Help me layout my LARGE sump

[jherrin215]

I have asked this in the filtration and had no help so far. I figured it may be better suited here. Any help is appreciated. I am currently running a 180DT with a 30 gallon sump and 30 gallon fuge in the basement. This is all plumbed together and I have a 40 gallon that I am fixing to add as a frag tank. I decided I want to make the sump larger and while looking for 55-75 gallon tanks I ran across a 120 for sale close to my house. I am going to try and get it and turn it into an all in one sump/fuge/frag tank. Below is what I am planning. Please give me any advice/ideas before I get glass cut for this thing!
http://img266.imageshack.us/img266/5043/sump.png (http://img266.imageshack.us/i/sump.png/)

[DanEnglish]

I think the return section could be smaller. Also, is there a reason that you want one overflow going to the skimmer and one to the fuge directly?

[jherrin215]

it wasn't drawn to scale, just a quick rough sketch. There isn't really a reason they are going into seperate sections I just figured that would give me some flow through the fuge whereas no water coming into would cause it to be very idle I would assume.

[dave.m]

There's no light over the refugium. Do you not intend to grow algae there?

Dave.M

[jherrin215]

Oh yeah, I just forgot to draw in one, I just have a clamp on light over the fuge section.

[mike660r]

Personally, I wouldn't have my drains dropping into a refuge. The detritus will collect in there and become a issue for you down the road. You need to be able to siphon it out and keep it clean.

[sullyfish]

Put more baffles between skimmer section and Frag section, otherwise you will have a ton of microbubbles in frag section. I would put three baffles similar to overflow into return section.

[attaboy]

Be sure to calculate how much water will drain from your main tank when the pump is turned off (or during a power outage). This will avoid a wet floor.

[dave.m]

A reverse beananimal on the ends of the two returns would handle bubble/noise issues. Detritus is definitely a concern, and you should probably return to the skimmer section of the sump, but that's where you should be cleaning every week anyways when you do your water changes.

Dave.M

[jherrin215]

Ok, thanks for all the advice, I changed the layout some, see if this looks better, I think so. There may still be some microbubbles in the fuge area, but none should make it to the frag tank area now. I think this will work out better.
http://img407.imageshack.us/img407/4898/sump2.png (http://img407.imageshack.us/i/sump2.png/)

[sarmo]

i like your second drawing much better. i would try to find a way to shade the skimmer and phosban, that will prevent algae growth in them.
how is your skimmer fed? my skimmer intake is fed from my overflow with a gate valve to regulate volume, that cut a pump out of my system and saved on heat.
don't forget an ATO.

[jherrin215]

yeah that ATO is already there. My skimmer is fed from a mag 9.5 submerged in the skimmer section, which on my current setup is way too small. That is a good idea about keeping some of the light off the reactor and skimmer, I may just center the light over the frag tank section and use my current fuge light over the fuge section. It will be more directly aimed.

[dave.m]

You might want to consider splitting your refugium into an upper zone for algae and a lower benthic/cryptic zone à la mr.wilson.

See 2nd video - Sump Concept (http://www.reefvideos.com/)

Dave.M

[ditka]

You also might want to find a way to make sure that water that has passed throught the skimmer is flowing directly out of the first chamber. You don't want to continually mix skimmed water with water that is yet to be skimmed. Perhaps one of mr.wilson's drawings would be a good model to start and then add your frag tank section.

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1811725&highlight=skimmer&page=102

[paal]

First of all, I have no experience with big sumps at all. I have a tiny one on my 20 gal tank and that’s it. I have been dreaming about my future upgrade though, and I thought I could share the rough sump system I have in mind:

I want to make things as easy as possible. Not only for me, but for the people who are to look after my tank when I am not home during longer periods. Because of this, I want, like you, to have everything running through the same single sump and all the flow going from one end of the sump to the other. In addition to this, I would like to add an easy way to do water changes.

During normal operations, the valve on the top left is open, the others closed. As the flow enters the first chamber, the idea is that detritus will be trapped at the bottom because of the low flow compared to the relatively wide sump. The next chamber will house whatever tech I end up using. Then we have the fuge and frag area before ending up with the return section.

When doing water changes, the idea is that I just close the valve to the top left and open the one to the right – shutting off whatever water is in the left section from the rest of the system but still letting the sump and tank run completely normal. By opening the bottom valve I get to flush all this water and hopefully the detritus that has been building up down the drain. I then close the bottom valve again, and add RO water. I will then activate a pump and heater which are inside this chamber before I add salt. When this has mixed I will close the right valve and open the left one again, adding the new water to the system.

The rough sketch is missing the dry backup drain which would enter the tech section next to the right valve and a proper bubble trap before the return. Also, the dimensions for each chamber are not thought through in the drawing, but you get the basic idea.

I am sure there are huge improvements to be made, but so far I like this sump (in theory :p)

http://reefcentral.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=1559&pictureid=25046

[jherrin215]

Yeah I like the theory of the idea too, but the one thing I would change is I would have an offline storage of premixed SW and use your system but instead of filling with RO then mixing, fill it directly with premixed and tested SW.

[paal]

Yeah, that would obviously be faster and if the “detritus trap” would end up working well, that method would prevent detritus settling in the tech chamber during the mixing period.

It would add one more “external thingy” though. But then again, having a supply of premixed saltwater stand-by is probably a good idea anyway.

[jherrin215]

Thanks for all the replies, I watched the video, really like that idea! I will definitely be adding that to the fuge design whenever I set it up. I never did catch what the material was on top of the eggcrate in the "duplex" zone, looked to be regular window screening, anyone have any ideas if that's what it was?

[dave.m]

Yes, vinyl window screen, some people call it hardware cloth (?). Great idea, isn't it?

Dave.M

[jherrin215]

yeah it is. I like the whole setup. Will definitely be incorporating this in my fuge section.