Sump design

[Slim64684]

I'm in the process of designing and building a sump for my new build. I'm limited on space and trying to maximize what I have available. This is the design I came up with:

Water enters into back right into what I call a "crash tower" basically a tall thin chamber that overflows onto the egg crate which will hold filter pads. From there it flows out the bottom of the floss chamber into the front right which will hold a skimmer. From there it overflows into the biggest chamber which I can use for a fuge or reactor section. Then into an under over under baffles to the return chamber. Nothing is glued/siliconed into place yet, just looking fr some feedback as to if everyone thinks this will work or is destined for failure.

 

[Quietman]

Not bad at all....like the sponge section. You could put a few levels in that now (1/4" pieces of acrylic holders for egg crate) and run media or several sponges, etc.

I assume you did the math on the return section not overflowing tank if drain clogs and that that total available operating volume will not allow sump overflow on power failure (back flow into tank).

Lastly...just a thought. That last baffle takes up room with little benefit since your skimmer is so far away (no bubbles). You may want to just run an over/under - if there are bubbles, piece of big hole filter sponge will work. Only bring it up because a lot of people like extra return pumps, heaters, sensors, ATO in return section and room and space becomes premium. I

 

[Mr Fishface]

I like the design. I agree just a simple under/over is good enough for the return section to help free a little more space. I like the idea of the tall section where water enters, like above said you could try to get more levels in there to run like carbon for instance. Make sure the skimmer fits before you glue the baffle in place too. Seems silly but my first sump I measured things and they should have fit just fine, but it was rather difficult to get the skimmer in there and I realized I didn't take into account the cords coming off the skimmer. The next sump I got I dry fit the skimmer into place first and then added just a little more room so it would be much easier to pull in and out if I needed to clean it or something.

 

[Super Fly]

Very nice work! I like the "crash chamber" idea but may be a bit tight for cleaning detritus bc IME the drain section collects the most detritus esp when no filter sock is used... or perhaps the chamber is big enough to hold a small powerhead to prevent detritus from settling.

Also, not sure if u planned to glue the egg crate but I'd recommend not glueing. Instead build notches where it can sit on so it can be removed for maintenance/add ons, so this way u can use that chamber to add/remove bio filters etc like @Quietman said. I made the mistake of glueing mine and regret it bc now I cant get in there to scrape nuisance algae from that section.

 

[Quietman]

@Mr Fishface "dry fit" equipment, excellent idea!!! And right as @Super Fly said do not glue in egg crate, it'll rest very nicely. As an alternative, you could see if you can buy an off the shelf media rack that fits in there nicely.

And yeah, that narrow drain area is tough to clean. If you can't get your hand down there, it's not going to be cleaned. Might have to live with that. Just make sure you put a union in the drain pipe close to the sump so when needed you can easily move the drain pipe out of the way.

 

[Slim64684]

Thanks for the feed back. The drains will actually be 2 1" pipes in a Herbie setup. Unions will be used on both to allow for removal.

I was going to make stands for the egg crate to old it around an inch under the crash baffle. I'll have to check to see if I can get my hand in to clean the crash chamber. Would siphoning detritus out be sufficient for cleaning purposes or would I need to get more aggressive?

The skimmer I'm looking at says it needs a 7"x6.5" area, that section comes in at 8"x8". The pump is 6.5"x3.5"x4.5" tall. The return section is 5"x11.875".

 

[Quietman]

Well two things.. Yes you can siphon and clean no problem. The other is if a fish/snail ever gets down there,

 

[Slim64684]

Well two things.. Yes you can siphon and clean no problem. The other is if a fish/snail ever gets down there,

Small tank small fish. Chamber is 5 inches wide a 4" net would fit. (I'll double check before glueing). And net/tongs for snail or hermit.

And I really do appreciate the feedback, some of the things mentioned I hadn't and probably wouldn't have ever thought about.