Newbie looking for help on sump baffle height

[Astefane]

Hi,
I'm trying to setup my first saltwater tank (~90 gal DT and a 30 gal sump)
And I'm having an issue figuring out the what height I should make the baffles in my sump,
The sump is being make out of an old 30 gal tank. The tank is 37.5" long, 12" deep and 16.5" high. My plan was to have the DT drain into the first chamber (9" wide), pass over a baffle into the 2nd chamber (refug) 14.5" wide. then an over under over baffle setup (2" gap between baffles) and into the final chamber (7" wide) for the return.
If I make the baffles 12.5 high, I believe it should leave enough room for my DT to drain ~2" and not flood my basement and make my refug ~10% of my DT.
I can lift my skimmer up so I'm not worried about the height of the first chamber.
My question is should all the baffles be 12.5" or should I step them down, (12.5 then 12. Then 11.5. etc?
Can someone point me in the right direction,

Thanks for the advice.

 

[Capsle]

I would suggest having your return chamber in the middle. If your fuge is in the middle there will be a lot of flow threw it. Typical you want low flow in the refugium.

As for baffles there are usually 3 per section going over, then under then back over the third on. They act as a bubble trap and the bubbles pop as the go over thus reducing the bubbles and micro bubbles in your tank.

For baffle height I would do #3 1/4-1/2 lower than #1. The middle baffle doesn't matter as long as it's higher than 1&3. You also want to leave as much space at the bottom of #2 as the distance between your baffles.

For example, if you have 2" between your baffles you want your #2 baffle to have 2" between its bottom and the bottom of the sump.

Hope this helps.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Astefane]

Hi Caps,
Thanks for the reply, you have given me another layout to consider, with the refug on the side how much flow should I be looking at? To split the drain from the tank would it be a t and a couple of ball valves to restrict the flow, or is there another recommended plumbing solution to get water to the refug?

 

[Astefane]

My pump is only rated for ~600 GPH based on the height it will rise from the sump back to the tank, is the still to much flow to use the drain/refug/return design?

 

[gone fishin]

When I make a sump, I will figure what volume 3 inches of water in my Dt will be. I use 3" because this is the lowest my returns will ever be in my tank and worst case if my drilled syphon break hole does not work.

Then I figure How many inches of water in the sump will equal that amount. For example lets say 3" in the DT=15g and that 15g=4" in my sump. Lets say my sump is 18" high. I will subtract the 4" from the 18", so the highest I want a baffle is 14".

hope that helps out.

 

[Capsle]

Hi Caps,
Thanks for the reply, you have given me another layout to consider, with the refug on the side how much flow should I be looking at? To split the drain from the tank would it be a t and a couple of ball valves to restrict the flow, or is there another recommended plumbing solution to get water to the refug?

I have mine "t" off from my main drain with a ball valve to adjust flow. I'm not sure how much flow i have through my fuge in GPH but it is low, I can barely see the water going over the first baffle from my fuge.

It all depends on what you want and how you set it up.