Help with new sump/fuge

[bckane]

ok I'm going to build a new sump/fuge for my 75 aga......I want to save a little space under my tank so I'm going with a 30 gal 36 x 12 x 16 tank.....Question is how should I divide the tank up baffle width

SKIMMER------RETURN-------REFUGIUM
I want aleast 12" for the skimmer area, plus I know to make the refugium as big as you can....but dont know about the area for the return pump.
TIA
Brian

 

[RobbyG]

30 Gal is nice and big for a 75 Gallon tank. My Refuge is also 30gal on a 92 gal tank, I divided it Skimmer - Refuge - Return but you can do it your way also. I used about 6" for the return but I regret that I cut the return over flow only about 5" long. My filter Carbon gets clogged up fairly quickly, I suggest you make yours a little bigger. BTW if you think you might ever use Ozone then its a good idea to design a method for filtering the Skimmer outlet water through carbon, I regreted that I did not take that into account when I built my sump.

 

[bckane]

Im thinking
12" skimmer
8" Return pump
16" Refugium
give or take a couple of inchs for the baffle width

 

[bawla47]

my sump is setup exactly like yours too Robby. and i have the same problem with ozone.

 

[RobbyG]

Bawla, dont you wish you had a time Machine
I have decided to just build another sump in December when I get some time off.

 

[RobbyG]

I recommend you make a rough sketch and post it here so You can get some feedback.

BTW The dimensions sound good.

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7518606#post7518606 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by bckane
Im thinking
12" skimmer
8" Return pump
16" Refugium
give or take a couple of inchs for the baffle width

 

[Jon770]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7518550#post7518550 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by RobbyG
I regret that I cut the return over flow only about 5" long. My filter Carbon gets clogged up fairly quickly, I suggest you make yours a little bigger.

Can you explain this a little more? I am also building a fuge and would like to learn from others' mistakes....

 

[RobbyG]

Jon
With my Refuge the return section is divided into two sections so that the water overflows into a box then down and into the main return area. This outer overflow also has strips of glass put in so that I can rest an Eggcrate to hold up my Carbon Pad, this filters the water just before it goes to the return pump. The problem is that I cut the slot only 5" across for the return, this works fine normaly but as the filter gets clogged the water level drops in the return area. If I had made it another inch or so longer the larger Pad would have taken much longer to clog. Ultimetly what I should have done was to filter the water at the Skimmer section before it got dumped into the refuge. When I started I was dead set against using Ozone, later I discovered it is a must have item.
I need a redesign to fix this, I suspect that almost every refuge builder has to make a second one at some time, it's almost impossible to think of all the things that will be added later on or the things that won't work right.

 

[bckane]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7523846#post7523846 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Jon770
Can you explain this a little more? I am also building a fuge and would like to learn from others' mistakes....

This is the one I made for my 38gal....also my first one.......Works great Im not changing anything but making it bigger....this is the 15 gal sump/fuge......my new one is going to be a 30gal

 

[Jon770]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7524218#post7524218 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by RobbyG
Jon
With my Refuge the return section is divided into two sections so that the water overflows into a box then down and into the main return area. This outer overflow also has strips of glass put in so that I can rest an Eggcrate to hold up my Carbon Pad, this filters the water just before it goes to the return pump. The problem is that I cut the slot only 5" across for the return, this works fine normaly but as the filter gets clogged the water level drops in the return area. If I had made it another inch or so longer the larger Pad would have taken much longer to clog. Ultimetly what I should have done was to filter the water at the Skimmer section before it got dumped into the refuge. When I started I was dead set against using Ozone, later I discovered it is a must have item.
I need a redesign to fix this, I suspect that almost every refuge builder has to make a second one at some time, it's almost impossible to think of all the things that will be added later on or the things that won't work right.

ok. i was planning on having my carbon pad betwen skimmer and fuge...not fuge and return.
Thanks.