Critique my sump design.

[surfzone]

here's the drawing to a Sump design that my boss did.

[Snelly40]

niCE

[Devilboy]

I know this thread is old. But what did you find a AGA 40 gallon long with them dimensions?

I want a sump about 36" long also. but cant find a tank that will fit that is 36" they are all too wide.

[waucedah_joe]

Well I finally quit messing around with Google SketchUp and got to actually building the thing. I ended up going with a more conventional design. Drain section with skimmer first, 3 wall bubble trap with the "over" walls being 12" high, then the fuge section followed by a single 10" high wall with eggcrate above it to keep the macro in the fuge.

With the Tunze Ozmolator for ATO I can hold steady level in the sump to under 1/4" variation, so I wasn't too concerned with a waterfall introducing more bubbles but I lowered the last wall so that should the ATO fail I'd still have about a day's worth of evaporation before the level got down to the height of the last wall.

The whole vent thing on the drain line DID NOT WORK. It gurggled, and spit water. Generally making a mess with salt spray. I cut it off and just ran my drain into a filter sock. The sock makes an excellant bubble trap for the drain hose. Really the only bubbles in the return section are from the skimmer output dropping an inch or two to the sump water level and they hardly even make it to the bubble trap. No bubbles get through the trap.

My only regret so far is that I did not get a larger overflow. I figured that 600 gph would be fine but hadn't considered that you can't actually run there as a practical matter. In reality the overflow may indeed pass 600 gph but if you return 601 gph to the display you're going to have a flood. So, you have to run it at less than rated capacity just to be safe. I'll probably add a second overflow in the future.

Here's a photo during construction:



As you can see I stood the tank on edge and positioned the partitions on wood spacer blocks. (up and down are relative to the picture not normal orientation) I dry fit everything and traced the edges of the partitions with a marker on the outside of the tank. Then I started at the bottom by laying a bead of silicone where the lowest partition would be. Then lowered the glass onto the wood blocks then ran another bead of silicone around the top edge. Then I repeated this process stacking the glass on the wood blocks. Only screw up here was leaving in the small block to elevate the middle partition from the bottom of the tank then putting in the next partition. Had a heck of a time getting that out of there.

Here's one with it running. (I've got macro in the fuge now along with some small pieces of live rock and there are pods all over the place.)

[Woodstock]

Very nice! karma to you!

[boozeman]

WOW!!
you did good !!

[lcstorc]

Looks like a first class job! Great going.

[waucedah_joe]

Thanks for the compliments. Not quite sure what the karma thing is but considdering my misspent youth I'm sure I can use all I can get.

[Triggerjay]

I just built a new fuge out of a 29g for my 55g. I kept the fuge area, and the return area pretty shallow, so in case of an accident, the floors dont get wet. It holds 15g of water at normal operating levels. so I have another 14g of "oops" room. I have a CPR 100 overflow with an aqua lifter pump, and a rio 2100 return pump. It would not fit inside my stand, so the tank is moved slightly away from the wall, and the fuge is behind it on the floor. heres a couple pics.. :

skimmer section

return section

this is the fuge section

I think my flow rate is a little high for a fuge, but it seems to work well. I have a gutted skilter 250 HOB on the main display, full of mangroves, one powerhead in the main display, and the rio 2100 for the return for the fuge, and I have no dead spots in the main display. It works very well flow wise for the main display, but may be a bit too much flow for the fuge.. lol.. but it works..The only thing I wish I had of thought out better, is the skimmer section of the fuge the water level is near the top of the tank, and I didnt take into account the skimmer making a "waterfall" over the first wall,.. I found a small plastic basket I hung on the first divider to divert the flow from the skimmer. All is nice and quiet now.

Man I need a background.. Black or blue?


Jason

[vdituri]

I thought it was 50 lashes with a wet caluerpa?

[lcstorc]

Originally Posted by waucedah_joe

Thanks for the compliments. Not quite sure what the karma thing is but considdering my misspent youth I'm sure I can use all I can get.

The karma thing is a way we have of letting someone know they have done a good job or helped you in some way. There is also negative karma, but that is almost never used. To give someone karma, just click the word karma on one of their posts. A box will come up where you check if you approve or disaprove and a place for a comment. Be sure to put your name in the comment. If you don't and they are not a Premium Member or Mod then they won't know who gave it.

[waucedah_joe]

Originally Posted by lcstorc

The karma thing is a way we have of letting someone know they have done a good job or helped you in some way. There is also negative karma, but that is almost never used. To give someone karma, just click the word karma on one of their posts. A box will come up where you check if you approve or disaprove and a place for a comment. Be sure to put your name in the comment. If you don't and they are not a Premium Member or Mod then they won't know who gave it.

I get it now. Thanks again. I hope this is usefull to people out there.

[waucedah_joe]

The final version of the 3-D model is available for download here if anyone's interested.

Saltwater Sump and Refugium by waucedah_joe - Google 3D Warehouse