Sump Layout Questions

[gordob]

I'm going to be using an old Pro Clear Aquatics wet/dry for my sump on the tank I just bought (thanks Nate!), and have some questions about the design. I want to make sure I do this right the first time! I have used Marc Levenson's designs before, and they worked great. Unfortunately, because of the skimmer size, and the chambers in the sump being to small to house the skimmer, I can't do a refugium in the middle.

Here are my thoughts of how to set it up: The first(left) chamber will be from the tank, and will have a short baffle and rock to minimize air bubbles. The second(middle) chamber will house the skimmer and will be the return chamber. It will also be the section that will house the pump for the UV sterilizer. The third(right) chamber will be the refugium, and will be the section that the UV dumps into. Once it fills up, it will overflow back to the return chamber.

Does this design sound like it will work?

Thanks,
Brad

 

[rbredding]

no since in having baffles after the first section.. your skimmer section will just add them back (and then some)...

you'll have to "figure something out" on the skimmer section.. otherwise, a typical bubble trap won't get all the bubbles out before entering the refugium..

(you also don't want water moving that fast through your refugium...)

 

[gordob]

Thanks. I was planning to use a smaller powerhead for the uv, to keep the flow through the uv slower in addition to slow flow into the refugium. I wonder if it would work if I divide the middle section into a skimmer section and the return section.

 

[rbredding]

if you've got the space (and the creativity) a manifold system using an external pump will let you be super efficient with your return pump choice..

*last thing you want to do (if you can avoid it) is to have a separate pump for every piece of equipment. I run plumbing for a chiller, UV, return, calcium reactor, and a GFO reactor all using a single pump that uses less about 100W

ideally, you want the return section as far away from the skimmer section that you can.. (unless you can pipe your skimmer outflow pipe into your drain section from the tank)

basically, you want all the bubbles in one place (if you can) and then you want water moving towards the return section slow enough to give those bubbles a chance to come to the top. your return section (for obvious reasons) should pull water from the very bottom of that section of the sump..

it's best to have a refugium that is separated from the sump so that you can truly manipulate the flow in/out of that section. you dont really want to run this section by a pump, typically it's fed off a T in the drain coming from the overflows, or its a separate area of the sump that somehow guarantees slow flow through it (only a portion of the water volume running through the sump goes through the refugium)

 

[gordob]

Thanks for your help on this. (I'm sorry for the delayed response.) If you have a separate refugium, how do you avoid having two separate pumps? (One to get water from the refugium and one as a return from the sump to the tank.)

- Brad

 

[rbredding]

I don't have a refugium setup right now (but will shortly - I'm talking with MRC about something custom). It will receive tank overflow water from the drain line and the refugium itself will gravity drain into the sump..

 

[ichthyoid]

GordoB;620950 wrote: Thanks for your help on this. (I'm sorry for the delayed response.) If you have a separate refugium, how do you avoid having two separate pumps? (One to get water from the refugium and one as a return from the sump to the tank.)

- Brad

You could have a fuge that receives a part of the flow from the tank via a 'T', a manifold or from it's own overflow, then have a bulkhead in the side of the fuge that overflows into the sump. As mentioned, if you get a little creative and let gravity help out, you can do it all with one pump. You can even set tanks/fuges/sumps on platforms at different levels to accomplish this, sort of like stair steps. Hope this helps.

 

[rbredding]

ichthyoid;620999 wrote: You could have a fuge that receives a part of the flow from the tank via a 'T', a manifold or from it's own overflow, then have a bulkhead in the side of the fuge that overflows into the sump.

exactly what I will use..

 

[gordob]

Thanks! That's the only way I was thinking it would work too. I'm really not sure if I have enough room in the stand for that kind of setup, so I think it will all have to go in the sump. The good thing is that I went ahead and created a new chamber in the sump that puts the skimmer in the 2nd of 4 chambers now. (2 chambers away from the return section.) I'll let you know how that works out. It's similar to the way my old setup was done, and I had pretty good success with that.

I appreciate the feedback!
- Brad