New Sump

[Trump]

Iam going to be building myself a new sump and would like input from you guys on things you like and or dislike about yours. What would you add in etc.
My overall footprint is going to be approx. 14x27x14.

Oh and whilst Iam at it should I be concerned about a mini cycle in the change over? I plan on doing a wet test of the sump wiht another qt tank and then once I am sure it s good doing a water change and swapping the two out.

Thanks in advance.

[Blitzie]

I have been reading this website http://www.melevsreef.com/allmysumps.html and getting some ideas and some things to consider

[Trump]

Yea I looked at his site earlier, I guess Iam looking to see if there are things people would have liked in there sump set up that they might not have. Like I was thinking of adding a shelf for my return pump that was insulated like on rubber tubing to help with pump vibration and noise. Is the fuge in the middle as a pass though chamber better or have it on one side with water pumped in seem to work better. My current set up seems to be just small and I was also thinkin of a dsb .

[Collinrb]

I'll be tagging along for this one. My eshopps overflow came in yesterday and I have everything I need except for the ideas for plumbing.

[BlueChip]

Also following along, but regretfully nothing to add (yet)

[Trump]

Well ibought a sheet of plexi today and after looking around abit have came up with my design i think. i will be doing a center return with fuge on one side skimmer and drain line on the other. toying with the idea of feeding the fuge with a pump and have it return back to the skimmer side so all water will go in bubble trap will attempt pic of idea later

[Blitzie]

That is the avenue I am exploring also. I am thinking of a separate pump to provide flow to the fuge area. I will be using a 40 breeder as a sump when I am ready. I am going to use this as a guide http://www.melevsreef.com/55g/55sump.html and adapt it as I go.
I am building the "man cave" currently and have it figured for a 120 Gallon (48 x 24 version) on one wall.

[Trump]

<a href="http://s194.photobucket.com/albums/z4/Trumptitan/?action=view&amp;current=sumpidea.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i194.photobucket.com/albums/z4/Trumptitan/sumpidea.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

Paint was used to draw these pls excuse. Flow is along blue lines in this drawing red is live rock and dark green is skimmer with light green being cheato or other macro algae yellow are sub mersible pumps. Flow into a Live rock rubble chamber from the DT overflowing into skimmer area pass a bubble trap to a open area that will hold water level for ato (thinking a simple float style with a gravity feed from closet behind tank) useing a small pump to fill the fuge with flow sent back to the skimmer area via pipe the return pump is actually in a seprate enclouser that will have teeth at the bottom so that water enters from lowest point of sump. I am also thinkin of either a stage on rubber tubeing or a coating of silcone on the bottom of the area to reduce vibration.

The other view shows water level theory the sump will be 14 inchs tall, the baffles 9" tall and spread 1" apart as well as the fuge area being 12" tall water lvl hopefully only 9". The return pump incasement will be about 7 inchs hi.

<a href="http://s194.photobucket.com/albums/z4/Trumptitan/?action=view&amp;current=sumpprofile.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i194.photobucket.com/albums/z4/Trumptitan/sumpprofile.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>


Please let me know what your ideas are, and problems you see that i might have. Oh the pump Iam useing for return is a Rio 2500 and trying to decide what to use on the fuge are so as not to over power it.

Should I add some sort of media filtration maybe in the drop out from the rubble tower?

Thanks Jeff

[Krazy_Karl]

I have seen a few sumps recently that include an ATO water chamber, I think thats a pretty sweet idea if you have the space.

[hazmat319]

Here is a pic of mine that I made. It's a 30L with acrylic baffles.

http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/ff248/hazmat319/75%20gallon%20CT%20reef/IMG_1535.jpg

It was hard getting the silicone nice and even with the second and third baffle. My only regret is I use my middle section as my fuge and my chaeto flows over my last baffle and gets caught in my return pump. If I had to do it over again I would router that last piece so it had "teeth" to catch anything going into that chamber.

I just bought this sump for my new setup. I had it custom made though to make the drain/skimmer area bigger to accommodate my Bubble King mini 160 skimmer. bounce2::dance:
http://premiumaquatics.com/store/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=PA&Product_Code=TS-RUBY30S&Category_Code=

Edit: I have my ATO magnet float switch in the return pump area. I also have my mini pump for my reactor in there too. Plenty of room for all those things.

[Krazy_Karl]

Nice sump hazmat, and double nice for the bubble king!

[Trump]

my current sump is only a two bay with no true bubble trap it has a spill lip that acts like a waterfall over some marineland filters with carbon (yes I have been lazy and not just gotten a refillable with good carbon) that drips over rocks then a divider wall that has a sponge to trap bubbles. the waterfall removes alot of micro bubbles but still some get though wihtout the skimmer on it gets bad if skimmer is on so therefore the new sump.

[Blitzie]

Nice design trump, that pretty much the way i want to go. I am not sure as to how much flow thru the fuge area.

[Trump]

I may start with a rio 600 i have layin around here somewhere. and iam thinking to use a 3/4 pvc tube and cut teeth into it for the "overflow" back into the skimmer area.

[Trump]

Well its together going to silcone for extra leak protection and yhen wet test tomarrow.
<a href=http://s194.photobucket.com/albums/z4/Trumptitan/?action=view&current=2012-02-18130235.jpg target=_blank><img src=http://i194.photobucket.com/albums/z4/Trumptitan/2012-02-18130235.jpg border=0 alt=></a>

<a href=http://s194.photobucket.com/albums/z4/Trumptitan/?action=view&current=2012-02-18130314.jpg target=_blank><img src=http://i194.photobucket.com/albums/z4/Trumptitan/2012-02-18130314.jpg border=0 alt=></a>

[hazmat319]

Good job on making the "teeth". It looks good. I was too lazy to make a new sump this time. Yours looks good.

[Trump]

thanks Hazmat, I accidentally got black silicone, oh well easier to see make sure I got all the really important spots. I made a 45* wall off the fuge that will filter back into the first chamber so that it will flow back in the main system again. I also made sure it was on the front part of the sump to make it easier to clean with the lower water flow figure it will get some algae growth in it.

Still not sure what size pump to put on the fuge any suggestions.

[Trump]

Still have to work out some plumbing issues and add some more LR but is running awsome.

<a href="http://s194.photobucket.com/albums/z4/Trumptitan/?action=view&amp;current=2012-02-22211719.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i194.photobucket.com/albums/z4/Trumptitan/2012-02-22211719.jpg" border="0" alt="Uploaded from the Photobucket Android App"></a>