Sump Question

[jesterns2]

I am redoing my whole set up. I have a 75g tank. I am building a new stand that I will be able to put a sump in. I purchased a 29g tank to make as my sump. I plan on putting my skimmer where the water comes in then have the water go over one baffle then into the refugium that will have chaeto in it (due to nitrates of 20ppm). The water will then go through three more bafflles to reduce/eliminate micro bubbles and then back into my display. My question is how deep should I make the water in the sump? I can use egg crate to keep the skimmer at the water level it needs to be at. Any suggestions would be helpful thanks for looking.

 

[Stray32]

I keep mine about half full (or 10 gallons in a 20 gallon sump). Once you set everything up, I would recommend filling it 1/3 full (about 10 gallons in your case), then turn everything on and make sure its working properly. Then turn off your return pump, and see how much drains into the sump. Measure how much water drains from the DT, and that will help you gauge how much to keep in your sump. I did this to make sure I wouldn't overflow my sump in case of a power outage.

 

[acer]

I agree with Stray32 - the water level in the sump is determined more by safety factors than what level you think you want it at. Yes, you can use egg crate to keep your skimmer at the level you wish- however, make sure to can take the skimmer and the egg crate back out to clean the eggcrate as the water under the skimmer in the eggcrate will be stagnant and may increase nitrates etc.

 

[bigmatt1992]

stray method is what i did and it works perfect becouse if the water goes out and your tank drains and you have the water level to high well then you have a flood. figure out the right balence then mark the fill to line so that you know were it allways is.

 

[bnmir]

There are some calculators on the main page to help with sump volume and flow.
Remember, all the evaporative fluctuation happens in the pump chamber, so keep that one as large as possible.
29sump vs a 75, you should be able to run a sump with a pretty high water level.

 

[jesterns2]

I am putting a refugium in the sump so the overflow is going to be 350gph. I want the flow to be slow so that I can effectively remove the Nitrates with Cheato.

 

[TomNeely]

I use a 20 long under my 75.

Overflow goes into skimmer area then over one baffle into fuge. then there is a glass wall to hold the sand away from the return with egg grate on top to keep the cheato in.

 

[rodcpierce]

I would go with ATLEAST 7-8 inches of water. but make sure you have enough room for water to flow down to the sump during a power outage....