Glb's 40g upgrade!

[glb]

Thank you!

I got the SC SCA-301 skimmer. It got great reviews and has a small footprint.

 

[NanaReefer]

I got the SC SCA-301 skimmer. It got great reviews and has a small footprint.

It's what I'm using [emoji6]

 

[glb]

I think you have a pretty tall stand, so it should be fine. It could be an issue with a smaller stand, cause you would have issue removing the skimmer. I think the extra 4" may help so you don't have issues with overflowing. Especially if you run an ATO. There isn't much volume difference between a 15g sump running level, and the resting level (pump turned off). When setting up an ATO to be flood proof, you are suppose to get your sump running at the proper level, shut the pump off. Once everything stops draining, measure how much room you have left in your sump before it would overflow. That amount is the max capacity of your ATO container. This way, even if it got stuck open and dumped the whole container in at once, then your power went out, it still wouldn't flood. At that foot print (both 15 and 20L), it is approximated 1.25 gallons / inch of level in the tank. So if there is only 2" of space before the sump would overflow, your top off could only be 2.5 gallons. When the extra 4", you sump could hold 7.5 gallons in your ATO.

For future reference just multiply the foot print of the tank in INCHES not feet 24" x 12" = 288, then divide by 231 (cubic inches in a gallon), and it will tell you how many gallons are in 1" of water in your tank/sump. You can also use it to find the total volume. 15 gallon tank is 24" x 12" x 12" = 3456 cu in. Divided by 231 gives you 14.96 gallons. Pretty close!

Great advice! The stand is 34". The skimmer can easily be removed in the 20 tall.

 

[glb]

I know! I got the idea from you.

 

[glb]

So I'm taking a break from building to design my sump. Here's a rough plan:

My skimmer is only 4 1/2" wide. Then there's 1 1/2" for the width of the bubble trap. If my calculations are right, the refugium at 8" tall would hold about 3.9g of water. Then another 1/4" for the final divider and 10" for the ato/return pump section. The sump is 16" tall and I'm wondering about the pros/cons of higher vs. lower water levels. With this setup, there's a 9.4g cushion for a power outage or ato overflow. Does this look about right? Advice is welcome!

 

[glb]

Here's some more numbers in case anyone's interested:

The return area holds 5.5g
Every inch of water in the return area=.7g
Every inch of water in the 40g breeder=2.6g

So if a 5g reservoir and an inch of water from the display tank emptied into the sump, that would equal 7.6g. Since I have a 9.4g allowance for overflow, there'a still some wiggle room.

 

[TaylorPilot]

That sounds good. Sometimes the simplest of planning can prevent allot of heartache in the future!

 

[glb]

Bump. Does anyone else have any input about my sump design? This is my first one. I've done a ton of reading but R2R input always helps! The diagram is a few posts up. Thanks!

 

[TaylorPilot]

Well I see that you said the skimmer sits in 6", but the fuge is 8" deep. Is it going to be on a stand to raise it up?

 

[TaylorPilot]

I would probably put the bubble trap after the fuge. I would make it the last thing before going into the return section. Do you know if you will be using an ATO? If so, I would make the return section smaller and the fuge section larger.

 

[glb]

Well I see that you said the skimmer sits in 6", but the fuge is 8" deep. Is it going to be on a stand to raise it up?

Yes, I'm going to put something under the skimmer. I can always go lower if I need to.

 

[glb]

I would probably put the bubble trap after the fuge. I would make it the last thing before going into the return section. Do you know if you will be using an ATO? If so, I would make the return section smaller and the fuge section larger.

Yes, I plan on running an ato and have it pump the water into the return section where the evaporation will show. I thought the return section should be bigger so the ato wouldn't run too much. What's your thinking about making it smaller?

 

[TaylorPilot]

You want the fuge as large as possible. The more space, the more macro algae you can hold, plus the more water volume.With the return section smaller, it will turn your ATO on/off more, but it shouldn't be an issue. If you are too worried about it, you can put it on a timer, so that it can only run an for an hour twice a day. What do you plan to do with your fuge. Personally, I would try to make a rolling ball of cheato with probably nothing else, and a nice light above it. Allot of people have had good success with it. I think the tumbling is key, because it allows light to hit it from all sides.

Check out the post 271.

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/d2minis-200g-reeftastic-reef-part-deux.178519/page-14

With the amount of space you have to work with, I would make my first baffle about 1" shorter than my second baffle, so the water just runs right over it. It should help in aiding the cheato in spinning. You may still need a powerhead, depending on your flow. The second baffle will actually set the height of the water level for both the skimmer and fuge section, then put your bubble trap after the second baffle. I would run my return section water level only about 1/2"-1" below the second baffle. This way the water doesn't have to fall far, and you are less likely to make noise/bubbles. This is adjusted easily by moving your ATO sensor/float switch up or down.

 

[glb]

You want the fuge as large as possible. The more space, the more macro algae you can hold, plus the more water volume.With the return section smaller, it will turn your ATO on/off more, but it shouldn't be an issue. If you are too worried about it, you can put it on a timer, so that it can only run an for an hour twice a day. What do you plan to do with your fuge. Personally, I would try to make a rolling ball of cheato with probably nothing else, and a nice light above it. Allot of people have had good success with it. I think the tumbling is key, because it allows light to hit it from all sides.

Check out the post 271.

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/d2minis-200g-reeftastic-reef-part-deux.178519/page-14

With the amount of space you have to work with, I would make my first baffle about 1" shorter than my second baffle, so the water just runs right over it. It should help in aiding the cheato in spinning. You may still need a powerhead, depending on your flow. The second baffle will actually set the height of the water level for both the skimmer and fuge section, then put your bubble trap after the second baffle. I would run my return section water level only about 1/2"-1" below the second baffle. This way the water doesn't have to fall far, and you are less likely to make noise/bubbles. This is adjusted easily by moving your ATO sensor/float switch up or down.

Wait, doesn't the first baffle (by the skimmer), have to be taller than the second one?

 

[TaylorPilot]

No it doesn't that way, the second baffle sets the height of the water for both sections. If the 1st is a little lower, the water will flow over it quietly. Less noise, less bubbles.

 

[glb]

No it doesn't that way, the second baffle sets the height of the water for both sections. If the 1st is a little lower, the water will flow over it quietly. Less noise, less bubbles.

So the first one is always underwater? This may be a silly question, but why have it then?

 

[TaylorPilot]

It isn't a silly question. The point of it is to keep all the things in your fuge in the fuge, and not getting all twisted around the skimmer. The point of having it completely under water is that there is only a small 1/2" thick layer of water traveling over the top, creating a flow over the top of the water and spinning the cheato. See my crude drawing. The water in the second chamber creates a rotating effect and keeps the ball spinning slowly. Although depending on your flow rates, you may still need a little power head in the bottom left corner of that chamber facing up to keep it spinning. The whole point is to to keep the cheato centered in the chamber and not hitting the sides.

 

[NanaReefer]

My first & second baffles are the exact same at 8" my third is 10" raised by 1" and the 4th is 7"
Left to right, return, bubble trap, fuge, overflow/skimmer.
My chaeto never spins, tumbles or what not. It isn't necessary at all. Gets great flow, which is all that's truly needed.

 

[glb]

My first & second baffles are the exact same at 8" my third is 10" raised by 1" and the 4th is 7"

So your overflow comes in on the right and your return is on the left?

 

[TaylorPilot]

So yours is flowing from right to left...Mine was the other way, just wanted to point that out it doesn't get confused. Here is a little video from that same build showing what I was talking about with the macro.