New reefer first time sump build

[lucky777]

OK guys, this is my first saltwater attempt and my first sump build. I'm still trying to wrap my head around it so bare with me. Hope fully you can read the details in photo. The sump will be in my basement.

I'm using a bean animal overflow and the 3 drains will dump into the area where the skimmer is.

Im debating leaving the skimmer portion the size it is or increasing the size by a few inches and splitting my 2 main drains into 4 and feeding into 4 socks prior to skimmer. Or maybe no sock but another baffles with sponges?

In the middle section I'm thinking either a refugium or maybe just some media (not sure what to put in there yet).

The baffles for bubble trap are spaced 1.5" apart. I went under over under to make cleaning easier?

I've calculated the space necessary to handle the back siphoning of main tank during power outage. I'm not clear on a couple things though. Will my normal water level in return pump area be at 14" with the height of the center baffle all the time?when the power goes out and back siphoning occurs will it all need to fit in to the chamber of the pump or pump plus the baffle area? Does the amount being back siphoned need to be equal to the difference in height between the 14" and 18" baffles so chamber size 12x17x4 inch difference in baffle height? Or is it just the total size of the pump chamber and the height of the last baffle?

I have a 50g brute can that I plan on using for my RO storage ATO. It will sit to the left of the sump.

I'm not sure what I just said makes sense, hopefully you can make sense of it. Any recommendations as to changes or suggestions for other compartments is appreciated.

 

[RobZilla04]

Consider media filtration prior to the skimmer. Probably not a huge deal but someone else will chime in with more info.

Good luck.

 

[lucky777]

I do plan on putting socks in place before skimmer now. Thanks.

Any opinion on baffle heights?

 

[NanoReefWanabe]

Personally I would not use socks..the first thing likely not to get done when times get busy, and it will be one of the first thing to screw your tank over...second I would never build sump with a refuge in the middle...it makes very little sense...the area is large enough that poop is going to settle out in that area and create problems...a sump is designed to hide your equipment that is it....put your heaters in there...put your probes in there...put your skimmer in there...put your recirculation pump in there...That is what a sump is designed for...
If you want the extra hassle of growing algae to help further reduce nitrates then do it stand alone or on the end of the sump tank, but still stand alone...have it feed by the recirculation pump and dump back into the pump chamber...and for the love of everything good about this hobby don't put sand or rock or mud in there...just macro algae...if you plumb it separate and stand alone then you could also grow xenia and aptasia in there too but you will want powerful UV sterilization prior to the water reentering the main pump chamber.
A four baffle heights, you need to design the water volume of the sump to handle back flow in the event of power outage...that said we have no idea the size of your tank or sump so heights are kinda hard to give you...most skimmers literate in 6-10" of water...that said my nano skimmer operates in 4"...

On a side note is you sump acrylic or glass..be sure to use the appropriate material for your baffles...ie glass for glass and acrylic for acrylic...

 

[SFish]

If you plan on putting sand in the fuge I would reverse the baffles (down up down). There are many ways to design a sump. There really is no right or wrong. Filter socks are fine as long as you change them out a few times a week.

 

[gigamanx]

I went through this about a year ago and am long complete on my sump setup. I chose to allow all of my baffles to sit about 2.5" below the outer edge of the sump. That allows every square inch of the space to fill in with water and not just the pump section. I calculated that I can handle about 10 gallons during a power outage so I setup the return to the main tank so it would kill the suction before 10 gallons had siphoned. It all works quite brilliantly with a bean animal setup.

I had socks and got rid of them. I then changed to filter media and so far that has worked out well. A good protein skimmer is probably the SINGLE best thing you can add to filtration. It sucks out all kinds of gunk.

Kind of a strange gotcha: My inlet pipes for the beananimal drains fit in a pretty small space you can see towards the back left of the picture below. The only thing I wish I changed was bringing the baffle out a bit more. As it is, I can barely fit my hand down there to pick anything up. Kind of an odd thing to discover after it was all glued together.

 

[lucky777]

How does the flow get from your drains to skimmer? Hard to see flow path. Where is you filter media placed instead of socks. Is it just sponges?

I did buy a coralvue k2 200 skimmer already. I was waiting for it to start the build.

 

[ericarenee]

I would move the bubble baffles over next to the skimmer have the return pump in the middle and the Fuge to the opposite end of the tank.. The main drain line from the return pump I would put a T in it and then ball valve to allow some of the drain water travel thru the Refugium.. BUt of course this depends what your putting in the fuge.. If your going DSB Then leave it as is and put the sand bed inside containers . this is how mine is. But my Refugium is a seperate tank . i have NO Filter socks if i need i will put micron pad between the baffles

 

[gigamanx]

How does the flow get from your drains to skimmer? Hard to see flow path. Where is you filter media placed instead of socks. Is it just sponges?

I did buy a coralvue k2 200 skimmer already. I was waiting for it to start the build.

in the second photo, the flow starts at the far left with three outlets for the beananimal drain. It then goes OVER the first baffle where two socks were placed. To reach the skimmer, the water then has to go UNDER the next baffle. If the socks are full, there is enough space for the water to go over that baffle also. All I did was replace section 2 (far middle) with a stand and some filter media cut to shape.

The water from the skimmer then flows OVER to the center section. That is where I have a bunch of crumbled live rock a small circulation pump to keep things from settling and my heaters. The water then goes OVER, UNDER, OVER to the return section which is the nearest in the second photo. The OVER, UNDER, OVER is a bubble trap to stop micro bubbles from returning to the display tank. I have a gravity ATO going into the return section since its the only section that changes water height.

I can take more photos of it running if that helps. I personally love the setup. Very easy to maintain and I'm 8 months in with not a single problem.

 

[SFish]

This is my set up. The skimmer isn't in this picture. It will be a recirculating skimmer. Search sump design and a ton of different things will come up. The two most common are a design like what you have and one where the return is in the middle. I'm using filter socks as well.

 

[lucky777]

I would move the bubble baffles over next to the skimmer have the return pump in the middle and the Fuge to the opposite end of the tank.. The main drain line from the return pump I would put a T in it and then ball valve to allow some of the drain water travel thru the Refugium.. BUt of course this depends what your putting in the fuge.. If your going DSB Then leave it as is and put the sand bed inside containers . this is how mine is. But my Refugium is a seperate tank . i have NO Filter socks if i need i will put micron pad between the baffles

So this is the design I went with. Does it look good.. am I leaving enough room for return back flow? Will it flood my skimmer area this way?. Will it back through the baffles?