40b Sump Design, opinions wanted!

Amaroq

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Hey all!

In the process of designing my sumps layout for in a 40B when I switch over to my new 50B starphire rimless display I just picked up the other day. Hopefully its not too hard to make out whats going on in the picture. I'm attempting to be going for a Triton style influenced sump. The Red area would be where my overflows drains into and where I keep my Chaeto and heater, water then flows under the baffle into the Yellow area where my Skimmer will be, then water flows over the last baffle into the remaining area of the sump where I'll have my frag eggcrate/RBTA propogation baskets, my return will also be in that last area.
Which design would you opt for? The leftmost design allows me to have a slightly bigger skimmer section but I don't really need it that large, I figured maybe I'd just fill the leftover space with spare LR bits or Matrix. The rightmost design gives me a nice little nook for the return pump to hang out in but I'm concerned by putting it there most of the water will just bypass the frags/nems. Though I suppose I'll need to have a powerhead or two for the frags/nems anyways, plus it will give me a touch more space for frags/nems or even a reactor. I'll be using a set of tempered glass cutting boards I have in the mail from Amazon so thats why the design might be kind of odd compared to the usual, but for $27 CAD it felt like a deal plus I won't need to cut anything myself haha I'm leaning more towards the rightmost design as it would also allow me to possibly last minute make the chaeto area a bit larger without needing anything else, though I would appreciate anyone input or opinions on something I might not be considering!
Sump design.png
 

RichtheReefer21

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Its a balancing act deciding sump layouts.

Both would work, i personally went with a larger fuge section. I baffled a 33g long , fuge first, then skimmer. But i created a bypass connecting the return with the fuge via a small 4" channel wall that has a handful of 5/8" holes drilled at various depths. This allows pods and other biology to freely flow past the skimmer and return to the display to maintain better survival rates. I use socks when i blow off the scape or do a heavy cleaning. Otherwise, i run without them.

Space for reactors is hard to argue though if you are going that route.
 

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