DIY sump question

[ratherbeflyen]

I'm upgrading my tank from an all in one to a 210 gallon with stand and sump. I'm building a sump out of a 4' 75 gallon tank and I could use a little help with what to do with the first chamber holding the filter socks.

On the left is a pair of filter socks that the return lines (bean animal) will run into. On the right is an empty chamber that the water falls into before flowing into a separate chamber that holds the filter socks.

I've seen a lot of sumps with either design, but I don't really see what the advantage is of one over the other. Does anyone have any experience or insight as to which to use?

The second question I have is if a skimmer removes detritus from the system, why do all sumps have the filter socks before the skimmer? Wouldn't it make more sense to put the socks after the skimmer? Can you clog a skimmer with detritus if the particles are too big?

Thank you in advance.

 

[Lsufan]

As far as the socks it's really personal preference. I prefer option number two where the pipe doesn't go into the sock but the water overflows into them. With the first layout the drain pipe will actually go into the sock, which means u have to remove the pipe to change the sock. Something like filter socks that need to be changed often, I find its best to make that as easy as possible. The harder they are to change the less likely it is they will get changed every 2 or 3 days like they should. If u do go this route then I would install a union above the sock so u can unscrew the union to remove the pipe from the sock. The only advantage I see with it setup this way is it takes up less space in the sump.

With the socks in your second drawing it makes it simple to change the socks. U don't even have to turn the system off to do it. The only downside to it setup this way is it will not be as quiet because the waterfall will make some noise. U can quiet it down. I made a couple sock silencers & they removed the majority of the noice. I also made a cover for the sock section of the sump & that took care of what little noice that was left after installing the sock silencers


Skimmers don't remove detritus, they remove organic wastes.

 

[Gorgok]

With the first you can have the drains in the air and still change socks sort of easy if you don't mind the ton of noise it will make... With submerged pipes in the socks they are a pain to change.

I would only do the second if i decided to use socks.

 

[billdogg]

If you are going to use socks, I would go with #2 for all the reasons listed above. Personally, I'd skip the socks entirely.

 

[SFish]

U know they make draw string filter socks. You don't even need that small chamber.

 

[sfsuphysics]

I would go with the one on the right, although your first chamber where the water flows into does not need to be that big, big enough to hold the pipes and maybe siphon the detritus that sits down there. With that design pipes can be below the water level so you don't hear this constant rush of water splashing down, if you did the first one and had the pipes go low you're fine but then how are you going to remove the filter socks?

I would also put something over the area, doesn't need to be hard attached, just something to prevent the spritz of bubbles that will come up to the surface and pop. A lot of sump manufacturers basically put bulkheads at the top to which your overflow goes to, then a second set of pipes under it.

Seriously though, look at some commercial sumps, get some ideas from those.

 

[ratherbeflyen]

Thanks for the insight. It's a big sump, I'll go with some variant of the one on the right.

 

[ca1ore]

I don't use socks, never have. No mechanical filtration of any kind, so no opinion on where to put them one way or the other. A skimmer will remove some of the very fine particulate matter (because it gets caught in the protein layer around the bubbles) though not to the degree that socks before or after is likely to make a material difference.