I have a 5.5g tank here and was looking at how to place it inside my 29g sump/refugium. It would be nice to use this as my refugium. It's 16 long x 8 wide x 10 tall. I'm thinking setting it in the 29g tank
(possibly on a stand?) I would most likely fill it up with about 8" of sand. Drill it on one end and let the water flow out into the skimmer section.
It would work, but I'm having trouble figuring out how much water I should have in the return section. I'd much rather have a larger sump that would be less effected by a long absence. Trying to figure out a way to use this 29g tank as a sump/refugium, but it just doesn't seam like it's large enough. Maybe it's just me?
I don't want to run it really high. I want to make darn sure it has enough to take up the overflow in the event of power failure.
Look at this picture. With this layout, I'm using the 5.5g tank turned sideways and setting on the bottom of the 29g tank.
Remember, this 5.5 g tank is 16" long and 8" wide. It's 10" tall. The 29g tank is 30" long x 12" wide x 18" tall.
With the 5.5g tank sitting on the bottom of the 29g, there is still 8" of space above it. The skimmer section is going to be 6" wide by 14" . Not sure how high to make the baffles, as I've never done a skimmer like this.
That would give me a 4" x 30" return section. I calculated the cubic inches and it will take 2" of vertical height to get 1g of water in the sump. If I run the skimmer baffles at 8", I could get 4g in the return section.
OR:
I could set that 5.5g tank on a stand. If it was 6" off the bottom of the 29g tank, it would still be 2" from the top of the 29g tank.
An extra 6" of water under that 16 x 8 tank would be an additional 3.25 gallons in my sump. Add that to 4g if I run it 8" deep. 7.25g sump.
Is that big enough? Would it be okay if I just set the 5.5g tank on the bottom and only ran 4g in my sump? I'd still have a BUNCH of room on top in case of a power outage. I doubt it would ever overflow. It would still have a capacity about 22g reserve for an overflow.
Should I go ahead and set the 5.5g on a stand? I'd have about 7.25g in the return section and about 17g reserve for an overflow.
Sorry for all the questions. I'm sure this is old news to most of you. I've just never done it before and I like to plan stuff out before I spend money or modify a piece of equipment permanently.
