Sump Tank Build Any Help Appreciated

[gunlocators]

Ok I have a 38g Aqueon Tank inside dimensions 11 3/4" W x 34 1/2" L x 18 3/4" Tall 3/8" Wall thickness. I want a 3 Chamber Sump with refugium in middle chamber. I want to get glass cut tommorrow I figure I need 3/8 glass to be safe for divider.

A little more info Chamber 1 will house intakes and a iTech 100 skimmer which will take up 11"x12" I plan on using Chamber 3 for a ehiem 1262 or rio 3100 return.

My question If I place a Divider at 12" in first chamber from bottom up how tall should that chamber be? I will have 4 more dividers after that chamber 2 I would assume it should be same height as chamber 1. Then I want to run bubble chambers leading to chamber 3. For 3rd divider it will come from top down how much room should I leave open at bottom the 4th divider will determine water height in 3rd chamber return pump how much water does it need to hold how heigh should I make this chamber. Hope this makes sense any helps appreciated....

http://i989.photobucket.com/albums/af20/WestTexasFishingAdventures/98d3641e.jpg

[reeftanknewbie]

I designed my sump after his work. this is a good article on sumps and their design. Generally you want the baffles to be an inch apart with the center being an inch off of the bottom. Mine are 3 inches shorter then the top of the sump to prevent overflowing and salt creep/splashing on my floors.

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

[gunlocators]

Also tried to lay out sump design with a dry erase attached is a pic.I placed the skimmer in area 1 and looking at exisiting water line I will need to build a platform no big deal.

My first divider will be 11" Tall
Divider 2 will be 10 1/2" tall
Divider 3 ? Can it be cut same size as 2 and offset from bottom 1" ?
Divider 4 Does it need to be 10" or can it be same as divider 2 ?

That gives me a 15" refugium and return area of only 6 1/2"x1 3/4"

Also dead space above tallest divider is about 13gals of empty space that does not account for dead space in return area or refugium area



Let me know what you think
http://i989.photobucket.com/albums/af20/WestTexasFishingAdventures/photo1.jpg