7mo New to Salt! Help with Sump

Krch10

New Member
Good afternoon, 7mo newbie to salt and frustrated beyond what I can handle. Received poor info from LFS and have been trying to correct. Currently dealing with my sump, need advice.

Bought 3 compartment Sump from LFS because wanted to do a refugium at some point. When researching, most sumps have water going over baffles from compartment to compartment then “under/over” to the return pump. My sump was design to have a 1/2” gap, about 2” up on the first baffle, so no water actually goes over. Water goes under into the “fugue”, then under again to the return pump. Problem now is I’m getting scum on top because there is no flow.

Should I block the 1/2” gap and then cut down the baffle so the water runs over from 1st to 2nd compartment? Or is this design ok?

♂️
 

Krch10

New Member
Good afternoon, 7mo newbie to salt and frustrated beyond what I can handle. Received poor info from LFS and have been trying to correct. Currently dealing with my sump, need advice.

Bought 3 compartment Sump from LFS because wanted to do a refugium at some point. When researching, most sumps have water going over baffles from compartment to compartment then “under/over” to the return pump. My sump was design to have a 1/2” gap, about 2” up on the first baffle, so no water actually goes over. Water goes under into the “fugue”, then under again to the return pump. Problem now is I’m getting scum on top because there is no flow.

Should I block the 1/2” gap and then cut down the baffle so the water runs over from 1st to 2nd compartment? Or is this design ok?

‍[emoji3603]
Hmm



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StirCrayzy

Well-Known Member
Im guessing if you bought this as a manufactured off the shelf sump, then there should be a way to make it functional without modification. Please post the model # and some details about your equipment & setup that might help us figure out whats going wrong.
 

Krch10

New Member
The LFS has these specially made for them so it’s not a brand name or model. But here are some pics. You’ll see the space in the first divider , so
All of the water is moving “underneath” and nothing is going over

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04e053215dcfcc120cfdc8fd53367066.jpg
7317be3e1da1dfd861bb7226cbafd56b.jpg



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DaveK

Well-Known Member
Could you post a picture of the entire sump, so we can see what the water flow is supposed to be? I suspect your sump flow is correct for the design, but I can't be sure.

The baffles installed with the water flowing over and under them is done to create bubble traps or to create a constant level of water in that part of the sump. This is only needed with you have s source of fine bubbles, such as a skimmer, or flow from the display tank. If you don't have a problem with bubbles, you don't need a bubble trap. If you don't need to maintain a constant level of water you don't need a baffle.

The scum on the water surface is not a serious issue. You can remove it by laying a paper towel on the surface of the water and then removing the parer towel. You could also add an air stone or small pump to break the water's surface. If left alone in time it will usually go away.
 

Krch10

New Member
Here is the entire sump. One issue I’m having is I can’t get my skimmer tuned in, but I think it’s because I can’t keep the water level consistent. The first two compartments will drop in levels until they get as low as the 3rd bafffle.
ca5ae7067e1534d7e5dbe7ec6a2a1b6e.jpg



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DaveK

Well-Known Member
I can see what is going on now. Thanks. You have too much water in your system. Drop the level down until the water is flowing over the short baffle and the water level in the return area is below that. This will keep the water level constant in the sump and refugium areas.

You do have one issue here, the return area that contains the pump is very small. Since all evaporation from the system will show up here, it's very easy for the return area to get so low that the return pump sucks air. To prevent this an ATO (Automatic Top Off) is highly recommended. (yea, I know, something else you need to spend money on)

With the water level constant, getting the skimmer regulated should be easy.

Anothe thing to consider. You don't want light getting into the skimmer area or the return pump area. You might want to make something to block the light to those areas.
 

Krch10

New Member
Thanks, made the changes and it is running good now, top of the fudge is moving now. Will also try to contain the light, thanks for catching that.

In regards to the ATO, I have no idea where I would fit a reservoir container. The planning that needs to go into Salt is ridiculous and I was lucky enough to find a sump that fit! What do you think the smallest size container I could live with (in gallons).

Thanks again, really do appreciate the help
And guidance.


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DaveK

Well-Known Member
You really don't have much room under your tank. What I'd do for an ATO is to get something like the Tunze Osmolator. See it here (offsite) - https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/tunze-osmolator-universal-3155-auto-top-off.html Then use a 5 gal bucket or larger container to hold the ATO water. If you don't like the look of the bucket, you can build a box around it to make it look nice.

A reef system can evaporate a lot of water. Mine can evaporate about 2 gal a day. So you want to have a large enough suppy so you don't need to mess with it all the time.
 
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