to the bottom and panel 003 be moved up 1" to change the flow direction to lose bubbles before the pump?

thanks.
Mike

 

[P-Dub]

12.5" high might be a bit high for a lot of skimmers. You may need to place it on a stand in the sump. Keep that in mind when shopping for skimmers. Regarding baffle height, think of what you want your working height in the mid chamber to be. Have you considered a third baffle as a bubble trap prior to your return pump chamber? If so, high low high for ease of cleaning. 14.74" seems quite a large first chamber. Do you need that much room? Baffle width seems excessive to me. Is there a reason for the spacing?

 

[sp1187]

1st chamber: no socks. sandwiching filter material between egg crate.
middle chamber: marine pure ceramic blocks. and a SURF4X algae scrubber.
no skimmer in the system.
think I need to switch how the last two baffles are high/low for bubble trap.

 

[P-Dub]

1st chamber: no socks. sandwiching filter material between egg crate.
middle chamber: marine pure ceramic blocks. and a SURF4X algae scrubber.
no skimmer in the system.
think I need to switch how the last two baffles are high/low for bubble trap.

Makes sense. If you are not utilizing the bubble trap for additional mechanical or chemical filtration I would go high-low-high and decrease the width between them. Here is what I did on mine. high low high allows for easy cleaning. High-low-high also allows for better bubble dissipation.