Baffle size

[KSReefing]

Hey guys I am building a sump for a 150 display tank. I also have a Biocube 29 and a 50 gallon frag tank I will be plumbing into the system as well.

My tank I have for a sump is

Length 60 inches
Width 18.5 inches
Height 24 inches

I know the inside dimensions for baffles but I'm not really sure how tall to make the baffles. If anyone has a good resource or recommendations that would be awesome. I keep coming to a stall with this and need to order baffles soon.

 

[Pife]

Hey guys I am building a sump for a 150 display tank. I also have a Biocube 29 and a 50 gallon frag tank I will be plumbing into the system as well.

My tank I have for a sump is

Length 60 inches
Width 18.5 inches
Height 24 inches

I know the inside dimensions for baffles but I'm not really sure how tall to make the baffles. If anyone has a good resource or recommendations that would be awesome. I keep coming to a stall with this and need to order baffles soon.

It all depends on how much water you want it to hold.

 

[sbash]

^^ Agreed, we need more information.

Ideally, your baffles are as low as possible to eliminate bubbles from the waterfall effect as the water flows over them. They also cannot be so high as to cause the tank to overflow when they fill up...

So... I would do some math. You need to know how much water your plumbing holds, as well as the amount of water being siphoned back into the tank when the pumps shut off. Once you know how much water will be drained into the tank once everything is shut down, you can calculate your baffle height accordingly and maximize your water volume..

 

[KSReefing]

It all depends on how much water you want it to hold.

I'm thinking maybe 15 inches for the first chamber. I'll have to build a skimmer stand. That would be quite a bit to allow for a power outage.

 

[Epicreefster]

Your trying to balance several things. Keeping it simple to me most important is the skimmer. looking at the operating level of your skimmer from your manufacturer you want to be about 1/3 between the minimum water level to maximum water level rating of the skimmer. So if it is rated for 7-10" 8" is ideal, at 7" the skimmer will always run dry at 10" it will always run wet, at 8" the water level will be 1/4-1/2" higher than the baffle and be just about the middle of its rating and give the most adjustment.

You can make adjustments from this for the following reasons:
Increasing water volume, put the skimmer on a stand and raise the water level to increase tank stability but make sure to allow for power failure safety and equipment access.
Increase water flow through sump, by increasing the water height you can push more water through the sump without getting micro bubbles given the baffles are spaced far enough apart and there isn't a waterfall from one chamber to the next. Also make sure you are ok for a power failure drain down from the main tank.
Top off method. If your top off has a large gravity fed reservoir you can get by with shorter baffles without the risk of running the return pump dry. If you have a small reservoir, sensor driven top off, or manual top off you want a higher water level to allow for a more forgiving system in topping off by making the return pump section hold more water.

So in general its best to make them as tall as possible while allowing for drain down from the display tank in a power failure. Build a stand for your skimmer but make sure your skimmer will fit in the stand with the skimmer stand.