Baffle size for 75g sump

[mkoop]

Hello all, I am trying to finish up my DIY sump today. I have all components I need aside from the baffles.

I need to go to the glass shop and have the baffles cut today but I am uncertain about dimensions.

I plan to build it using the skimmer > return < fug method and have all my plumbing set up and ready to go.

The skimmer I plan to use is:
http://www.aquacave.com/Reef-Octopu...r-P2587.aspx?gclid=CIvX1dz7i7cCFY9FMgodFQ0AxQ

Which can be placed in up to 10" of water.

The 75g is a total of 18" wide, with glass being 1/4" thick this leaves 17.5" of space on the INSIDE measurement.

I have read the baffles should be 1/4" less than the total measurement of inner width. So I plan to have them cut at 17.25, being 1/4" thick and having them polished (to prevent cuts while working in the sump).

What I am struggling to figure out is the the height dimension of these baffles, I see several different lay outs all using different heights. Now I know the skimmer chamber is going to have to be > 10" to hold the recommended volume of water, I am just uncertain what the ideal heights would be for these.

Thus, here is my attempt to measure twice before cutting once

Thanks

 

[AFord]

Save the money on having them polished, a simple sanding will remove any edge that could cut you. When I had mine cut I told the guy what they were used for and he said polishing wasn't needed. It helped that he used to build tanks for a living. Not that polishing them would hurt anything.

As for the height, it depends on your specific needs. With a skimmer needing 10" of water depth obviously 10" would be the minimum height. I would think 12" would be a good starting height. That would leave you plenty of room for back siphoning from the DT during pump maintenance, power outages, etc..

I did my fuge almost to the top of my 40 breeder, the top is actually hidden behind the plastic frame. I did this so when I do shut off my return pump, the water that back siphons doesn't disturb my fuge area. It also gives me a larger fuge.

One other thing I did is made my return area as small as possible since I use an ATO system. I really don't worry about evaporation so I had no need for a large return section, thus even more room for my fuge.

Hope this helped and didn't confuse you!

 

[mkoop]

Thanks! I think I will be using 12.5" as that seems to be a fairly common recommendation.

One lingering question I have still is what is the benefit of the teeth on the baffle for the fug? If teeth should be used (and can be cut by the glass shop?) how should they be sized / spaced?

 

[AFord]

Skip the teeth and just use eggcrate.

Much easier to replace if it breaks.

The reason for the teeth is to prevent the algae of your choosing from escaping the fuge by acting as a diffuser for the water flowing over the baffle. Eggcrate does the same thing. I picked up mine from HD. It's in the fluorescent lighting section and its called light diffuser.

 

[leveldrummer]

If your skimmer says it can be placed in UP TO 10" of water, that means MAX, no more then 10", so i would find the prefered operating level of the skimmer, and get the baffle cut to that size. unless you want your skimmer sitting on a platform?

so you need 2 baffles cut at 10 inches or less (one to set the water level height in the skimmer department, and the other should be placed 2" away from the first one and 2" off the bottom to act as a bubble trap)

you will also need one baffle to act as your fuge wall, as someone else has already said, using eggcrate is better, or if you want teeth, you can have a small acylic peice cut, but its not needed, having a smooth edge will work just fine for a fuge, unless you have insane flow pushing through it, which you shouldnt.

the height of the fuge doesnt matter too terribly much, for simplicity sake, just get them all cut at the same level. you only will have to figure a way to feed water to the fuge, either with a small pump, or you can T off drain with a ball valve to regulate flow.

 

[mkoop]

Thanks again, I called over lunch at work and spoke to the guy at the local glass shop.

I had a 13" tall cut for the fuge area and 3 cut at 10". All are 17.25 width which leaves me 1/8" clearance on each side to use the silicon.

I didn't do gridding or teeth, as I will use the egg carton idea.

Thank you both for your help! In regards to feeding the fuge I have two pumps for the return, one @ 1200 GPH and the other rated at 400-800 GPH (which is adjustable). I have the smaller adjustable pump T'ed to feed the fuge and serve as a back up pump.

 

[chiefifd]

I'm getting ready to do a similar sump using a 29 gallon for a 75 gallon main tank. If you get a chance please put a photo of your project. Any problems you encountered or what you would do a bit different?
Thanks.....

 

[mkoop]

Sure I can do that, I've received quite a bit of help in my planning from the kind people on this forum. Considering my other hobby is photography I suppose I could take a few pictures of the process / completion over the next few days.]

The baffles were not ready after work last night so I'll have to grab them on my way home tonight and I'll take some documentation photos as I set it all up.

 

[chiefifd]

Great!

 

[mkoop]

I apologize this took so long chiefifd - we ended up leaving for vacation a few days early so I wasn't able to finish this up until yesterday, and didn't have a whole lot of time to dedicate to quality pictures, but I got a snapshot at least.

Anyhow the sump has the baffles set, plumbing is done and just needs to be put into place. I'll take another snap shot once its all dropped into the stand and ready to start the aqua scape.

http://www.dumpt.com/img/links.php?file=3j3bf3abf899rh9zrd1j.jpg

Dimensions are:

48" total
1" = (4x 1/4" baffles)

Left to right:
Fuge = 16"
Return = 16"
3 baffle bubble trap seperator = 3"
Skimmer chamber = 12"

Baffle dimensions: (all are 1/4" thick)

1x 17.25 width x 13" height (+1" eggcrate) = 14"
3x 17.25 width x 10" height (spaced 1", mid baffle 1" off bottom glass)

Lessons learned were very minimal, this ended up being significantly simpler than I anticipated. The one take away would be to use bigger silicon tube, I used Aqueons product which the shop I purchased from only had in 3oz tubes. I ended up going through 2.25 of these to complete the project, so it would have saved a bit of money most likely to buy a 12oz tube but my local shop was sold out.

One additional lesson learned doesn't pertain to the sump directly, but the plumbing for the sump -- make sure to purchase aquarium grade bulkheads similar to : ( http://www.marinedepot.com/Standard...kheads-Plumbing_Parts-FT1111-FIFTBHSB-vi.html ). I wasted a lot of time trying to figure out how to do this with what was offered in terms of PVC products at home depot, ace hardware etc.



Edit:
I am not certain why the picture isn't showing up when link surrounded with

 

[chiefifd]

Hi..thanks for taking time to get back to me. I'll be sure to use some of the advise you have given. I'll be definitely be getting 1/4 inch glass for the baffles and will get one of the large silicone tubes of caulking. I haven't gotten any bulkheads yet, however I did look at Lowes, no luck with those there. Best place looks like Bulk Reef Supply for the bulkheads or similar on-line aquarium shop. I do like the egg crate idea on top of one of the baffles to stop unwanted life from moving throughout the sump......
Thanks again

 

[lokii_37]

Are you splitting your return to feed the fuge and the tank?

 

[Railcar79]

I did my sump with 1/4" plexi. I found it easier to work with than glass, and the hardware store cut it to size for me in no time. my water depth is 14" in a 29 gal tank. I put an air pump on my skimmer to make sure it would skim in deeper water.

Sump drying out after rinsing. I cut out the baffles that were in the sump and redid it to fit what I wanted

sump filled and in service

 

[AFord]

Turned out great! Glad to see you went with the eggcrate.

 

[mkoop]

Are you splitting your return to feed the fuge and the tank?

Hi, yes I am. I am actually running two return pumps, a 1200gph and a 400-800gph adjustable. The 1200gph return has a split to feed to the fuge with a control valve. The 400-800 adjustable will mainly serve as a backup pump that is just a straight return with no splits.

Turned out great! Glad to see you went with the eggcrate.

Thanks! I really like how it turned out as well, thank you for the great idea.

Hi..thanks for taking time to get back to me.

Not a problem at all, sorry it took a bit longer than I expected. Feel free to PM me with any further questions you have, I may not be the best person to be giving advice but I can at least direct you to the places I found useful for researching.

 

[Rndy_918]

Ordering glass baffles, and need help

Ordering glass baffles, and need help

I'm building a 55 gallon sump and i'm wanting to order my glass baffles. I've decided to go with 1/4 dark tinted glass. Water coming in from DT will first go into a chamber with foam media for filtration, pass under first baffle, then into second chamber with my skimmer, then a series of over-under-over baffles, then through refugium, and finally over baffle/egg crate to the return chamber. Any suggestions or better set-up idea.

And, what water height should I use for skimmer. It's a seaclone 100 protein skimmer that was given to me. I cannot find any information on required depth. Should I just measure from base to return spout? It is a HOB model, but can also be submerged. I'm trying to figure out my baffle sizes.

Thanks