yet another... sump question.. duh duh duuuuhhh

[althea2you]

ok... when designing your sump(well mine actually ) i am having some questions... i am having the water level be about 9"...the tank is 16" high. now, it goes a little something like this..

water comes down to the intake part of the sump(bubble box thing) and fills the Skimmer portion,---> then flows over the first baffle (9" high)---> under the next baffle( any specification on how high this baffle should be off the floor of the sump?) ---->then over the third baffle into the Refugium( is this baffle recommended to be the same height as the first baffle? or lower?) then it flows to the return (should this baffle(with teeth..actually each baffle on each side of the refugium will have teeth)be then lower than the third baffle to keep the flow going through to the return?(or should all the baffles be the same height?))

our design so far is with all the baffles the same hight to keep the water level at 9"(except for the center baffle of the bubble trap, that obviously will be higher), should we lower the last 2 baffles some? i have searched the forum and could not find my answer... so any help would be greatly appreciated.. i searched Melev's reef, and other links i saw in my search through here, and could not find a spec chart for baffle height. so if you can answer my red highlighted areas of confusion ...that would ..yes.. be great! lol...tia!

 

[cracker]

Your design sounds good to me. Are You using a 20 gl tank for the sump? The bubble thingy/trap might not be needed 9 inches is good they all should be the same height. the middle baffles 9 inches tall as well but "setoff "the bottom about an inch. I guess the baffles can be in inch apart as well but I like mine set a little wider. The teeth may not be needed . may be on the baffle between the refugium & the return section. This will help catch stuff like macroalgae from running over. sounds like You have the right idea! Consider having all the equipment 1st before fixing the baffles.. this way you get each section sized right.

 

[althea2you]

Your design sounds good to me. Are You using a 20 gl tank for the sump? The bubble thingy/trap might not be needed 9 inches is good they all should be the same height. the middle baffles 9 inches tall as well but "setoff "the bottom about an inch. I guess the baffles can be in inch apart as well but I like mine set a little wider. The teeth may not be needed . may be on the baffle between the refugium & the return section. This will help catch stuff like macroalgae from running over. sounds like You have the right idea! Consider having all the equipment 1st before fixing the baffles.. this way you get each section sized right.

hi cracker! thanks for taking a look at this!. the tank im using is a 30g, 36"L x 12"D x 16" H

we were going to set the bubble trap baffles like 1 and a quarter" apart. and i thought maybe the teeth would be ok, just to deter snails and whatever from trying to creep into the skimmer section. you think its just a preference thing, or really not recommended. teeth will be on the baffle dividing the fuge from the return though, like you said...

and i have all my equipment, and i cut out cardboard to kind of place it and see how it works... so right now i have cardboard baffles! LOL

i was also wondering.. if i wanted to keep a mantis shrimp.. would it be ok in a fuge with 9" of water? or no? i can also throw that Q up on the mantis shrimp club page too if no one knows.

ALSO... sorry, my heater... where would the best place be fore it? should i make room in the return area? or will it be ok in the fuge? and if so.. would a mantis(so many ifs) if i can have one in there...be ok with the heater in its area? hmmm? thanks for any info!!! my husband did a pretty good job designing it, but we were unsure of the baffle heights, for flow reasons. do people use powerheads in the sump to move the water?

 

[cracker]

Your welcome & Thanks for asking! Others around here know far more than I do. The 30gl will give you plenty of room for sure! I don't use teeth cause they are a pita to cut is all .LOL I have used cardboard baffles to. I don't know anything about "keeping" manits shrimp. We use them for Redfish bait around here. I won't post that in the mantis club forum LOL As for powerheads, I think seeing how your water will enter at one end & exit at the other your return pump will move the water for You. I think some use other pumps to divert water in another direction or to create more flow in a remote refugium. Show us some pics of the progress. It's in the contract page 4 at the bottom ,small print. pict required LOL I think the heater will be ok with the Mantis. Ya know I heard that over at the crab haters forum ,they keep mantis just so they can feed it crabs they catch. LOL.

 

[tbittner]

I would put the heaters in the first section where the water enters your sump. I wouldn't put it in the fuge section because you don't want macro algae growing around it.

There will be plenty of flow through the sump so you don't need powerheads in the sump.

 

[prow]

ooppps double post..........

 

[prow]

ok... when designing your sump(well mine actually ) i am having some questions... i am having the water level be about 9"...the tank is 16" high. now, it goes a little something like this..

:snshne:

water comes down to the intake part of the sump(bubble box thing) and fills the Skimmer portion,---> then flows over the first baffle (9" high)---> under the next baffle( any specification on how high this baffle should be off the floor of the sump?)

the more space there is the less velocity the water will have=less likely to carry/suck air/mirco bubbles through the sump.

---->then over the third baffle into the Refugium( is this baffle recommended to be the same height as the first baffle? or lower?)

either way really but a little lower works out better, IMO, keeps the film forming on the water surface, kinda like surface sikmming in the sump itself

then it flows to the return (should this baffle(with teeth..actually each baffle on each side of the refugium will have teeth)be then lower than the third baffle to keep the flow going through to the return?(or should all the baffles be the same height?))

same as above

our design so far is with all the baffles the same hight to keep the water level at 9"(except for the center baffle of the bubble trap, that obviously will be higher), should we lower the last 2 baffles some?

up to you. it will still serve its purpose either way. one thing if all the baffels are the same size add about a 1/2-1" on the water levels as it rises to flow over the baffles. i also like the baffles to go a progressively lower to give my auto topoff some play and because i top off with lime water i like the lowering of teh baffles so it drips in a high flow/velocity water flow area.

i have searched the forum and could not find my answer... so any help would be greatly appreciated.. i searched Melev's reef, and other links i saw in my search through here, and could not find a spec chart for baffle height. so if you can answer my red highlighted areas of confusion ...that would ..yes.. be great! lol...tia!

not sure if i answered anything but gave some food for thought

we were going to set the bubble trap baffles like 1 and a quarter" apart. and i thought maybe the teeth would be ok, just to deter snails and whatever from trying to creep into the skimmer section.

the teeth will likely get full of algae and/or other stuff clogging up and altering the flow. if you keep clean, no big, its all good.

you think its just a preference thing, or really not recommended. teeth will be on the baffle dividing the fuge from the return though, like you said...

more preference than anything else.

and i have all my equipment, and i cut out cardboard to kind of place it and see how it works... so right now i have cardboard baffles! LOL

:invisible

i was also wondering.. if i wanted to keep a mantis shrimp.. would it be ok in a fuge with 9" of water? or no? i can also throw that Q up on the mantis shrimp club page too if no one knows.

sure that will be fine but the refugium will not be much of a refgium, only for macros, nothing else that makes it down there will live very long.

ALSO... sorry, my heater... where would the best place be fore it? should i make room in the return area? or will it be ok in the fuge? and if so.. would a mantis(so many ifs) if i can have one in there...be ok with the heater in its area? hmmm? thanks for any info!!! my husband did a pretty good job designing it, but we were unsure of the baffle heights,

yeah, the heater can go anywhere as long as it stays under the water line where some flow is.

for flow reasons. do people use powerheads in the sump to move the water?

yup, i do that because my cheato likes it

 

[althea2you]

ok! i think i will go ahead and put it in the fuge are... i will just have to make sure the cheato or whatever stays clear.... thank you T and Prow and Cracker!!! i really appreciate it! you guys helped!!! i bought the acrylic today and we got a Dremmel with quite a few different attachments, for fragging n stuff, if i ever get there!! thanks for the food for thought!!! good stuff!

on a side note...

i kinda feel like....my skimmer is doing a pointless thing here... its the nautilus TE and it skims. and then goes right back into the intake area, it doesnt have a tube or anything that dumps the freshly skimmed water into the fuge...is there anyway to fix this or is this just how this skimmer works?

 

[prow]

dont worry about that, the water will mix with the skimmed water. it kinda helps, acts like a recirculatioin mod with out the mod, kinda

 

[althea2you]

ok thanks!

...alright! today we begin!!! i may have a finished product tonight!!!

 

[prow]

:chair:
nice, ok i am ready for some pics

 

[lcstorc]

It is actually good to have unskimmed water going into the fuge. This will allow more of the food to get to the fuge to grow pods, macro, etc.

 

[JoJo]

along for the ride. great start Althea

 

[althea2you]

ok, here is the cardboard stage... right now we have 2 baffles in...wow what a PITA!!!!!

lol...

 

[althea2you]

:chair:
nice, ok i am ready for some pics

ok! you got it!

 

[althea2you]

It is actually good to have unskimmed water going into the fuge. This will allow more of the food to get to the fuge to grow pods, macro, etc.

cool! thanks! i feel better about it after this thred for sure... i was like...??? isnt that pointless?!

 

[althea2you]

along for the ride. great start Althea

thanks JoJo!!! i hope this all works! im a worry wart, or a pessimist, whatever.. tomato tomata!