Advice on sump division and help with sump setup

[altantuyaathedoll]

Okay so I have this tank I’m about to set up and upgrade to but only thing left for me to do is the sump.
I have my complete tank setup everything is ready except the sump.
sump design is incredibly difficult for me to understand anyways, it doesn’t help that there are no baffles that came with the sump. I’ve read up on r2r and I came up with this design.
These two pictures are :
one With my imagined layout and one of the raw sump.
The design is basically how I want it to look.

It would help a lot for advice and input even down to how high to start the baffles and how much drop each baffle should be.
Tank volume is 860l or 227 gallon
Tank volume with sump is 1020 or 269 gallon
Sump volume at 30cm height or 12 inches
Is 160 liters or 42 gallon
Total sump height is
44cm or 17 inches
Also for the weirs there is space between the refugium and the the return compartment to have that but I dont know how to create that .

 

[BaliReefBox]

you need to have your weirs set so the height in the skimmer chamber stays constant, i would try tp put things you access reguarly in the front for ez access. i googled sump design and picked the best ideas from a few that suited me and my needs

 

[StatelineReefer]

The best way to do this is drain into the refugium for tumble, raise the wall going to the skimmer above the bottom so the water flows under, and have the top wall of the return chamber set just below or at skimmer optimal height.

Water will enter the refugium and flow over into the frag tank area, the skimmer suction will pull water through the frag tank area, and the height of the water leaving the skimmer area will always be a set height.

 

[StatelineReefer]

An important thing to make sure of is that your backflow into the sump does not overflow it. That's a low, low sump with a little volume for a 230g

 

[altantuyaathedoll]

The best way to do this is drain into the refugium for tumble, raise the wall going to the skimmer above the bottom so the water flows under, and have the top wall of the return chamber set just below or at skimmer optimal height.

Water will enter the refugium and flow over into the frag tank area, the skimmer suction will pull water through the frag tank area, and the height of the water leaving the skimmer area will always be a set height.
The best way to do this is drain into the refugium for tumble, raise the wall going to the skimmer above the bottom so the water flows under, and have the top wall of the return chamber set just below or at skimmer optimal height.

Water will enter the refugium and flow over into the frag tank area, the skimmer suction will pull water through the frag tank area, and the height of the water leaving the skimmer area will always be a set height

The best way to do this is drain into the refugium for tumble, raise the wall going to the skimmer above the bottom so the water flows under, and have the top wall of the return chamber set just below or at skimmer optimal height.

Water will enter the refugium and flow over into the frag tank area, the skimmer suction will pull water through the frag tank area, and the height of the water leaving the skimmer area will always be a set height.

thanks for the reply and advice .

I was thinking water would enter the skimmer compartment overflow into the biomedia compartment and then agin into the frag tank then into the refugium which I will be using a small power head on a timer for flow/tumble and then a weir thingy from the refugium into the return compartment.

An important thing to make sure of is that your backflow into the sump does not overflow it. That's a low, low sump with a little volume for a 230g

Yeah I dont know why it’s so low I bought the tank 4 years ago sometime before covid ,was supposed to upgrade to it from my reefer 450 but during shipping my life changed and I had to shutdown my tank and rehome my fish. So the tank arrived and I kept it somewhere for the future. It was a long time ago and And when looking at the tank I didn’t think too much about the sump so ….. do you think it would be still manageable?

 

[altantuyaathedoll]

I dint know why my reply is so long hehe

 

[altantuyaathedoll]

you need to have your weirs set so the height in the skimmer chamber stays constant, i would try tp put things you access reguarly in the front for ez access. i googled sump design and picked the best ideas from a few that suited me and my needs

Noted thanks .

 

[StatelineReefer]

Yeah I dont know why it’s so low I bought the tank 4 years ago sometime before covid ,was supposed to upgrade to it from my reefer 450 but during shipping my life changed and I had to shutdown my tank and rehome my fish. So the tank arrived and I kept it somewhere for the future. It was a long time ago and And when looking at the tank I didn’t think too much about the sump so ….. do you think it would be still manageable?

I don't know, it would depend on how much your 229 dumps when the pumps go out. You can change this by extending the height of your drain tubing, but that's really questionable for this instance.

 

[altantuyaathedoll]

I don't know, it would depend on how much your 229 dumps when the pumps go out. You can change this by extending the height of your drain tubing, but that's really questionable for this instance.

Ok so should I look for a more suitable sump then ? Is that the recommendation. I have a few I was looking at that fit my requirements

 

[StatelineReefer]

Ok so should I look for a more suitable sump then ? Is that the recommendation. I have a few I was looking at that fit my requirements

I'd test the tank's outflow capacity with a brute can, just run your return line into the can, and run your pump from the can, mark the running waterline, then mark the 'off' waterline, and measure the difference, if the resulting measurement is equal to or less than the waterline on the skimmer to just below rhe rim of your sump, use it!

 

[altantuyaathedoll]

I'd test the tank's outflow capacity with a brute can, just run your return line into the can, and run your pump from the can, mark the running waterline, then mark the 'off' waterline, and measure the difference, if the resulting measurement is equal to or less than the waterline on the skimmer to just below rhe rim of your sump, use it!

Thank you okay I’ll do that. I think you just saved me a possible headache in the future .!!!

 

[altantuyaathedoll]

If it helps my return pump does 4700 liters/h hour or 1240 gallons/h

 

[StatelineReefer]

If it helps my return pump does 4700 liters/h hour or 1240 gallons/h

That's only going to come into play for tuning your drain for less splash and making sure your drain is sufficient. DC pump I hope?

 

[altantuyaathedoll]

Yeah it’s a DC pump. I pray this goes well heheheh

 

[CWH]

New Member Here!!!

Let me start with saying how awesome you folks all are. I’ve been reading this forum for months and everyone here is so helpful.

I need some help: I just bought my dream tank: Red Sea Reefer 425XL

I don’t think I set up my sump correctly and need some suggestions. No aftermarket changes to the sump - 3 compartments. Current set
1. Filter socks x2 Media bags in cups x2, the few pieces of live rock, chaeto and a bunch of bio blocks
2. Protein Skimmer
——baffle——
3. Return

I’m getting algae growing on the bio blocks (I think I put too many). I read that chaeto should be tumbling which mine def isn’t doing since I think I put way too many bio block in the compartment.

I’m getting algae growing on the bio blocks (I think I put too many). I read that chaeto should be tumbling which mine def isn’t doing since I think I put way too many bio block in the compartment.

1. Less bio blocks - they currently take up about 75% of compartment and chaeto is stationary
2. Wrong compartments - chaeto, live rock and bio blocks all in same compartment, skimmer is by itself
3. Something else

trying to post pic but haven’t figured out how to do there here from my phone.

any ideas

Corey