Making a sump

[Cyproz]

So i have a 20 gallon sump which seems to not have full flow, aka i see alot of standing water. I dont see any reasonable way to fix this without removing it which i might as well make a new sump.
So here i am, wanting to make a new sump but i dont know what protien skimmer i will end up with which means im not sure how high i need the water in the chamber.
is there a good depth that most in sump skimmers will work with?

Also is there anything i can incorporate into the sump that may be useful or a guide to a very effective sump design?

 

[davehead86]

So i have a 20 gallon sump which seems to not have full flow, aka i see alot of standing water. I dont see any reasonable way to fix this without removing it which i might as well make a new sump.
So here i am, wanting to make a new sump but i dont know what protien skimmer i will end up with which means im not sure how high i need the water in the chamber.
is there a good depth that most in sump skimmers will work with?

Also is there anything i can incorporate into the sump that may be useful or a guide to a very effective sump design?

Post pictures of your sump and we may be able to see the problem causing restricted water movement.

 

[Xxero]

Lots of basic sump information here:

http://www.melevsreef.com/allmysumps.html

 

[JammyBirch]

Lots of basic sump information here:

http://www.melevsreef.com/allmysumps.html

Wow that's a great site...

I guess my question for you is how DIY savvy are you? Sump design can be intense if you have a plan on what it needs to do.

If you're DIY skittles are good then i'd say go with Acrylic and make your own. With acrylic you can make things that are difficult or impossible with plate glass.

If your DIY skittles are not so good but you want to take a crack at it i'd get a glass tank, $1 per gallon sales at Petco work for this, go to a local glass shop and have them cut you up some baffles.

If you're worried about the height of the water level for the skimmer id say 10 inches is a safe place to start, if your water level is less than that all you have to do is put something under the skimmer to jack it up. Most sumps are just a return chamber and a skimmer chamber with some extra room for hanging reactors. If you wanted a refugium a serial design, skimmer chamber to refugium chamber to return pump chamber, are very popular.

 

[Cyproz]

heres my tank. it gets standing water in near the heater.

this is where its getting build up too.

i didnt make this sump but i always thought it had one to many glass panes.

i got no problem making my own sump. what kind of crazy things could i do if i went the acrylic route?

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using Tapatalk

 

[morpheas]

Personally, I like the sump. It seems the baffles are a little tall if my eyes are not tricking me (which you would have to make sure on power failure you have enough volume in there to take the overflow). If you feel the water gets slow in the center you could always add a small powerhead/pump in there to stir things up...

 

[Cyproz]

good call. may just do that.

anyone know a good budget tiny powerhead i could look into?

 

[morpheas]

If you don't mind Chinese (and I would go that way to test and see if the powerhead will solve your problem) you can find plenty on ebay sometimes less than $10 shipped...

 

[jraker]

http://www.amazon.com/Fluval-Sea-Circulation-Pump-Aquarium/dp/B009XSGI3S

 

[CStrickland]

I would go with the powerhead until you choose your skimmer, and then pull out the shorter baffles, trim them to set the water height that's recommended, and resilicon them in. That's a fine design, you probs won't improve it much by starting over.

anyone know a good budget tiny powerhead i could look into?

http://www.amazon.com/SUNSUN-Submer..._UL160_SR160,160_&refRID=1P59X9J16H3EZJCVEAA9

They also make a 520 gph for $7.