diy sump 40 breeder

[RobNJ]

hey all you diy people, i am goign to be working on a 40 breeder sump in the next few weeks and was wondering if anyone had any recommendations on design or any plans they like to use. I will be needing 3 compartments, 1 for an AC EV 240 skimmer, one for cheato/refuge, and one return chamber.

Any thoughts and Ideas on the topic would be greatly appreciated.

 

[spmedi]

Which way you want the flow? 1 drain, 1 return? 2 drains?
skimmer --> return <-- fuge or skimmer --> fuge --> return

Skimmer Notes:
"The new EV Series skimmers are designed to run in sumps WITHOUT BEING RAISED. The output gate valve has been increased to a height of 10" (EV-120/180 models), which means that as long as your sump level is 9" or lower you will not need to worry about fluctuations having an impact on skimming consistency."
Height: 26"
Footprint: 6.75" x 10.75"

So your skimmer section should be minimum 7" wide with 9" of water, but you'll want more than the 7" to move around in. You'll have some room w/ the 18" depth. You have anything else going in that section? Heater, reactor, etc?

Now for the other sections...well back to my first question about direction.

 

[RobNJ]

Well, I have seen the return in middle but i was wondering, do you need to put bubble traps on both sides of the middle return to prevent micro bubbles.

The drain is 1.5 inches which will provide about 1500 gph... Obviously I will be using a return pump to match that....

if i do Skimmer > Fuge > Return is that too much flow for the fuge in the middle?

If i need to T-my drain and send 25% to my fuge is fine with me, I really have tons of time to do this the best way possible, however my tank sitting waiting for water looks unhappy. hehe

 

[8BALL_99]

Here is a picture of my 40 gallon Breeder sump/Refuge.. HTH

BTW thats an ASM G4 skimmer

 

[RobNJ]

8 ball, no baffles on the right side by the fuge? does the water just flow over the top? how many inches are you skimmer baffles?

 

[spmedi]

Most just have baffles between skimmer and return as it produces the most bubbles. Like that one pictured above.

T-off is good. What pump you have on the skimmer? Mag12 or similar?

Alot of people only pump around 5x through the sump. Some people like to match the return to the skimmer pump. Really up to you. 1.5" will max at about 1300 gph. I'd play it a little safe and stay under it. @1200 pgh 25% would be sending about 300 through your fuge. Cheato does like some flow, you can put a ph in there to move the water around in the fuge as well.

The higher the flow through the sump the more you will evaporate as well.

ideas:
You can have your skimmer area at about 9" width to max your return space, or you can give yourself 12" so you can put your skimmer anyway you want. You'll have room in there for heater, etc. Then 3 baffles, 1" apart with #1 & #3 at 9".

On the opposite side you can have your fuge. I'd put around 10" width w/ a 14" high baffle. That would give you almost 11 gallons. You can go higher. That is one thing nice about the return in the middle. You can make your fuge as tall as you want.
Acutally 15" will give you 11.7 gallons. = )

Now your return. If the skimmer area is 9" and the fuge is 10" then you will have about 14" for your return. At 9" high it would hold just under 10 gallons. You might want more reserve that that. I don't know if you looking at ATO or not.

How big is the display? You could be looking at 1.5 to 2 gallons of evaportion.

 

[RobNJ]

120 Display and Yes I have an ATO...

Sounds great. If I make the refuge baffle 14" high will the run off into the return cause a large amount of micro bubbles?

 

[RobNJ]

8Ball how is the ASM Skimmer? I haven't purchased my AquaC EV240 yet...

 

[spmedi]

My run off is around 3" and I don't have any trouble. not with the flow so slow. You can add a 2nd baffle if you wish to that side. Take if from the top down to the lowest point you think you'd run the return area.

The only reason I wouldn't do a over-under-over is that you could end up w/ some detritus in there and it'd be hard to get it.

 

[RobNJ]

when I tee off my drain i should just use a ball valve to restrict the flow to about 25% ?

 

[spmedi]

yes you will want one on both exits. you will want to place unions in places to make it easy to take apart if you need to.
Some also put a check valve on the return.

I'd also drill a hole (or two) just below the water line on the return.

 

[RobNJ]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8957181#post8957181 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by spmedi
yes you will want one on both exits. you will want to place unions in places to make it easy to take apart if you need to.
Some also put a check valve on the return.

I'd also drill a hole (or two) just below the water line on the return.

Thanks for the info. The check valve will prevent backflow into the sump from the return line, and the holes will break the downward siphon if the check valve fails?

Should i put unions on either side of the check valve incase it needs to be replaced?

 

[spmedi]

Yes and sure. i'd also put a union just above your return pump as well. Then when you have to clean it you just take the union apart, pull the pump out, etc.

My return pump sits in the middle. I have a union about 12" up right before a 90 that goes about 18" into another 90 that leads up and over into the tank.

Since my return runs into a pvc rock rack i placed a union between the two 90s that go over the tank wall. So i have 3 of them on my return. It just makes it easiler to work with if I have have to mess with it, which I don't.

 

[RobNJ]

Would you recommend cutting teeth on the fuge side baffle?

 

[spmedi]

It prevents macro from going into the next zone. However you can also just use light diffuser (aka egg crate).

 

[8BALL_99]

I'm very happy with My ASM skimmer.. I've got a couple A G4 shown above and a G2. Like them both.. I also have a H&S A200 External.. The G4 holds it own against my H&S..

Here is a couple of better pictures of the sump.. It shows the drain from the Refuge..

 

[RobNJ]

so the water doesnt actually trickle over your last baffle, you have a small little pvc pipe draining into your return section