Post pics of your 10 or 20g sump! I need inspiration...

[madweazl]

I'm of mixed opinion with the socks. I love to catch the gunk and remove it manually with the sock but I also hate catching things that are beneficial such as pods. About two months ago I removed the socks and now I only use them when I'm doing a water changing (or some other maintenance where I'd be stirring up gunk). Water clarity has remained excellent without them (and it's certainly less maintenance as I was switching them roughly every three days).

As for the sump itself, I think skimmers are best placed in the first chamber of the series as this gives the most time for micro bubbles to diffuse. The sump posted above has about 10.5" in the skimmer chamber and 13" in the refugium chamber followed but a 1" bubble trap and and 5" return chamber. In the end, I'd like a few more inches in the first chamber so I had a little more room for a skimmer with a larger footprint. I have the skimmer, heater, probes, and pump to the carbon reactor in this chamber.

 

[WhiskeyCoffee]

Just finished my redesign last night. From left to right, filter sock, refugium, return pump. Trying to keep it simple. Any feedback?

 

[madweazl]

Only thing that caught my eye is that it looks like the levels of the glass in the refugium compartment around fairly similar. For flow, raising the panel in the sock compartment and leaving a 1" passage under it would probably work out better for you. Or split it in the middle if you want substrate in the refugium compartment.

 

[WhiskeyCoffee]

So you're saying the first piece of glass should be higher than the other ones? Hmm.... May have to redo it now, lol...

 

[madweazl]

So you're saying the first piece of glass should be higher than the other ones? Hmm.... May have to redo it now, lol...

Yes, or, leave the length thee same and just raise it off the bottom of the tank so the flow goes from the bottom of the first chamber to the top of the bubble trap. If you plan on using sand/gravel in the refugium chamber, cut the piece of glass in the sock chamber and make a gap around the middle of it so the flow goes from midway in the sock chamber to the top of the bubble trap chamber.

 

[WhiskeyCoffee]

Interesting. So if I leave it the way it is now, there simply won't be enough flow through the middle chamber?

 

[madweazl]

In my opinion, no. The current design will promote flow across the top of the chamber.

 

[WhiskeyCoffee]

Interesting, thanks for your feedback! I'll post a photo once I redo it... Off to Home Depot for more silicone!

 

[WhiskeyCoffee]

In my opinion, no. The current design will promote flow across the top of the chamber.

So I'm looking at a bunch of sump designs available both on here and through Google Images and not very many have the gap or space in the first baffle you've suggested. Do you have any example designs I can look at or read about the improved flow? Thanks @madweazl !

 

[madweazl]

I'm not sure I've seen one that isnt this way.

Trigger

eShopps

Precision

 

[Marc.The.Shark]

Here's mine with slits in the first baffle. This was before i had water in it. But I like the design. I bought the baffle kit & installed myself into a standard 10g

 

[WhiskeyCoffee]

Thank you @madweazl ! I am going to redo the first baffle tonight!

 

[WhiskeyCoffee]

@madweazl Do you think this looks good? The 'gap' is 4 1/4" from the bottom. Do you think the 'gap' should be lower, like 3 1/4"? Or do you think I should have a gap at the bottom -and- above the baffles? Sorry not trying to nuke this out... Just want to make this to be efficient.

Like which one of these would better? Further up or lower down...

 

[madweazl]

If you think there is a chance you're going to have something on the bottom of the chamber (ie sand/crushed coral), move the gap up a bit (3-4" is probably good). If not, it can flow from the bottom.

 

[WhiskeyCoffee]

So for the bottom baffle should I use the shorter on or the taller one?

 

[Sir Chris]

I'm using a gravity refug so. I pump chew up pods and sock problem as much. As I'm a mandarin freak. And nem. But I left he bottom open except for bubble trap 2 pump and rest is for skimmer. Using a 20gL. Expected 2 do a bottom refug but liked showoff of gravity

 

[madweazl]

So for the bottom baffle should I use the shorter on or the taller one?

I think what you have in the first pic is just fine (I'd probably make the gap around 1/2-3/4" tall depending on how much velocity you want through the refugium chamber).

Another consideration is the size of the first chamber; is there a chance you'd want an internal skimmer down the road? If so, look at the footprints for some of the skimmers better suited for your volume of water. Along with this, water level is crucial for skimmer performance so make sure the second baffle is high to set a water height to accommodate your skimmer (most are below 11" so that is a decent target since it is easy to raise the skimmer if the number is lower).

 

[WhiskeyCoffee]

I think what you have in the first pic is just fine (I'd probably make the gap around 1/2-3/4" tall depending on how much velocity you want through the refugium chamber).

Ideally, how close do I want that gap to the bottom of the aquarium?

 

[madweazl]

Ideally, how close do I want that gap to the bottom of the aquarium?

How much flow do you expect to put through the refugium (keep in mind this tends to be around 5x the water volume but there really isnt a rule here). I set my return pump to a volume that wouldnt uproot the caulerpa. I had figured out what that number was at one time but I dont have any idea what that is now. The gap in my baffle is about 1/2" tall and 6" long (refugium width is 13") with a Waveline DC6000 at the third lowest setting.

 

[WhiskeyCoffee]

Hey gents. The sump is about finished curing and I'm making finishing touches. I am not positive I'm going to leave the pot scrubbies like this but I want some kind of mechanical filtration. I put silicone pot holders in the return chamber to reduce vibration and also nonskid pads under the sump to further reduce vibration. Any last minute comments?