Filter sock placement question

[pocurran]

Hey all...I'm planing on building a sump for a 180 reef tank. Looking at all the different designs and so on. Wondering about filter sock placement. Is it better to have the drains empty directly into the sock or should they drain into a separate compartment and then flow into the sock? Does it matter either way?

Thanks in advance

[FamilyTank]

To save space. I was able to center my drain section and have water fill socks to the left and right of drain. Saving a couple of inches. Bean setup is supposed to be under water. Having separate chamber makes changing your socks easier.

[LXXero]

Hey all...I'm planing on building a sump for a 180 reef tank. Looking at all the different designs and so on. Wondering about filter sock placement. Is it better to have the drains empty directly into the sock or should they drain into a separate compartment and then flow into the sock? Does it matter either way?

Thanks in advance

so, basically having it overflow into a compartment of socks lets you have multiple socks take the flow from singular or multiple drains. if you plumb directly into the sock, then only that sock gets dirty, and you can end up needing to change that single sock more frequently as opposed to a chamber overflowing into 2-3 socks at once, it will spread the wear evenly across the socks.

one word of advice if you do build a chamber that overflows into the socks, make it big enough that it can handle a lot of flow. my aqueon proflex 4 sump just overflows a small tube, like a 1" drain tube going into a 1.5" tube that is capped on the bottom, it then flows over that 1.5" tube and into the socks. it's so small that with enough flow water would jet up out of there and be super noisey. i just recently solved that by draining directly into the socks....however given my sump is setup with a "sock chamber" if i do fill that sock, it will still overflow into the other socks...it's working out ok, but would have just been better if the initial chamber was bigger before overflowing into the socks.

in fact, that's yet a 3rd "unspoken" design you could do. a proper sock chamber but with drains into the socks. if the socks get dirty, it'll overflow into the next sock over in the chamber. it's not as optimal as just building an overflow chamber big enough though.

[pocurran]

Familytank...Thanks for the information. I was thinking the overflow section idea was what I'm going with. Wasn't sure if going directly to the sock would cause slow down or more pressure or anything, but in the long run, I think it would be just a little easier to do the overflow section.

Thnaks again and take care,

[pocurran]

LXXero...Thanks for the heads up. I'm looking online for plans and such for good dimensions. Saw some prefab sumps by Trigger and so on and was thinking the sock chamber, but wasn't sure about section size. Don't want too much overflow/noise form everything. If all goes well, I'm planning on getting this done by next weekend. Will try to start as much as I can this weekend with a 40 breeder. Need to find the dimensions for tank drains and so on so I have a better idea on how big to build everything.

Thanks again for the heads up and I may even do the drain to sock and overflow to sock chamber idea. I travel a lot so my wife will be the one swapping them out, so whichever is eaiser will win. LOL...
Take care,