Sump questions

[Martini5788]

I am currently in the process of designing my first system with a sump. The display tank is a 90 gallon aqeoun with a durso overflow. The only standard tank that I can fit in the stand is a 20 long, so I'm gonna have to try and make it work, even though I know it's a bit too small. Because of that reason, I'm going to have to make the fuge section pretty short, like 7.5 inches. The display will have a pretty deep sandbed, 3 inches or so because I want a jawfish. I plan on only have a ball of Chaeto in the sump, no sand. How tall are the return section baffles that people are using? I was thinking only 6 inches. Also, are bubble traps really necessary? I can would prefer for it to be skimmer>fuge >return because I want to plumb in an aux line for a reactor and that would be easier for me. Input please and thanks

 

[Xxero]

I'm not saying do this, but mine meets most of your criteria:

20 gallon long...skimmer>fuge>return...my return baffle and corresponding fuge baffle are 9 inches tall.

In some set-ups, bubble traps can be avoided. In this set-up though, the skimmer micro-bubbles travel and I didn't want them going into my refugium portion.

Simple sump. GL! :bigeyes:

 

[Martini5788]

If I did it like yours, are the fuge and return section the same height?

 

[Xxero]

Yes. Those two need to be equal height in order to set the refugium's normal operating water level. I based my design off of most of the info. I found here:

http://www.melevsreef.com/allmysumps.html

And here:

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2003-01/gt/index.htm

Hope this helps, and feel free to ask any questions. :bigeyes:

 

[juzz.raath]

Sorry to interrupt this thread on this but I myself am doing a sump and just curious with your chaeto.. Does this stuff grow and do you have to simply remove bits to keep it the same size?

 

[Xxero]

Does this stuff grow and do you have to simply remove bits to keep it the same size?

In my situation, yes it grows and no it doesn't. This bale of Chaeto has Grape Caulerpa intertwined throughout, which is out competing the Chaeto in growth. The Caulerpa is going nuts, but the Chaeto is growing pretty slow.

In the past, I have had Chaeto by itself and it grew quite well. If you don't use a pump to keep the bale spinning, it is recommended to rotate the bale manually every few days to keep dead spots from forming on the underside. As it grows, yes, just pull off/harvest tufts to bring it back down to size. You can trade the Chaeto harvests to your LFS for store credit (most of the time), or you can toss it. But either way, you are removing nitrates and phosphates from your system with every handful you remove. :bigeyes:

 

[Martini5788]

I was hoping to have fuge at 7.5 inches and return at 6. How would I make that possible?

 

[Xxero]

I was hoping to have fuge at 7.5 inches and return at 6. How would I make that possible?

In the pic above, even with the return baffle height being at 9 inches, I keep my return water level about an inch or so below. So the refugium sits at 9 inches, but I keep the return water level at about 8. I bet you could do the same if you have a valve to adjust your return flow.

If you don't think that would work, you could probably just add an additional baffle partition after the fuge and set it at 6 inches. It would kind of be a waste of space though and probably act as a detritus/funk trap.