First DIY sump help

[Miller_Time]

Hey guys, I'm going to be building my first sump this weekend and needed some help.

I have to use a 20H as a 20L won't fit into my Oceanic tech stand. I have a 57 Illuminata.

I would like to run a 3 chamber sump in this order. Skimmer/ return / fuge.

My question is how do I determine baffle heights? I don't want any overflows!!! I am planning on running an OCT-NWB-110 Skimmer so I'm guessing I should have an 8" skimmer section. But I can't find anything about the height it needs.

I will be running a marineland maxijet utility 3000 pump. How big of a return section do I need? i will be running ATO so I would guess I could get by with 6" wide? Then use the rest for fuge and the bubble trap for the skimmer section?

Someone help please!!!

Thanks!

[Miller_Time]

Anyone????

[haikufriday]

You might want to check out this site http://www.melevsreef.com/allmysumps.html. It's acrylic sumps, but there's a lot of inspiration.

Baffle heights depend on how high you want your water level. If you want an 8" skimmer chamber, you're going to need an 8" baffle for that section and you can add 2x taller baffles around to create a bubble trap. Draw it out and see if it works for you... you can probably post it on here and get more replies with a visual aid, too!! :)

[reefers90]

Your skimmer needs to sit in 6-10'' of water. if u wanted to get more water in the sump u could sit the skimmer on something to raise it 2'' giving u a 12'' tall baffle and a higher possible water level for your return section.That would be better if u have no ATO.
The height of your baffle will be your water height in the skimmer section

[meat1974]

Check out melevsreef.com for sure.

[jeff@zina.com]

My question is how do I determine baffle heights?
I build the baffles 2" shorter than the height of the tank. That way the highest baffle is 1" off the bottom and 1" from the top of the tank. Height of the skimmer is adjusted by building a platform from egg crate for it to rest on. In a 20H, skip the refugium. There's about half the 24" width of the tank for skimmer, half for return. Gives you about 5 gallons of space from the display overflows and return to drain back into.

Jeff