Sump build questions

[walkingtall77]

Hey guys. Im new to your site, and just had a couple questions. Im building a 55 gallon sump for my 125 gallon tank. I was wondering what the max baffle height should be? I want the most water as possible. I know i will have to use a skimmer stand to raise it. Also should the baffles all be the same height, oe should they be cut shorter as you get closer to the return. Say the first baffle is 16, then 15, then 14, to create a waterfall effect. Not counting the under baffles. The equipment im looking at is CPR CS90 Overflow Box 600. Its rated for 600 gph, and then I was looking at Current USA eFlux 6009 DC Flow Pump for the return. It is adjustable from 210 - 1050 GPH. I will include a pic of the design if you could help with the baffle sizes. Minus the media reactor line. I dont want that. Thank you so much

 

[T_BONE]

Welcome to R2R! About the only information I can offer on this is that you need to make sure how much water drains from your DT and account for that volume in your sump when you do your baffles. You are going to need that extra volume if you ever have a power outage or return pump failure. The skimmer will require a certain minimum water level to properly operate. Your Baffle before the return section needs to be high enough so that the return pump will not run dry or draw in air. Also if you don’t run a check valve on your ATO you will want a little cushion in volume to account for possible siphon. I hope this helps and be sure to post up a build thread so we can follow along.

 

[cmaxwell39]

Welcome to R2R. Sounds like the start of a great build.

As far as baffle height, as T-Bone mentioned, make sure that you leave enough room for the display to drain. So if your 125 drains 1” from When the return pump is running to when it is not you would need to allow for 5.6 gallons of water in the sump. That would mean that you need 2.25” of space above the waterline in your sump area to allow for that 5.6 gallons.

A good formula to have handy for figuring all of this out is (LxWxH)/231=gallons. LxWXH measurements need to be in inches.

Good luck and keep asking questions. Everyone here is very friendly and willing to help.

 

[Lorenzo Angotti]

Hi welcome to R2R, are you planning to have a auto top up for your sump, as mentioned you want to make sure through water evaporation that your pump does not run dry. As for the baffles I have my first section of my sump the baffle higher my other two sections the same. The reason for having the first baffle higher is if you are planning to have a refugium in the second section you can create some water movement as it trickles down into it. Here is a pict to give you an idea below.

 

[walkingtall77]

Thanks for the help guys. Lorenzo does your sump drain right into the skimmer, or do you have the side section built up for it? I also love the ato built in.
Im thinking of putting the return in the middle, any issues with doing that? I would have the drain section, baffle then skimmer/heater/baffle/return. Then on the return have a T pipe ran over to the refug. With a valve so i can control water flow through the refug. Also i could set the height that I want, as well as allowing for overflow of the display

 

[X-37B]

You really dont need baffles. My 40 breeder for my 120. 7" filter sock, skimmer, heater, return pump, calcium reactor, ato, thats it. Oh, 3 liters of eheim substrate pro in a bag. I had them for quite awhile so threw them in. I run the water height at 6.5". Plenty of room left for tank drainage when I turn the pump off.
Here is a pic. No doors on stand yet.

 

[Lorenzo Angotti]

Thanks for the help guys. Lorenzo does your sump drain right into the skimmer, or do you have the side section built up for it? I also love the ato built in.
Im thinking of putting the return in the middle, any issues with doing that? I would have the drain section, baffle then skimmer/heater/baffle/return. Then on the return have a T pipe ran over to the refug. With a valve so i can control water flow through the refug. Also i could set the height that I want, as well as allowing for overflow of the display

I have the side section built up for it, the drain pipe used to drain in a sock filter which I replaced with a D I Y bottle canister that holds filter media and carbon media the reason for this is it makes it a lot quieter as it is connected directly to the drain pipe by a flange connector have a look below, also I can‘t see the problem with having the return in the middle.