ChemE
New member
I'm planning on having Glasscages.com build this for me and would like to collect feedback before I commit to the design. This is going to be a low flow sump for my 190 gallon tank. Target flow through the sump will be (190-275) gph. All underflow baffles are 1" off the bottom and the gap between the final O/U is 1".
The inlet section has a removable lid (for easier cleaning) which will hold 3 4" 100 micron filter socks. Flow then underflows into the skimmer section.
The skimmer section is sized in order to give me a few options on future upgrades. This section is plenty large enough to hold an ATI Bubble Master 200 and a Phosban reactor. Should I need to, there is also enough room to squeeze in an additional Phosban reactor and a H&S SR110 Nitrate/Sulfur Reactor. Water overflows out of this section into the RDSB section.
The RDSB section will start out with a 14" remote deep sand bed. If this proves unable to maintain the system nitrates at or below 10ppm it will be siphoned out and a nitrate reactor will be added to the skimmer section. The RDSB section will then be used for live rock rubble/pod production or whatever (suggestions especially welcome here). Water overflows/underflows into the return section.
The final underflow baffle is added to prevent water from splashing into the return section. This splashing could produce bubbles which are sucked up by the return pump and returned to the display as microbubbles. The return section is large enough to accommodate an Eheim Hobby 1250 and if this isn't enough flow to keep the display surface clear of surface active proteins, I can bump the return pump up to an Eheim Hobby 1260 which also fits in the return section. Water level in the return section will be maintained with an automatic top off system which is as yet to be determined.
The reserve capacity in the sump is sufficient to allow the display to drain 1.25" without overflowing the sump. The return line will have 4 siphon breaks drilled about 0.5" below the water level so the chances of a flood should be about as low as is possible.
Comments and suggestions are welcome!
Download the Google SketchUp Model
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