Need advice on my 20L sump

[Voight]

Hey just looking to get some advice on my BA system sump design. DT is 75 gallons & the return pump is a mag 9.5. Thanks for any advice in advance & sorry for the sucky rendering.
Also considering just moving the fuge to the middle & the return on right like most people do. I have heard low flow in fuge is better, but more recently have heard the opposite. Some clarification would be great.

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[ghellin]

I see no major concerns. I would suggest adding a "T" to your Return line over to the fuge and use a gate valve so you can easily add or reduce the amount going into the section. This way if the open drain lacks a bit you can add a little more.

 

[Voight]

This would limit my flow back to the DT though. If I did something like that I would tee of the main siphon.
Also based on somebody's advice I will decrease my second 9" baffle to 7" to make flow from skimmer to return easier. Does that sound like good advice?

 

[ghellin]

My skimmer baffles are the same height and I have no problems. it will reduce the fall distance for your water so it would help with noise and splashing. To my suggestion above I "T" off a drain on my setup but it's not a pipe going across my sump so it is better for me. A very large percentage of people, myself included, like to go big with a return pump and use it to power reactors and such as well as the display tank. Totally up to you just a suggestion.

 

[Mrramsey]

This would limit my flow back to the DT though. If I did something like that I would tee of the main siphon.
Also based on somebody's advice I will decrease my second 9" baffle to 7" to make flow from skimmer to return easier. Does that sound like good advice?

You cannot tee the siphon. Tee off of the return pump to provide flow to the fuge. Just size your return pump accordingly.

 

[phaze5]

i see a lot setup like these.... why not put the fuge in the middle

 

[ghellin]

To regulate flow.

 

[reefling]

Too much flow washes the life out of the fuge. 200 gph or less. Same design I use by the way. My sump is 29g so the same thing basically. T off the return. Less deitrus problems that way.

 

[asl4me76]

voight:

As I mentioned before in the BA thread, you want to make sure that the fuge area is taller than the the other sections. Otherwise your water level is going to run the same and is not ideal.

Currently you have 3 baffles that are set to seperate the skimmer section and the return section. All three of those baffles would be 9" for example. A and C baffle is going to lay flush with the bottom of the sump while baffle B is going to be an inch or two taller than A and C. Then you're going to make the fuge baffle (D) run higher, let's say for example 12".

This is going to allow for a nice small flow over the baffle into the return section to allow for the goods from the fuge to be sent back up to the tank.

Here is how you would want to have the fuge set up for a visual for you. For the T off of the return, you want to have a gate valve there to be able to adjust the flow in the fuge to not let it become over powered.

 

[Mrramsey]

voight:

As I mentioned before in the BA thread, you want to make sure that the fuge area is taller than the the other sections. Otherwise your water level is going to run the same and is not ideal.

Currently you have 3 baffles that are set to seperate the skimmer section and the return section. All three of those baffles would be 9" for example. A and C baffle is going to lay flush with the bottom of the sump while baffle B is going to be an inch or two taller than A and C. Then you're going to make the fuge baffle (D) run higher, let's say for example 12".

This is going to allow for a nice small flow over the baffle into the return section to allow for the goods from the fuge to be sent back up to the tank.

Here is how you would want to have the fuge set up for a visual for you. For the T off of the return, you want to have a gate valve there to be able to adjust the flow in the fuge to not let it become over powered.

Did my sump pretty much like yours but the only thing I wish I did differently is the bubbletrap. Rather than down up down baffles I would do up down up. This allows the water to enter the return chamber without splashing and less turbulence which affects the float switches of ato's.

I Run a high flow sump @ 900ish gph so it is pretty pronounced for me. I will do it differently next time.

 

[Mrramsey]

One more thought as well. A fuge in a 20 long is probably pointless IMHO. I had a 20 long sump on my 72 bowfront. No fuge there is just no real room for it after the equipment. Do yourself a favor and go to a 30b or 40b.

 

[asl4me76]

One more thought as well. A fuge in a 20 long is probably pointless IMHO. I had a 20 long sump on my 72 bowfront. No fuge there is just no real room for it after the equipment. Do yourself a favor and go to a 30b or 40b.

What he said. Petco is having their dollar per gallon sale right now until the 24th, I believe. You can get a 29 gal which has the same depth and length of the 20, but taller.

 

[ghellin]

My 20long sump on my 58 QT tank. I use my fuge to harvest chaeto. I can easily farm a gallon Ziploc bag every other week. It's quite effective. The skimmer is a reef octopus XS160 rated for a significantly bigger tank.

 

[Voight]

I appreciate everybody's responses & advice. Unfortunately a 20L is all I can fit under my stand for now and seeing as how many people have success, even going sumpless, I'm sure I will be able to reep some benefits from a small sump & fuge. I will mostly be using the refugium to grow chaeto & produce copepods, so anything further than that will be a plus.
I did order a bigger pump and will be feeding the fuge with it. I also like the baffle idea that Mrramsey had so I'll probably implement that into my design.
asl4me76- I'm still not understanding why having the fuge & skimmer baffle at the same level is bad if the are being fed seperately. If you would please explain I would appreciate it. If the idea is to have the fuge flow slowly into the return wouldn't I just adjust that will the valve I will be feeding it with & have nothing to do with the other side of the sump. If I'm overlooking your reasoning I apologize.

 

[FraggledRock]

Maybe get a 29 gallon for the height?

 

[Anthony Reefer]

I am in the process of designing my sump for my planned 40b. I plan to use a 29g sump with a T -fitting split drain, draining to both sides of my sump, or draining to just the left side and using a Cobalt MJ1200 to pump water through a reactor and draining on the right side to flow water through the fuge. On the left side is the skimmer chamber(I plan to use the AquaC Urchin-S). The Skimmer chamber is 8" long(much bigger than the Urchin requires). Then it flows through a up, down, up baffle and to the return chamber, which is 5" long. I plan to use the Sicce Syncra Silent 2.0. Them another baffle(described from right to left, or the direction of flow) this one is a down baffle with the rest of the chamber a fuge(I do not plan to use sand. Rock and cheato only)

If you any questions ask, or any suggestions tell. Hope this helps