Waterbox Sump Upgrade

[Salty_grl]

Currently running a WB 6025 peninsula tank. 135 gallon display with 45 gallon sump. I want to upgrade the sump to use a Red Sea reef mat 1200 but I’m not into reconfiguring the existing sump. Current sump is 36” long x 20.5” wide x 16” high and includes an ato section.

My plan is to do a separate 10 gallon tank for ato and a 40 gallon breeder for the sump (36x18x16).

I have a number of questions but first, do I need separate chambers for the reef mat and skimmer? They need approximately the same height of water to operate.

Here is a rough (very rough) drawing of my plan. The equipment area is 24” x 18” for the reef mat, skimmer and a reactor.

Second question is about the height of the baffles and whether I just need 1 or a staggered pair to achieve the heights I want in each compartment.

First baffle is the width of the sump at the 24” mark. I want the equipment chamber to have 10” of water. I’m not sure if I can do that with one single baffle due to the different heights of the fuge and return chambers. In the fuge chamber I want about 14” and then the return chamber only needs 8-10” but could be higher.

Appreciate any ideas and feedback you might have so I can get this done correctly.

 

[UncommonSense]

I have a number of questions but first, do I need separate chambers for the reef mat and skimmer? They need approximately the same height of water to operate.

Nope, these should both work in one chamber, though it will be your drain chamber due to this! — you can always put both on a stand or stands to run a higher water level in that chamber!

Second question is about the height of the baffles and whether I just need 1 or a staggered pair to achieve the heights I want in each compartment.

It depends on how you design things… the return chamber can fluctuate wildly… Dam baffles upstream of that will dictate each chamber’s water height! — the sump has to flow with gravity from highest to lowest for the mechanics here to actually function!

This said, your above diagram would call for a higher dang height for the refuge chamber; easiest achieved in this layout by using one full span 10” dam baffle, then adding a several inch lip to it in on the fuge side!

However, your above diagram puts the reefmat (your drain) outside the highest (drain) chamber!

You can redesign to a horizontal 2D sump flow layout if there’s enough space to fit skimmer and reefmat side by side in an 18” width?

 

[Dirtyshoez]

I am not the biggest fan of our sump/cabinet but here is a couple pics of mine.