Sump Design - Please Review

[aravindk]

Hello all,

I have a 72 gallon bowfront mixed softies tank. I have a sump right now, but since the tank is in the living room, I am out of options
as far as expanding the rig. So I am planning to build a diy sump/fuge in the basement laundry room and pump the water up.

I have researched quite a few sump setups and have come up with a design that would suit my purpose. In the near
future I would like to setup a daily auto top off system and also to semi-automate the periodical water changes. I
designed the sump with these two things in mind.

The external dimensions of the sump would be 50Lx24wx16h. For water changes, I have to pump the water to the drain. So I came up
with this design where I use one pump but use two valves to divert the water flow between the tank or the drain. When I have
to change the water, I would close the valve that goes to the tank and open the valve that goes to the drain. This will empty
all the water in the return chamber. Later I can refill the chamber with new water and switch the valves. I havent seen a similar
setup elsewhere, so I am curious to see if this trick works.

I would also like to know how to better manage the space in this sump. Where can I cut down space and where I need to increase
the space?

I have tonnes of questions regarding the actual implementation of this project: plumbing, equipment, water pressure etc etc. I am
separately compiling those questions! For now, I would like to focus on the design. Pls. review the diagram and post your comments.

Thanks
Arvin.

 

[JCURRY@WESKETCH]

I would suggest that the baffles be atleast 2
" apart and 2" from the bottom of the sump. Otherwise the water will move to fast and suck the air bubbles around the baffles. I would also eliminate the eggcrate shelf, it's more work than necessary. Just the Carbon in a filter bag (Iuse a pantyhose) and lay it on the bottom it will get enough flow through it.

 

[aravindk]

2" apart and 2" from bottom - I am going to make that change in my design.

Most websites recommend that the carbon works best when the water flows through it rather than a bag in the sump. I love the thing it does to my water, so I made a special place for the carbon in the sump. I agree with you that it is more work than necessary.

 

[Hef]

I think you need to rethink the height of the baffles. I think the water level should be no higher than your last baffle, therefore the first set of baffles is too high.
I would also move one of the bubble trap baffles to the end of the refugium. You want to keep the Sump area as clean as possible, having a bubble trap at the end would help that.
The design looks good, just my opinion now, I dont like sand beds in my sump. Mine worked great for over a year, but garbage collects in the sump and ends up on top of the sand bed. I removed mine eventually. I do have a sandbed in the tank.

 

[GROSSR]

I incorporated the eggcrate you have. I put 2 in. One for Chemi-pure and 1 for filter pad. I travel quite a bit and a sock doesn't work for me.

I also have a separate refugium. I too don't like sand in the sump. You can easily add a seperate refuge if you are plumbing down to the basement.

 

[aravindk]

Hef: I made the first set of baffles higher and gradually reduced the height until it reached the sump because I thought this way water will move from one chamber to another by gravity. If I raise the last baffle then I have to pump the water into sump, right?

Also I would like the return chamber of the sump to hold roughly 15 gallons of water which is equivalent to 20% of my display tank. This way I can connect just this chamber to the drain which can be used for water changes.

Grossr: I am not totally averse to the idea of plumbing the refuge separately. If I move the refugium to all the way to the right end and raise the level by couple of inches, would it help?

 

[Hef]

Your baffles might be fine, it's a lot of work to go through without being sure. The way you have the water flowing into the refugium...I think it's a mistake. Water will be moving very quickly through the baffles onto the sand. There is no way sand will stay still and it will blow all over the sump, ending up in the return section.

Dont know if you ever heard of this guy, Melev...he has a great web page on sump design. He's a good guy, send him this link and let him look at it, he will tell you exactly how it's going to work. Check out his web page, it's great. Melev's Web Page

You really only want to do this once.

 

[aravindk]

How can I remain in this hobby and not know Melev. I borrowed a lot from his designs (there was no copywright notice anywhere). In fact the way the water is introduced to fuge from the bottom rather than from top is from one of his designs. Although he has three more baffles before that. Well, thats probably was my mistake...

I will send this design to Melev and see what he says. I will post here whatever he recommends.