Question about mod needed in running sump

[RJ F.]

So I built my own sump and everything have been running great for 2 months. I have a refugium and its awesome to see my chaeto growing nice and fast. However when I was doing my daily inspection I realized that I made the refugium baffles the same height.
My question is:

With the sump still running, can I cut out spots in the exit baffle to make a weir? Or do I have to drain the sump and make the cut outs?

I used plexiglass so I wasnt sure if the shavings would hurt anything or not.

Thank you in advance. I will post some pics too

 

[RJ F.]

 

[jtl]

I'm not sure what you are trying to accomplish. I don't even have baffles (bubble trap) going from my refugium to the next chamber. All need is something to catch any free floating algae before it gets to the other chambers. Maybe that is what you are trying to do. At a minimum you need to turn off the return pump and lower the water in the sump or you are going to be pumping shavings into the DT. If the pump isn't running the shavings will lay on top of the water and can easily be removed. Acrylic isn't going to hurt anything but I wouldn't want it circulating in my tank.

 

[RJ F.]

Awesome. That makes sense. The problem that I realized is that the upstream and downstream baffle are the same height. So I dont have any turbulent flow going into the refugium chamber. The water level is constant through the refugium section. I should have made the down stream baffle shorter.

I hope this explanation helps. I know its difficult to explain

 

[jtl]

Awesome. That makes sense. The problem that I realized is that the upstream and downstream baffle are the same height. So I dont have any turbulent flow going into the refugium chamber. The water level is constant through the refugium section. I should have made the down stream baffle shorter.

I hope this explanation helps. I know its difficult to explain

From the pic it doesn't look like the water levels in your sump vary from section to section but maybe I am not seeing it correctly. I set my sump up so the water from the DT drains into the refugium, it then flows to the skimmer section where the water level is lower and is determined by the height of the baffle at the other end where it flows to the return pump section. So I actually have 3 different water levels and the of course the return section is the one that varies due to evaporation.

 

[lapin]

Here is a thought. Add a short baffle in the middle of the fuge section, high up in the sump. Force the water to go under it. Should force water down and you will get some turbulence. Since it will only be 2" tall and not have much water pushing against it it does not need to be very secure.
Just a idea...