Baffles - over under OR under over

[sleepydoc]

The over-under baffles are a bubble trap!

 

[rickztahone]

The over-under baffles are a bubble trap!

ah, I see. I thought a bubble trap meant three baffles together (spaced ~1"). Mine would be seperate from one another, well, at least one would be, the other two are relatively close.

 

[KingTriton1]

Over under over is the bubble trap standard with 1'' spacing between the baffles, which I don't like because its hard to remove the water in-between the baffles if need be (long power outage). I prefer just 2 baffles having the under (from skimmer section) and over (to return) with a sponge in between. I rinse out the sponge in my aquarium water that is leaving the tank during a water change each week or two.This is important so that you don't end up with nitrates. Definitely not over under to the return section.

 

[KingTriton1]

I think Sleepydoc was making a joke in the since that you will be having a major bubble problem going over and under. That is if you have a high flow through out the sump. If not, you won't even need bubble trap, esp. if your return section is not on the shallow end.. Just a single baffle with water going over will work. A baffle is needed though, but only because of your ATO. It all depends on the setup.

 

[GhostCon1]

In the return section, many have an ell on their pumps so they take water from close to the floor, so if the last baffle is an 'under' baffle, it can lead to stagnation in the return chamber. For this reason I advocate and over under over setup if you choose to use a bubble trap setup. IME, depending on your skimmer and other factors, they frequently aren't necessary at all.

What is that? I've never heard of this.

 

[Tigerdragon]

In my 29 gal sump i have over under from skimmer to chaeto section then a single over to return no bubble issues and center sect always remains constant

 

[sleepydoc]

What is that? I've never heard of this.

http://www.pvcfittingsonline.com/fittings/schedule-80-pvc/elbows.html

 

[sleepydoc]

Over under over is the bubble trap standard with 1'' spacing between the baffles, which I don't like because its hard to remove the water in-between the baffles if need be (long power outage). I prefer just 2 baffles having the under (from skimmer section) and over (to return) with a sponge in between. I rinse out the sponge in my aquarium water that is leaving the tank during a water change each week or two.This is important so that you don't end up with nitrates. Definitely not over under to the return section.

That's the setup I had, but as (I think) I mentioned, I found that it led to stagnation in the middle section. If you have some means of keeping the water mixed it's not problem. The sponge in and of itself is a pretty effective bubble trap. Like you said, keeping it clean is key.

I think Sleepydoc was making a joke in the since that you will be having a major bubble problem going over and under. That is if you have a high flow through out the sump. If not, you won't even need bubble trap, esp. if your return section is not on the shallow end.. Just a single baffle with water going over will work. A baffle is needed though, but only because of your ATO. It all depends on the setup.

Not really a joke, but you're correct in that the flow will affect your needs. If you have high flow and a narrow bubble trap, the flow through the channel may defeat it by dragging the bubbles with it.

 

[GhostCon1]

http://www.pvcfittingsonline.com/fittings/schedule-80-pvc/elbows.html

Autocorrect failure I'm assuming, if not, why not just call it an elbow, or for more time saving a 90?

 

[sleepydoc]

'Ell' is a common shortening of 'elbow' when discussing plumbing fittings

 

[Cathon]

I will go with a 3 piece baffle is 2 and a small catch at the end going up a few inchs.

 

[rickztahone]

Here's the one I made with 3 baffles: