Calling sump builders! Sump design baffle height questions.

[Badilac]

I am getting a sump built and I have a question on the design. Please see the attached picture fore reference. The left side is the first chamber and I need that water level to be between 5"- 7.75" so how height should the baffle be that leads to the 2nd chamber? The second chamber will only house reactors and the water level of that chamber isn't as important, so how high should the bubble trap baffle be leading to the return pump chamber? Shouldn't the bubble trap baffle be lower than the first baffle like my drawing?

 

[DaneGer21]

Yes and If it were me, I would make the first baffle 6”, and the second baffle 5.5”.

or if you want slightly more volume, 7” and 6.5”.

 

[DaneGer21]

Just remember your actual water line will depend on your flow going over the baffle. So plan around a 1/2” extra height for water.

So that 7” baffle might led to a 7.5” water line and be close to your above listed max

 

[BlennyTime]

Assuming your first chamber is for a skimmer, you could get a stand to put in on. That would let you have a little more total water in the sump if you wanted to incorporate a refugium or live rock or something.

In general, the water height in each chamber is going to be the height of the lowest baffle. The baffles should get shorter as you move towards the return pump.

The other design consideration is to leave enough space in the return chamber that when the pumps are turned off, the back flow of water from the returns and emptying of the drains doesn’t overflow it.

 

[Badilac]

Assuming your first chamber is for a skimmer, you could get a stand to put in on. That would let you have a little more total water in the sump if you wanted to incorporate a refugium or live rock or something.

In general, the water height in each chamber is going to be the height of the lowest baffle. The baffles should get shorter as you move towards the return pump.

The other design consideration is to leave enough space in the return chamber that when the pumps are turned off, the back flow of water from the returns and emptying of the drains doesn’t overflow it.

Thanks,

The first chamber will house a Royal Exclusiv Roller Mat (pic below) and my Lifereef skimmer, Both like similar water depth. I dont think back flow will be an issue as the only time both return pumps are off is from a power outage. In the event of a power outage water can overflow the return section and fill water into the 1st and 2nd camber if needed. This shouldn't cause any issues as that is how the current sump is due to it being way too small. I also have a separate Lifereef fuge that is feed off one of the manifolds then will dump back into the sump, so I dont think I need the water level higher in the sump. My current sump only runs about 7" of water also so I should be good with the above design. I think?

 

[Badilac]

Yes and If it were me, I would make the first baffle 6”, and the second baffle 5.5”.

or if you want slightly more volume, 7” and 6.5”.

Thanks for your help. I needed another opinion to make sure I was thinking about it correctly.