Any recommendations to this design?

R

ReeferMO85

New member
127640sump.JPG


This is the design for my 30 gallon tank.

It is a 20 gal. sump and fuge.

The pump is a mag 9.5 and the skimmer is a Red Sea Berlin Classic.

The fuge will have about 5 lbs. of rock in it.

The PVC is 3/4 inch, maybe upgrade to a 1 inch.

Any suggestions, critiquing are more than welcome, and wanted. Thanks guys, go to work.

MO
 
I also might stick filter pads between the baffles, near the top. Has anyone heard or done this before? Would it be considered overkill?
 
That Mag 9.5 might be too powerful for a 30g tank. What size are your overflow pipes? Mine are 1" which allows for 600gph and I still have to dial back the flow on my Mag 9.5 with a tee that dumps back into the sump.
 
The overflow will be a CPR CS90 overflow box that will hang on the side of the aquarium, the flow rate is 600GPH through a 1" bulkhead. The return will be a 1" PVC pipe that will split into 2 after going through a SCWD. The Mag 9.5 produces 800 GPH at four feet, plus I assumed the SCWD would slow that down even more.

I planned on putting ball valves on both the PVC pipes entering and exiting the sump. Is this a good idea?

The main reason for sticking with the Mag 9.5 is that I want to upgrade to a bigger tank someday. With this set-up however, it would be pretty simple to set up a return to the fuge.

Do you still think it will be too much flow after the SCWD? The SCWD can handle up to 1,400GPH. I've just heard stories of current difflectors slowing peoples flow to nearly nil.

Thanks for the input, something to think about for sure.
 
Oh ok I have the exact same overflow. Generally you don't want to restrict the pipes dumping to your sump. This could cause a flood.

In order to control your return flow, consider teeing off the return and having a line dumping back to the sump with a ball valve. This is much better than just restricting the pump directly as that could shorten the pump's life.

Basically the more open the tee is, the less water goes to the display because a certain amount is going back to the sump. Here's my old blueprints to give you an idea of what I'm talking about.


62340Plumbing.jpg
 
I dont agree WITH migs idea... i think its over thinking it. DO NOT PUT A VALVE ON YOUR DRAIN.... PLEASE DONT! It will not do anything but cause problems. If you are using it for an isolation for work later thats one thing, but dont use it to throttle the drain. Your return pump controls draining to the sump... open it more... more water to the display more water to drain... of course this only works up to the max rating of the overflow box/bulkhead in your tank.

Secondly, the "recirc" line from the mag back to the return area will only cause bubble issues.

When you put the return lines in, it should go pump, pipe, T, then valves to the fuge and one to the main tank. That way you can control exactly how much to the fuge, and exactly how much to the display. Both will be slightly open so you wont ever dead head the pump. You wont damage the pump unless you run it for any amount of time with both valves completely shut.

Jasen
 
I've been using this system for about two years and so long as you don't let water level get too low in the return area, you won't get bubbles other than during initial start-up of the system from shut off.

I suppose that I could have bypassed the recirc line to the return and just stuck with the fuge tee, but at the same time I like to be able to control fuge flow and display flow at the same time, which is the reason for the tee to the return.
 
I think with the current design it will be easy to put a return line with a ball valve going from the return back into the fuge. I would put the PVC return to the fuge under the fuge's water line. Would that help reduce micro bubbles?

I still am going to put a ball valve on the PVC pipe coming from the display tank to the sump, for cleaning and maintenance purposes. Also so when if I ever shut the whole system down the pipes stay primed.

Should I also put a ball valve on the return PVC to the display tank?

Migs, do you ever use the valve located above your Mag 9.5?

When I put the T-valve on my return line, the pipe going to the sump, should the ball valve be located closer to the reurn line or closer to the fuge?

Thanks for all the input guys, keep it coming please.
 
Actually I never use the ball valve that's directly coming from the pump. I don't know why I even put it on there to begin with LOL.

I will say though that putting unions on the return assembly helps a lot when it's time to clean the pump.

You really don't need all the ball valves that you're planning to use such as the ones to and from the display, but it won't hurt anything aside from your wallet (cause ball valves are more expensive than plain old pipe).

Conerning the valve to control the water to the fuge, just put it where it's easiest for you to reach/turn. It doesn't matter where it is as long as it's after the tee in your return.
 
I like having the tank overflow to arrive into each end of the sump, and then have the return in the center of the sump. This allows you to have the flexibility to very the water level of each the Sump camber and the fuge. I plan to use a Reef Octopus NW150 (submersible) and didn't want to have the water level in the sump chamber hight then 8"- 9". Take a look at my photo gallery.
 
why use the Fluval? just another thing to maintain. Your system should be more than fine w/ the refug and skimmer.

The fluval canisters need to be cleaned every 1-2 months. I ditched my Fluval 404 about a month after setting up my fuge, and never looked back.

The only thing i would consider using it for would be for carbon or some type of phos- remover. Even then, seems overkill for carbon and too much flowrate for a phos-remover product (even w/ the flow rate dialed @ its lowest).
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7775213#post7775213 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by mkarston
I like having the tank overflow to arrive into each end of the sump, and then have the return in the center of the sump. This allows you to have the flexibility to very the water level of each the Sump camber and the fuge. I plan to use a Reef Octopus NW150 (submersible) and didn't want to have the water level in the sump chamber hight then 8"- 9". Take a look at my photo gallery.
Click to expand...

I'm a little confused by your design. Water level will not be determined by your ability to control the flow of your drain. You can control how fast water turns over, yes but the water level will be determined by the height of your baffles.
 
Yeah, sorry if I wasn't clear. The point I was making is that if you have the water flow in from the left and return from the right, then each chamber as you go from left to right can only be less then or equal to that of the chamber to the left of it. So typically with this design you would have your skimmer before the fuge(as with his design), the problem I was trying to illustrate is that his fuge water level cannot be higher then that of the skimmer chamber. So if he is like me and wanted to get a submersible skimmer that has a recommended operating water depth of say 8 inches then your fuge can be higher then 8 inches. I have just recently made this sump and figured I'd share what I have learned from the knowledge I gathered. If you have the return in the middle of the sump you have a bit more flexibility. The other really good point of my design is that you can very the flow into the fuge separately from that through the rest of the sump; again flexibility.
 
The Fluval 205 is left over from my current tank, and yes it will be used for carbon and phos. removal. I just figured, why not, it can't hurt. I hope I'm not wrong. Cleaning it takes about 10 minutes every 2-3 months, no biggie there. Plus I bought it for 70 some odd bucks so I figure I might as well put it too use.

The basic sump/fuge design, I borrowed from Melev's Reef. I just went with what I had the most information on.
 
I'm going to add a diagram of what the return and overflow look like from the display tank point of view either today or tomorrow.
 
Whith his configuration...
couldn't he just raise the skimmer up in the sumps water column ,(if there is enough room)so it can hold more water- allowing for the fuge to hold more?
I also wouldn't put the Fluval in the fuge- it will suck up all your pods etc.! Why not put it in the return- or am I just naive?
 
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