Will this sump work as intended?

[bobbychullo]

please ignore the crude drawings lol. I figured it would be easier to explain with a picture. Obviously not to scale...

Basically, my question is will the water levels be at where I expect them to be? Is 9" in the last chamber enough for the return pump (sicce syncho pro 800gph - I am assuming it is)? I'm worried about the middle chamber's water level not staying constant. I want to put my skimmer in the center to allow the first chamber to be filter sock and debris collecting only. It looks like it should but I hoping someone with more experience can assure me before I move forward with building it. I am building it myself because I wanted a large sump with a lot of space to add stuff and work. I have all my equipment picked out and it all fits in the designated areas.

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/57777639/sump%20design.jpg

[Kyuss]

Looks fine, but I'd run the water level in the return pump chamber slightly lower than the 9" height of the last glass baffle. So keep all the baffles at what you have there and just put a little less water in the system so there's a 1" drop in water level into the return chamber. That will still be plenty for your return pump.

[CuzzA]

There's no need for a baffle separating the filter sock and skimmer compartments. I would lose the eggcrate tray too. The bubble trap looks pretty tight at only 3". I would measure the width of your forearm 12" up and that would be how far apart I would seperate each baffle. It will make it 100x easier to clean between the baffles and the lower velocity of water flowing through them will make it a much more effective bubble trap. I would also consider insuring you have room next to the skimmer to add a pump to feed a manifold for GAC, GFO, BP reactors, uv sterilizer, Ca reactor, RDSB, ATS, refugium, frag tank or whatever else you may possibly add to your system now or in the future.

Edit: Also a 1/2" is really tight for the bottom of the middle baffle. Give yourself at least 1.5". Which happens to be the thickness of a 2x4. ;) I would just make all three baffles 10 inches, but slightly angle the final baffle back to prevent any possible water fall effect.

[ca1ore]

Sump design looks fine - in fact it's almost identical to mine :) including an egg-crate shelf. I just have two center sections rather than one. Egg-crate shelf works fine for something like a polyfilter (which is what mine was designed for) but not for other kinds of media that would be in bags. Purpose reactors are much better. I use my first, tall section, for heaters (oriented vertically) and as a settling chamber. If you intend something similar, fine, otherwise it may not be necessary. Levels in your design should remain constant. I don't like a drop after the last baffle as it tends to create bubbles that then get sucked into the pump creating smaller ones in the tank.

[golferbud101691]

+1 with ca1ore. Take that last baffle out and you will be in business. That 3rd baffle makes it impossible to vacuum the sump as well if any debris get in there(it happens).

[bobbychullo]

Thank you everyone for your replies. It helps me a lot. I have been reading as much as I can on the internet but nothing beats the advice you can get on these forums!

I was planning on putting floss or polyfilter on the egg crate media tray, I used polyfilter on my last tank and it did a great job. and yes, the first chamber with the sock in it, I was hoping any big particles that somehow made it through would settle in there before moving on to the skimmer and return chambers, I wasn't sure if it would work but I had seen it on someone else's sump and I thought, why not.

so two baffles before the return section is enough to remove any micro bubbles? It makes sense about vacuuming/cleaning. I wasn't looking forward to trying to silicone it either lol

[ca1ore]

I would stick with the three baffles. Silicone in the middle one, then once it has set remove the wooden block and do the end ones with silicone on just one side of the edge. Make your baffles 1/4" short, and the silicone will squeeze to hold both sides.

[bobbychullo]

ahaahaha Ca1ore at your signature. that was my plan, keep it easy and simple and now i'm looking at litermeters, kalk reactors and stuff aahahaa

thanks for the advice!

[bobbychullo]

i meant to ask, what is the issue with the eggcrate tray and bagged media? i thought about trying carbon and i believe i'd have to run it in a mesh/felt bag...?

[ca1ore]

Water will take the route of least resistance, which means it will just flow over and around the bags largely rendering them useless.