Sump help!!

[homer1475]

If your only going to do 1 baffle(just for the return section), just make that baffle high enough so when your return pump is sitting on the bottom of the tank, you cover the pump with 2 to 3 inches of water.

Nothing wrong with DIY, just have the glass cut for you(local glass shop, Lowes, HD, and usually pretty cheap). Then just silicone it in place with any 100% silicone non mold inhibitor silicone, or any aquarium silicone you can find in pretty much any pet store.

I personally would just use the little tube of aquarium sealant found in any pet store for 1 baffle.

 

[Lbannie]

Thanks guys. Unfortunately I can’t fit a 40 gallon in my cabinet. The best I can do is a 20, 20l, or 29. Which one would be best? Petco is having the dollar sale now so it would be a lot cheaper than buying a premade sump

 

[Albertan22]

How do I figure out how tall to make the baffles? The water has to spill over top of them right?

it depends on what you are going for. You want your skimmer chamber to be the optimum height for your skimmer operation. This is usually somewhere in the 7-9 inches range. So you would make the baffle between your skimmer chamber and return section that height. If you want a separate refugium, you can add a little height to give you more water volume if you put it upstream of your skimmer. Always leave a few inches from the top for safety, and don’t make too crazy of a drop or you can get a splash (I’m dealing with that now). I can’t give you perfect numbers, it’s always been trial and error for me.

 

[Albertan22]

Thanks guys. Unfortunately I can’t fit a 40 gallon in my cabinet. The best I can do is a 20, 20l, or 29. Which one would be best? Petco is having the dollar sale now so it would be a lot cheaper than buying a premade sump

Get the biggest you can fit, but also consider whether your skimmer will fit inside of it and whether you will be able to remove the skimmer and other equipment once it’s in your stand. A tall tank like a 29G might not give you enough room between the top of the sump and your cabinet top to work depending on your stand dimensions.

 

[Lbannie]

Get the biggest you can fit, but also consider whether your skimmer will fit inside of it and whether you will be able to remove the skimmer and other equipment once it’s in your stand. A tall tank like a 29G might not give you enough room between the top of the sump and your cabinet top to work depending on your stand dimensions.

Good thinking, I’ve never had a skimmer before either. Tank came with a coralife super skimmer, it’s pretty big.
That’s the problem with the sump now, it makes like a waterfall and splashes.
Should the return line from display tank be in its own chamber?
If I wanted a fuge section, and my return was on left side of sump, would I need 4 sections? Would the levels be relatively the same?
ugh, I have to look at some pics!

 

[Albertan22]

Good thinking, I’ve never had a skimmer before either. Tank came with a coralife super skimmer, it’s pretty big.
That’s the problem with the sump now, it makes like a waterfall and splashes.
Should the return line from display tank be in its own chamber?
If I wanted a fuge section, and my return was on left side of sump, would I need 4 sections? Would the levels be relatively the same?
ugh, I have to look at some pics!

It’s fine to keep it simple and not create a ton of sections. If you are getting a lot of waterfall noise now you may just need to slow the flow through it. If you have a DC return pump, try throttling it back. If not, you can add a ball or gate valve to the output side of your return pump and use it to slow the flow. Many people oversize their return pumps too much. The more flow through the sump the louder it will be. It’s better to get your DT flow through Powerheads rather than the return pump.

 

[Lbannie]

It’s fine to keep it simple and not create a ton of sections. If you are getting a lot of waterfall noise now you may just need to slow the flow through it. If you have a DC return pump, try throttling it back. If not, you can add a ball or gate valve to the output side of your return pump and use it to slow the flow. Many people oversize their return pumps too much. The more flow through the sump the louder it will be. It’s better to get your DT flow through Powerheads rather than the return pump.

I think it’s the design of sump
The water goes into the tallest section into a pvc pipe with slits in it all the way down. Then it fills that whole tall section then spills over where there is 2 socks....the water doesn’t even go into the socks then waterfalls again.
I think maybe it’s more for a wet dry thing. Idk

so can the skimmer be in the same section as the drain water? Or with the return pump?
there is a valve on the return pump which I tried all ways to quiet the sump but doesn’t seem to help. Currently I have the drain line into one of the lower socks that’s by return pump

 

[fishface NJ]

I used a 40b from Petco and a baffle kit from Ebay Fuji. The kits come in different sizes.

 

[Lbannie]

I used a 40b from Petco and a baffle kit from Ebay Fuji. The kits come in different sizes.

I’ve been looking at those! Do you have it running yet? How do you like it? I don’t want to sound like an idiot, but what will you have in each section? What is the white mesh for?

 

[Albertan22]

I think it’s the design of sump
The water goes into the tallest section into a pvc pipe with slits in it all the way down. Then it fills that whole tall section then spills over where there is 2 socks....the water doesn’t even go into the socks then waterfalls again.
I think maybe it’s more for a wet dry thing. Idk

so can the skimmer be in the same section as the drain water? Or with the return pump?
there is a valve on the return pump which I tried all ways to quiet the sump but doesn’t seem to help. Currently I have the drain line into one of the lower socks that’s by return pump

Yeah that’s a bit strange.

 

[Albertan22]

Here are pictures of my old sump and my new one.

On the older one the return pump went into the center chamber and the drain line was split to feed both the left and right side. The right side was a refugium.The design was silent but I didn’t like the split drain line. My new sump is still pretty noisy, I think the drop is too much between the fuge (where the rock is) and the skimmer chamber. I’m hoping once I get a light down there and some chaeto that algae will grow on the baffle and quiet it down a bit.

 

[Greg73]

I'm also using the Fiji DIU sump kit, in a 40 gallon breeder, it is my 1st attempt at a coral tank and I'm loving the sump so far, that white mesh you are talking about is a divider for basically setting up your filter part of the sump, other than the filter socks.

 

[Simply__J]

That is an older style sump, more configured for fresh vs salt. Honestly, I would just get a new sump or at a minimum get a new tank with the same footprint and DIY one. From what I see, that one is likely to be more hassle than it’s worth.

I second that, I had one on my old 55 gal. I'm not saying they don't work but I constantly found myself fighting the water level to make sure it didn't flood during a power outage or when I stopped the pump for maintenance, or it running dry if my ATO went crazy and it often did. Because you have to put the skimmer in the same chamber as the return pump dialing the sikmmer in was a pain too (nearly impossible). If you have the means to swap it for something better I would.