Need help with Sump Mod (w/ diagrams)

Bowels

New member
The whole mod is Id like to add a refug to the sump. Problem is my skimmer pump/skimmer base is too fat to fit into the return pump area.... I should have designed it differently I know, but I didnt have the skimmer when i made the sump.

The middle section where the skimmer currently is is huge and the skimmer only takes up like 1/4 of the space...

id love to put in a separator perpendicular to the existing separators to divide that middle section into 2 chambers, and make one a fuge.... but I cant think of a way to do this without totally breaking the sump down and sealing the divider off... Does anyone know of a way to make a divider without sealing it off... I need water to flow between the skimmer chamber and the fuge, so i dont need it completely sealed off

OK so, im not fancy enough to do a google sketch or anything lol but I took a picture of a post it note I drew the current config of my sump.
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Ideally the skimmer would be in the first chamber where the water drains down from the display. As it is set up now I have concerns that the rubble rock and bio-balls are going to trap detritus and eventually lead to high nitrate issues. I prefer larger pieces of rock to rubble as they allow better flow. Bio-balls need to be cleaned frequently if you are going to keep them. You should be able to still stick a divider in the skimmer section between the skimmer and what will become your refugium. The water will not mix between the two sections but that will not be a problem.
 
The the grun, I will try and see if i can fit my skimmer in the first chamber... something tells me i already tried that and it was too narrow....

Im sorry the post it note does say rock rubble, but its not really rubble, its large rocks... and yes i think it might be a detritus trap. I JUST put the bio balls in because my friend has them and he says they have been working out really well. They say as long as you have good mechanical filtration before them they should be fine (i figured the rocks would be good filtration)... should I just remove them before my system grows accustom to them?

also if the first chamber is too small, do I really need the first baffle on the left? when i made my sump i really just copied what I saw others doing without any real understanding.... what i know is that three baffle setup is a micro bubble killer I feel like micro bubbles are not as bad as ppl think idk... without that first baffle i think i would be able to fit the skimmer in the first chamber, and yeah that makes more sense to have the skimmer there, since thats where the majority of junk will stay. Thank you for the response....

I feel like in this hobby the more I know, the more I realize I really dont know, and it scares me because i feel like there could be something critical I need to know and my tank is just standing on marbles! lol
 
also when you say i can stick a divider into the section with the skimmer, you mean just get a bit of plastic ans wedge it in there? lol
 
Yes, you can remove the first baffle. If you make a refugium out of the second section the bubbles should never make it all the way to your return pump. By "stick" I meant silicone if the sump and baffle is glass, use solvent if the sump and baffle is acrylic. My bad! I should have been more specific.
 
hey no problem at all! I just dont have any pro reef friends so I really have no idea what the pros do, yeah my baffles and tank are all glass.... im going to remove the first baffle that will be the easiest way to do it, then I can make that whole middle section a nice little critter refuge :) thank you so much! also while i got ya, what are your thoughts on using kunscented kitty litter as fuge mud
 
also, if i made that middle section a fuge, wouldnt that have sorta a high flow? isnt that bad for a fuge?
 
I don't think the flow is going to be all that strong, you have the entire width of the sump that water will flow across. I have had good success with good flow through refugiums. You don't want it so strong that it blows your pods all around in a strong flow, but you don't want a weak flow either.
 
Did that today, cant tell ya removing that baffle was easy lol but I managed without breaking anything (except the baffle that i had to break in half with a pliers)
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Skimmer looks to be picking up a lot more, and there was clearly a detritus trap in the first chamber... very nice suggestion thank you Thegrun very much!
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I stocked the fuge with a bunch of pods and put all the life rock in there. I think this was a very beneficial change I also removed the bioballs they were clearly collecting junk after day 3.
 
yeah i only had them in for 3 days... and ive never had problems with high levels ever,... even tho since i had my skimmer in the second chamber there was clearly a detritus trap in the first chamber. hey never a bad idea to make improvements anyways
 
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