New Member - Old Salty

[squarebob]

Hey Gang, I have been out of the hobby for almost 18 years and am getting set up to do some reef stuff. 50 Gallon DT and a 20 Gallon refugium sump with a skimmer. Back in the day I had UGF's and a DE canister filter. My how things have changed!! I would like to start out with a question on a sump refugium setup. I see folks doing baffles in two different ways:

A. first baffle raised, second baffle to the floor, third baffle raised

or

B. first baffle to the floor, second baffle raised, third baffle to the floor

Can any one tell me the pros and cons of the two different arrangements?

Thanks in advance for any thoughts and I look forward to enjoying this forum.

Bob in Temple
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[myreefclub0070]

Welcome to the ARC, your sure in the right place for q&a.
For the most part, they both would be fine since the soul purpose is to act as a bubble trap so as not to allow bubbles from the skimmer to get back up into the DT via the return pump.
I like the 2 outer baffles down better as it allows the water to exit the trap at the top over the pump and then gets pulled down, so you don't get stagnant water at the top.
Keep us up todate with the build, we love to see a plan come together.

 

[squarebob]

Makes sense to skim the top off. Why didn't I see that!!

Bob

 

[camellia]

Welcome Bob!
I can imagine how much fun your going to have with all the new technology now days!
Not to mention how much more successful you'll be with the more difficult coral...

+1 on Marlons reply.
Keep in mind that first dip is an ideal place to use additional filter media. I've got the (crappy) black foam in mine (just) to hold filter floss on top.
Just somthing to think about when deciding your width...

 

[squarebob]

OK, I got the sump finished and picked up a sca301 skimmer.
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[myreefclub0070]

Looking good from my end.
Nice job.
Is the skimmer going in the middle or you plan on doing a refugium in there?

 

[myreefclub0070]

Ok, my bad, I forgot to look at the original post, got it.

 

[squarebob]

I plan on the skimmer in the first section with the overflow from the herbie box. The center will have an 8x8x4 block of Marine Pure. The final section will have the sicce 2.0 return pump with a NeoTherm 200w heater. I am thinking of adding a light to the middle section. Good place to grow some pods and stuff.

 

[dball711]

Welcome aboard, sump is looking good.

 

[squarebob]

Thanks, stand is coming along also.
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[myreefclub0070]

Stand looks solid.
Food for thought : I sprayed the whole inside of my last stand that I built that had a sump in it with rubber spray to protect all the wood from moisture, it worked really well.
I also cut in a little extractor fan in the back of the stand to suck the moisture out when it evaporates.

 

[squarebob]

I am thinking a fan would be a good idea too. I think I have a spare computer fan in the junk box. I have painted the inside with exterior paint but rubber stuff would have been better.

 

[nickg]

Very nice start.... Looking good, and Welcome...

 

[squarebob]

It has been a few days so I thought I would bring my progress up to date. Stand is done. Rock support done. Reefcleaners rock installed. RO/DI water going in. I did a herbie overflow and had to build my own overflow box as the ones I found were not deep enough. Made the rock lift out of starboard and acrylic rod. Kept the rock to a minimum, about 40 lbs. and put a 8x8x4 Marine Pure block in the sump. They claim 23,000 sq. ft. surface area.
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[myreefclub0070]

looks like I missed the last post, that looks good, I like the colors on the stand and nice job with the rock lift.
are you planning on going sand less?