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View Full Version : Feedback on sump design


asylumdown
05-10-2011, 06:52 PM
I've been planning how the sump for my next tank will work, and I'm wondering if anyone here has any input.

The tank will be 34 inches wide and 72 inches long, so the cabinet underneath will be nearly a foot wider than most standard tanks. The cabinet also has a drain directly to the sewer and the water supply to the tank will be plumbed right in to the house. The goal is to never need to do another manual water change using buckets with siphons, so I'm thinking of a design for the sump that will allow me to isolate one half of the sump from the main flow of the aquarium, drain it using a pump, add salt & fresh water, mix, then return to the flow of the aquarium. I've included very crude, not to scale drawings of the cabinet and the sump itself and I would love any feedback.

Here's the cabinet, the R/O reservoir is in the basement, so the auto-top off feed line won't take up any floor space:
http://i1100.photobucket.com/albums/g411/asylumdown/IMG_1090.jpg

The sump itself:

In theory, the water will flow from the tank in to the main sump, then through the skimmer chamber (I have placed these both at the front of the sump as I will need to access them often to change filter socks and clean the skimmer cup), then through a large gate valve (gate valve 1) to the secondary sump, where it will pass through the media/reactors. The water will then move to the back of the secondary sump and will return to the main sump in to the refugium area through another large gate valve (gate valve 2). Following that, it will be returned to the main display, either through one large return pump that can feed both return lines (maybe one that alternates which return line it sends to?), or via a dedicated return pump for each return line. As you showed initially, I've got the return pump being external to the sump. When it comes time to do a water change, I will kill the power to the auto-top off unit and any reactors in the secondary sump and close gate valve 1. This will cause the water level in the skimmer chamber (or if space allows, a second chamber downstream of the skimmer as I'd like the water level in the skimmer chamber to remain relatively constant if possible) to rise until it pours over a cut out in the baffle between that chamber and the refugium. This will effectively divert the flow of water from the secondary sump and act as the alternate water path that keeps water flowing through the main sump while water changes are taking place. I can then close gate valve 2, completely isolating the secondary sump from the rest of the system. This will allow me to drain the secondary sump to the sewer via a drainage pump that will reside in the secondary sump chamber, restore power to the auto-top off (which will then fill the secondary sump with fresh RO water), add and mix salt, then re-open the gate valves. This preserves system volume, while eliminating the need for a second salt mixing container. Ideally, the secondary sump will hold between 50-60 gallons of water, as I'd like to be able to do water changes of 20% of display volume in one go, however I recognize that space is at a premium so if it needs to be smaller I can just do more regular, smaller water changes.

http://i1100.photobucket.com/albums/g411/asylumdown/Sumpdesign.jpg

Any thoughts?

RuGlu6
05-10-2011, 11:37 PM
http://www.melevsreef.com/allmysumps.html
Look on the right of the page, there about 14 different sumps