Sump build

[Smalls87]

Hey everybody I'm new to the marine aquarium and wanting to start a 20 gallon tall fowlr. I know how important water volume is so I'm wanting to build a 20 gallon tall sump to go with it and wanting to know if this is a good design and how exactly I go about it up without a flooding the refugium into the skimmer and return sections (I know that a 2" surface skim in the display will drain 2.5 gallons in a power outage) is this a good design
-4 baffles 14",13",13",14"
-4" section for skimmer and mechanical filtration
-2" section for carbon and phosgaurd
-12" section for refugium
-2" section for bubble wall
-4" section for the return

 

[davehead86]

I would need a sketch to see that would be easier.

I will also say that voulume is not really what your looking for. Length of the tank is what matters most in determining the fish you keep. For example. If you have a 24x24x24 cube tank its 60 gallons but you couldnt keep a tang in it because it is just too small of a swimming space for them once you add the rock. Now if you were to get the standard 60 gallon tank that is 48 inches wide then you could get a tang because of the extra 2 feet of swimming space.

The only thing volume really helps with is stability of water parameters.

Honestly I have a 20 tall and it would make a terrible sump IMHO, its too tall and not wide enough for all the equipment you want. There is no way a skimmer is only 4 inches across at the bottom. I would get a standard 10 gallon or 20 gallon for below your tank and probably drop the fuge unless you planning on having a fish that eats pods (which in a 20 gallon is unlikely).

 

[Smalls87]

Thanks for the input. I didn't end up going with a sump. I got a finnex HOB fuge for rubble and algae and an aquaclear 110 to house the skimmer, filter pad, and chemi pure elite