Large Custom Sump Design - Seeking Help

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chome360

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Hi All,

I'm on a tight timeline to make some final design decisions for a sump build. I'm having one custom built. My display is 440 gallon roughly (86 x 42 x 28) peninsula. I ended up with 2 inch drains on my tank (kinda wish I went with 1.5 but oh well). That's what started me down the path of custom. 1 year in the hobby, tons still to learn, but I'm trying to go in big with this tank and not make any silly mistakes due to inexperience that I'll regret later. On the sump, I'm trying to keep it simple overall. Current planned size is 60 in long, 35 in wide, 18 inches tall. Was thinking 20 in tall but I'm worried about clearance under the stand, I figure I'm more than making up for it in width. Here's what I'm stumped on.

1. Plan is to go with 4 seven inch socks, possibly 6 four inch socks instead. But I'd like the ability to switch to a roller mat down the road if I want to. I'm not sure how I would plumb that in. If there's enough space, maybe a 90 elbow right after the drain bulkhead? I'm also not sure how wide the sock holder should be to accomodate a roller mat down the road, since I don't have one picked out. Any advice?

2. Chambers - current plan is to go socks > skimmer > refugium > return. With so much width I'm wondering if I should split that last chamber into two, and have a dedicated reactor chamber. Or just keep it as one chamber and have enough space to more or less use it that way if I want to anyways. Also thinking if I make the splitting wall fully removalbe so I can go back and forth.

3. Additional Holes - First I added the 3 drain holes for the bean animal, then I added the two return holes (single return pump with option to add another later). I'm wondering where I should add extra for future proofing. Added add two extra by the drain. Then added two smaller one midway down the sump thinking about possibly a manifold later, or adding a UV. But I've never seen bulkheads there and I'm thinking that's probably a mistake.

4. I'm going to have a seperate ATO resavoir made. I like the idea of it being built in, but I'm worried about space already. Basically the sump will already take up the entire width of the inside of the stand. Since the stand is 86 inch long, and I lose 6 inches from the 3 inch extruded aluminum legs on each side, that leaves me with 80 inches of spaces, sump conumes 60 inches, I'm left with a space of roughly 20 inches by 35 inches. Is that enough? I was thinking I either plop the seperate ATO there, or out of the stand to the side somewhere (don't love this idea).

Here's my best attempt at a diagram of the sump.

Any and all input is greatly appreciated! I really want to get this right.

Sump Draft.png
 
Sorry I’ll try again if you’re going the refugium route I’d go as large as you can for that section
 
Sorry I’ll try again if you’re going the refugium route I’d go as large as you can for that section
Ah, thanks. Ya, I haven't done anything with refugiums before. Seems like a good option to have. I travel alot. Sometimes for 3-4 weeks. I want to set myself up as best as possible for that, although I know it will be tough. I'm thinking if I go with around 24 inches by 35 inches, and if my height is 14 out of the 16 inches filled, that puts me at roughly 50 gallons in the refugium, so right around 10% of the display.
 
Sound good,I’ve run a sump with just floss refugium and a return pump with no problems just a small wave maker and decent lighting and I’d grows like weeds
 
any reason you couldnt just convert the 2" pvc to 1.5" after the bulkhead or am i missing something?
 
any reason you couldnt just convert the 2" pvc to 1.5" after the bulkhead or am i missing something?
Definitely can. When I was trying to decide between 2 and 1.5, that's why I leaned to 2 in. I figured I can always reduce it if I want to, but can't go the other way. I just haven't decided to the that yet, and I've already bought all the plumbing for 2 inch. 2 inch gate valves are pricey!
 
I built my own custom sump out of plywood heres a pic of it during water test
8d4eb606-bb3d-4f3b-930c-872d674a02e6.jpg
thelong box on far side is fuge middle is heaters and return pumps front skimmer and socks, small box is my ato resivor.
 
What do you all think about the order of the chambers? Should the refugium come first or the skimmer section come first?
 
Depends on what you are after. Drain splash / dump box, filter media, skimmer, open area, return. More or less how the Berlin works.

You have 2" drains you can reduce if you want. Also don't skimp on valve or union quality. Part of the price we pay for installation.

Skimmers play a role regardless of refugium or not. You do not need high turn over in the sump. Skimmer contact time plays a role. You can also alternate time or day of week with skimmer should you have low nutrients (0). Point is design up front is important as you can always later lower flow or alternate skimmer days. Costs more to add.
 
I built my own custom sump out of plywood heres a pic of it during water test
8d4eb606-bb3d-4f3b-930c-872d674a02e6.jpg
thelong box on far side is fuge middle is heaters and return pumps front skimmer and socks, small box is my ato

Don’t list the specific materials you used in your build thread?
Are you askin what i used to build my plywood sump ? If so it was 3/4 bbb bultich berch, 3in fine thread screws, fiberglass on seams and pond shield epoxy in my color choice 3 coats inside 1 outside
 

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