Sump question.

[Charlie.C]

Can someone help me out with this sump? I got it for free and want to use it. Don't really understand it too much. All the way to the left I'm assuming would be where the skimmer goes?

 

[Charlie.C]

Sorry the pic came up twice. Any info on how I would use this would help. I have a 30g reef tank.

I have never used a sump.

 

[Wiz]

not a fan of pre-made sumps. Like to build your own kind. But I cannot see where the piping goes, it looks to me as though the left side would be where the return pump would go to the right of that looks like the bubble catch area. the big compartment is where the skimmer/media/agae or whatever else would go. That's how it looks to me. Would be easier to tell if I could see inside it

 

[Wiz]

the water should enter the big area to be cleaned. Then there would be some sort of sponge or something in the center area to catch all the micro bubbles from the skimmer the water would have to travel up through that and over to the left where it would return to your display

 

[Reefing Madness]

Well being as it appears that your returns are on the left, and the bigger chamber on the right, I'd say correct, your skimmer would go in the left chamber, and use the right chambe for macro algae.
Or
You use the right chamber to keep all your equipment and you can also put the skimmer there. Up to you.

 

[Wiz]

Well being as it appears that your returns are on the left, and the bigger chamber on the right, I'd say correct, your skimmer would go in the left chamber, and use the right chambe for macro algae.
Or
You use the right chamber to keep all your equipment and you can also put the skimmer there. Up to you.

isn't the chamber to the right of the return area a bubble catch? If this skimmer goes in the left, first where would you put the return pump and second what would catch the microbubbles that are going to come from the skimmer?

 

[Charlie.C]

 

[Wiz]

looks to me as I described. But again I do not ever use pre made sumps so others might be better. I definitely think if you put your skimmer in the left side you are going to have microbubbles in your display. But that is just my opinion.

 

[Wiz]

also like I said, if the skimmer is in there unless you use an out of tank pump I don't see where you would put the return pump.

 

[Wiz]

this is mine so you can see how it works. The water comes down on the left. Heater and skimmer are both in that compartment. It rises through the first bubble catch. Passes through my refugium plants. Then goes down through a second bubble catch. To the return pump which pushes it back to the display. Without those bubble catches I would have lots of microbubbles in my display. And if my skimmer wherein the return area I would not have room for the pump.

 

[Reefing Madness]

isn't the chamber to the right of the return area a bubble catch? If this skimmer goes in the left, first where would you put the return pump and second what would catch the microbubbles that are going to come from the skimmer?

If you look closely at the right chamber, its missing the egg crate that would have held the bio balls, that are no longer there. the chamber on the left is drilled and has the outlets for the return pipes. You can put the skimmer on the right, pointing the pump intake away from the water flow from the tank, and the bubbles, or you install a sponge to catch the water coming into the sump so there are no bubbles.

 

[Wiz]

If you look closely at the right chamber, its missing the egg crate that would have held the bio balls, that are no longer there. the chamber on the left is drilled and has the outlets for the return pipes. You can put the skimmer on the right, pointing the pump intake away from the water flow from the tank, and the bubbles, or you install a sponge to catch the water coming into the sump so there are no bubbles.

I know the right side is for the media. Which was bio balls but could be anything. your explanation seems to describe how to keep bubbles out of the skimmer. What I'm concerned about is bubbles getting returned to the display tank. Which is why I suggested putting the skimmer on the right and not on the left with the return pump. possibly something is getting lost in translation here. If that is the case I apologize

 

[Reefing Madness]

How would the bubbles get back to the display?
The divider on the right goes up, it has teeth way low to get the water that doesn't have bubbles in it.

 

[Wiz]

Well being as it appears that your returns are on the left, and the bigger chamber on the right, I'd say correct, your skimmer would go in the left chamber, and use the right chambe for macro algae.
Or
You use the right chamber to keep all your equipment and you can also put the skimmer there. Up to you.

if the skimmer is in the left chamber has this suggests, and the return is also the left chamber as we can see. The skimmer will let out microbubbles and the return will suck them in and push them into the display. The center/ left chamber is designed to catch these bubbles as they travel from right to left. So the skimmer which will exude micro bubbles should be on the right. As the water travels left to the return, the catch will eliminate them so they are not pushed up top to display. I think

 

[Reefing Madness]

I never had that problem, I had the skimmer and the return right next to each other.

 

[Wiz]

well that would explain it. I used to run a 90 gallon that had a seaclone 100 skimmer and it was a terrible problem with that one cheap skimmer. Worked well though. Now I run a 40 with a 20 sump and an SCA 301 skimmer and it also takes out a bit of microbubbles not as bad but still bad enough to require the catch.

 

[Fin]

If that were mine, I would drain to the section on the right (the large section) and place a filter sock and skimmer in there. That second section would have to be just a bubble trap, because if you put a sponge in there, the water going under the baffle will eventually raise it up and dump it in the last chamber as it becomes clogged. If it is big enough, you could put some reactors in there for carbon or GFO, just not sure how much room you have in there. The left chamber looks like it is set up for an external return pump (or two), but you could use an internal pump, if you use those pre-drilled holes or you could block those up with PVC caps and not even use them. It wouldn't be my favorite configuration, but that would be workable.

 

[Charlie.C]

Thanks for the replies, I'm kinda confused. It did have the egg crate you talked about but it was broken. I wanted to have an area with sand rock and plants like yours. Not sure if it would work with this style.

 

[Damon]

If your up to a little fab, add another baffle where i have drawn. Then you can have a fuge(plant area).

I, like the others, personally don't care for pre made sumps(because of past experiences and paying topo much for them), but, because you got it for free, not much to complain about or lose.

If it were me, I'd "make it work".. It's still dry, so simple enough to add another or a couple additions if you wanted. One baffle would just be a piece of acrylic and some thick acrylic cement. A really quick and fairly easy job since it's already water tight and your just adding a wall.. Just measure your height you want the water level..

I just built my first sump. I attached pictures to give an idea of a very simplistic design. I only have two baffles and only one trap area. My fuge (center section) is 10" high (determined by the baffle height that the skimmer is in and the little small baffle(bubble trap) and the second baffle or trap is all you need. You would then have a 4 section sump. I will have to look at your picture again, but someone here can elaborate probably better than me. The only thing is how long is the sump?

Hopefully this all makes sense..