home made sump pic included

[chuckh]

ok got my sump finished for the most part. let me try and explain.

water from the tank comes into the first area on the left, goes over the first 14 inch bubble baffel, then under the 2nd 16 in bubble baffel(pic say 14 my bad), then up to the top of the 3rd 14 inch bubble baffel.

now as it fills up the bubble area is it supposed to fill up the first area when the tank water comes in. as u can see in the pic it fills it up past the first bubble baffel due to the 2nd bubble baffel being higher. it fill its up till it reaches the top of the 3rd baffel. is this ok or did i make the 3rd baffel to high?


now because the baffel seperating the last 2 areas is 1 inch higher then the 3rd bubble baffel it causes the live rock area to fill up as high as the intake area. is this wrong as well?

something doesnt seem right to me.


Also my wife bought me the last tube of silicone and with out looking at it it i used it. it has a bio seal in it which prevents mold and mildew. the other tubes i bought didnt have it. will these be an issue once i have fish, and other live stock in there.


i posted a pic of my 80 gallon cichlid tank in the gallery, let me knwo what ya think

thanks for your help

 

[maxis24]

Alright, the main concept you seem to be missing is that of gravity and air pressure (minimally air pressure).

With your current setup, the input area (left part of picture) and the refugium (2nd area of picture) are being treated essentially as one large area. This is why the water is building up to 15" before flowing into the last area.

However, all is not lost with your current setup. You could change how the sump is configured to this:

INPUT AREA |--> RETURN <--| REFUGIUM

With the configuration as I suggested, you would place the return from your sump in the center area and just add additional plumbing and a control valve to reach the refugium (this water will need to be flowing through the return pump already though, so plan for additional flow needed). This is a simpler form of the same thing I am doing and what I have read that works on melevsreef.com

Doing this has the following benefits:
1) Hightened control of flow rate through the refugium, as you can change the water flow through the control valve.
2) Not having to re-do the sump design.

[edit] added a photoshop file that could be helpful..

 

[slowECUdiver]

Re: home made sump pic included

Also my wife bought me the last tube of silicone and with out looking at it it i used it. it has a bio seal in it which prevents mold and mildew. the other tubes i bought didnt have it. will these be an issue once i have fish, and other live stock in there.

thanks for your help [/B][/QUOTE]

i think you're gonna have a problem with that silicone. from what i've read, it will be harmful to your tank. if you can, cut out any baffles you sealed with it, remove all of the silicone and use regular GE Window and door silicone II without the bio seal, which i believe is what i used.

i like maxis24's idea of putting the return in the center chamber...same setup i have on my 20 L sump.

 

[chuckh]

seeing as how i need to rip out the all the baffels because i used the silicone with the bio seal as a light coating on all baffels. i might as well redo the design.

refugium is used for what exactly in the sump? i know thats where the live rock, sand and alage go but for what reason? if its used to further filter the water and clean it. wouldnt mixing the water from the refugium and the intake(thats where the proteen skimmer is correct?) defeat the purpose of sending the water to the refugium to get cleaned and then sent back to the tank?

 

[slowECUdiver]

refugium with macro algae = nutrient export. i love having it, b/c it will keep your nitrates (or is it nitrites) in check.

 

[chuckh]

also seeing as how i need to redo it becuase of the silicone. what baffels would i make shorter if my setup were to remain the same and the water flowed from left to right?

 

[sttroyiii]

You might want to consider lowering everything a little bit. When the power cuts off, the water in the pipes will drain back into the sump, and if you dont have enough room, the sump will overflow. You need at least a few inches to play with there.

The input section as you call it has the skimmer, because it has a chance to clean the dirtiest part of the water. The refugium polishes the water in a way, just further cleaning it. Check out melevs site and he explains all the sump stuff really well. He weighs the pros and cons of having it left to right, or from the sides to the middle.

 

[chuckh]

i decided to go with the middle return none the less. thanks for the help. on the way to home depot to get more silicone. Grrrr

 

[tylerdj]

refugiums

refugiums

Does anyone know what size refugium for a 37g tank and should you use a in tank refugium or a refugium on the outside. :mixed: