building sump need advise.?

[cap23244]

hello I have a 40g long tank I want to use as a sump. for my 125g
I have a few ideas for spacing it out but I would like to know if in the first chamber is it ok to put the skimmer in where the filter socks are going/inlet or should it be in a new chamber.?
want filter socks skimmer and maybe a refuigium area or just put rock in it then a pump return area

thanks

 

[Lsufan]

I would decide if u definitely want to run socks & if u do I would incorporate a section for them. That way u can let the water overflow into the socks & u don't have to remove any pipe to change the socks. If u want to run them I would make it as easy as possible to change them. They should be changed every couple days or they will end up doing more harm then good to the system. They get detritus out of the system but if not changed frequently the detritus will brake down & can cause nitrate problems. I know me personally, if something is a pain to do I probably wouldn't do it as often as I should.

I would skip the rock in the sump. It will collect detritus & make the sump harder to clean. Depending on what u want out of a fuge u probably won't have enough room in the sump to have a very big fuge. I would put only chaeto in the fuge & call it a day. The chaeto will give u a nice refuge for pods to breed.

The rest of the sump will depend on your equipment. As long as the equipment fits then u will be ok. I like to have a little bigger return sections then most people incase my ato fails it will give me time to notice it before my return runs dry. With only the 16" hieght on the sump, I wouldn't make it any deeper then u have to so u leave enough extra space for the backflow when it gets turned off. I would see what your skimmer recommends & set the hieght at whatever the maximum recommendation is. So if your skimmer is recommended to run at 7" to 9" then I would make the skimmer section 9" deep. U can always raise it on a stand if u have to but u can't get it any deeper then what your sump is.

Here's a pic of one of mine so u can see what I'm talking about with the socks. If u aren't 100% sure u are going to always run socks then I would just make the skimmer section big enough to fit one of the prefabed sock holders that u can purchase & set it up that way. If that's what u decide to do I would install a union just above the socks so u can unscrew the union to remove the pipe to be able to change the socks.

 

[homer1475]

With that setup like above, does the detritus just sit in the bottom of that first section(before the socks), and not actually be taken up by the socks? Or is the water turbulent enough to push the detritus up and into the socks?

I have a sock holder on my sump and all I do is just dip the sock slightly into the water to change them. Nothing comes out of the sock, and I don't have to remove the pipe to get one off.

As for the OP:
I have my skimmer and sock section as one, they work perfectly fine together. I also have my reactor pump in that section as well.

 

[cap23244]

ok thanks just dindnt know if the water running into socks and the skimmer in the same area would cause issues with the skimmer