Review my 55 SUMP Please

[specialk]

Hey All .. So with the help of another saltwater friend here in my townhome complex, I am working on building a 55 gallon sump for a 125 tank build. I have attached the design of how I am going to build it and I welcome your thoughts .. please let me know if this will work as I am going to have my skimmer l refugium l return pump (going left to right as I detailed) Its a pretty basic setup and hoping this basic set up will work ... Thanks amigos .. love doing this and learning along the way!!

 

[ravedood]

I have always liked the idea of having water enter the sump from both ends and have the return in the middle. This way you can control the input for the refugium since it is suppose to be s slow flow. The other end would house the skimmer.

 

[Ron Reefman]

I have always liked the idea of having water enter the sump from both ends and have the return in the middle. This way you can control the input for the refugium since it is suppose to be s slow flow. The other end would house the skimmer.

+1
Why run skimmer effluent through the fuge or the fuge water through the skimmer? Split the return from the DT in to 2 and deliver it to both ends of the sump and run 2 filter socks.

 

[specialk]

Ahh how I love to learn and get feedback :nerd: Many thanks as always. So sorry if this is a dumb question then, but I want to make sure I follow right -- I am then going to put my skimmer to the far right. This is where one of the returns from the DT is coming down into the right hand side of the sump, AND there will also be another return coming down from the left of the DT into the left hand side of the sump. Then I will simply have 2 center portions with a refuguim and then a return ... am I missing something here or I am wrong and then return simply goes out of the refugium?

 

[DO NOT PM]

Water in- Fuge, water out, Skimmer- Water in

If it were me I would use one tall baffle on the fuge to increase water depth to full height. Just make sure you have enough space for a power outage for your tank to drain below the overflow/bulkhead.

If you plumb it properly you can add a ball valve on the fuge side to control flow, just make sure the water that is "backed up" in the pipe can easily drain the other pipe into the skimmer side of the sump.

 

[specialk]

If I am following .. and I sure hope I am ... you guys talking about something like this? Am I getting this right?

 

[specialk]

What I am really wondering about is if I have the baffles correct? (should the ones go ALL the way up to the top or no? Amongst any other problems I have here with these baffles)

 

[Ron Reefman]

On the left hand side, you don't need that first set of baffles. Just dump the DT water directly into the fuge.

The height of your baffle from the bottom up will establish how deep the water will be in the skimmer and fuge sections.

Making the fuge as big as you can is a good idea, but... you need to figure out how much water will run down into the sump when your power goes out and make sure you have enough 'extra' space in the sump to hold that 'extra' water. Otherwise you overflow the sump. That's why my sump has a drain at the very top that goes out to the backyard and my stand has a liner in the bottom so spills and overflows get caught in a shower pan liner rather than getting the wood stand wet or spilling out on the floor. I 4 years it's saved me from a clogged drain/overflow and from a leaking external pump (bad seal).

 

[DSP]

The first pic you posted will work great as a sump.Iv used a few sumps built he exact same way and its really one of the most popular designs.The suggestions others have posted will work good to

 

[specialk]

Thanks DSP! So I am either going with my original setup, OR for the sake of learning and what we are talking about, if I opt for the other setup this is how it would then look? ALSO should those baffles (coming down from top to bottom) start/ be all the way to the top? OR should I leave about 5-6 6 inches of space at the top in the event of a power outage?

 

[specialk]

Also what about a valve on the drain from the DT to the fuge to control the fuge water flow ?

 

[Dylan J.]

Just my 2cents but if u dump the water straight in the fuge, it would defeat the purpose of the fuge? The fuge is suppose to catch organic matter from the dt while the plants n live rock break it down. If water is dumped straight in there little or no organic will be caught as well as sand would be stirred up and sand would be shot every where throughout the tank

 

[DO NOT PM]

Just my 2cents but if u dump the water straight in the fuge, it would defeat the purpose of the fuge? The fuge is suppose to catch organic matter from the dt while the plants n live rock break it down. If water is dumped straight in there little or no organic will be caught as well as sand would be stirred up and sand would be shot every where throughout the tank

I'd recommend the use of a micron bag even though its into the sump. Its not so much about organic matter (thats the skimmers job) as it is about nutrients. Just my opinion however.

 

[Dylan J.]

Well i would go with baffles infront of fuge just incase the sock over flows it doesnt stir of the sand and other gunk that is settled on the sand.

 

[Dylan J.]

And in theory thats the skimmers job but in reality the water will be splitting and dumping at the fuge n skimmer so there for the waste will be going into the fuge. Meaning fish/coral food, waste matter from coral n fish as well as other dibris that enter the tank

 

[Ron Reefman]

I feed from a 180g DT directly into a 45g fuge with macro algae only. I have a filter sock in the fuge and as often as not, I run them until they overflow. It hasn't caused any problems in my fuge. The chaeto grows OK (but with zero nitrates and very low phosphates it doesn't grow very fast), but there are pods and feeder shrimp galore. I don't see the reason for your concern. So DT water and even debris from the DT overflowing the filter sock get into the fuge, so what? It breaks down and the algae and critters use it as food, that's the way it's supposed to work, isn't it?