Sump baffle considerations

[jdpeters]

I have a 20 long I’m currently building out with a 20 long sump.
Simple tank, damsel community, low flow, softies, weekly water change. Live sand, minimal rock and skimmer only.
I plan on just having one large chamber with water level set, bubble trap and return chamber. Ato sensor in the return chamber with possibly a heater even though my room still stays above 70 even on the coldest days.
My question is should I be fine with just skimmer chamber? It will also serve to add to total system volume.
Thanks for any feedback!

 

[UncommonSense]

I have a 20 long I’m currently building out with a 20 long sump.
Simple tank, damsel community, low flow, softies, weekly water change. Live sand, minimal rock and skimmer only.
I plan on just having one large chamber with water level set, bubble trap and return chamber. Ato sensor in the return chamber with possibly a heater even though my room still stays above 70 even on the coldest days.
My question is should I be fine with just skimmer chamber? It will also serve to add to total system volume.
Thanks for any feedback!

I did exactly the same thing with my 20L!

I run the water level HIGH in the drain/skim/refuge chamber, right at the bottom of the top black trim… skimmer is on a 3” tall stand! the return chamber runs around 9.5” of water height, and is 12” long from tank wall to “dam” baffle! (14-15g operating volume)

This is for a 35g tank in my case, if your tank is significantly larger than that, you might want to reduce your dam baffle to be ~1” under the top trim line!

 

[Gtinnel]

I did the same with a 20g long tank for my sump. Three pieces of glass siliconed in for a bubble trap/ baffle to make two chambers. My only regret is that I put the baffle in the middle of the tank making two equal sized chambers. I wish I would've only made the return pump section just big enough to fit the pump.

 

[jdpeters]

I have a 20 long I’m currently building out with a 20 long sump.
Simple tank, damsel community, low flow, softies, weekly water change. Live sand, minimal rock and skimmer only.
I plan on just having one large chamber with water level set, bubble trap and return chamber. Ato sensor in the return chamber with possibly a heater even though my room still stays above 70 even on the coldest days.
My question is should I be fine with just skimmer chamber? It will also serve to add to total system volume.
Thanks for any feedback!

I did exactly the same thing with my 20L!

I run the water level HIGH in the drain/skim/refuge chamber, right at the bottom of the top black trim… skimmer is on a 3” tall stand! the return chamber runs around 9.5” of water height, and is 12” long from tank wall to “dam” baffle! (14-15g operating volume)

This is for a 35g tank in my case, if your tank is significantly larger than that, you might want to reduce your dam baffle to be ~1” under the top trim line!

Nice! I’m sure my plan will evolve slightly but it’s intended to be a very simple set up. You can see my intake is just an elbow. I don’t foresee it grabbing any fish but worse case they make it to sump or worse they clog it. I may need a strainer.

 

[UncommonSense]

Nice! I’m sure my plan will evolve slightly but it’s intended to be a very simple set up. You can see my intake is just an elbow. I don’t foresee it grabbing any fish but worse case they make it to sump or worse they clog it. I may need a strainer.

Lifegard makes a fantastic low profile strainer!

 

[jdpeters]

I did the same with a 20g long tank for my sump. Three pieces of glass siliconed in for a bubble trap/ baffle to make two chambers. My only regret is that I put the baffle in the middle of the tank making two equal sized chambers. I wish I would've only made the return pump section just big enough to fit the pump.

Everytime I do something I learn for the next project. Thankfully this is just a side project for my fish room, I’m the only one enjoying it

 

[jdpeters]

Nice! I’m sure my plan will evolve slightly but it’s intended to be a very simple set up. You can see my intake is just an elbow. I don’t foresee it grabbing any fish but worse case they make it to sump or worse they clog it. I may need a strainer.

Lifegard makes a fantastic low profile strainer!

I will look it up. It’s probably wise if I have any fish that could clog it, I have no emergency. I’m sure I could make a weir with hdpe or acrylic but I’m gonna see what I can get away with.