Sump design, why so many chambers?
 

Making a slow crawl to a larger tank with a sump, never having had a sump I always wondered why so many chambers. Other than a refuge and getting rid of micro bubbles is there really a need to divide up a sump and what would the disadvantages be to having a sump with zero baffles?

I only have a single baffle to control water height, leaves me a lot more room for equipment. And easier to clean :)

Clean? You're supposed to clean your sump? lol :D

Duh, of course. Every three years. Mine gets done next month :)

I'm guessing it has something to do with the water level for the skimmer

Exactly. Not required to keep level, but an easy way. If you had auto topoff with a float valve, that would work too.

In my last sump that I built, I use a float valve with my ATO to control water levels for my skimmer, and then just one set of baffles to trap bubbles before the return chamber. Works fine.

Okay this is sounds good. I'm trying to re-define the K.I.S.S. design to the overflow and sump but must be flood proof. The sump will likely be the existing 77 gallon display which is being replaced with a 150. I had some advise to have two 1.5" drains, one main, one emergency and decided on just one return.

My 180 uses dual 1" drains and a single 1" return with a check valve. Works fine. The dual drains are a good idea in case something gets in one. I've had snails, a filefish and a clown all get stuck in one of the drains. The other kept up.

A couple different height levels in the sump does help any debris in the water column to break free and fall to the bottom of the sump as well if you are not using filter socks. As well if you do have a couple different height levels in your sump where the water flows over a baffle it help bad gasses escape and oxygenates the water a bit.

I have a two chamber sump with a bubble trap separating the two chambers.

1. The bubble trap is a life saver with my skimmer because my skimmer likes to occasional spit out bubbles. The B-Trap eliminates said bubbles.

2. I like to float stuff in my sump and it's nice to do that in the non-return chamber so that something doesn't accidentally plug up the return.

3. I find that I get a lot of settling in my non-return chamber vs my return chamber. My return chamber is fairly small so I suspect everything in that chamber gets sucked up and spat back into the tank. In the non-return chamber there's time for stuff to settle at the bottom of the chamber which I can then suck out during water changes.

Two chamber it is. Not big on filter socks for me it would be simpler to give the majority on the sump to the non return side and let crap settle and clean out when needed. The gas exchange is a good point I never thought about.

I'm with you there. I rarely run my filter socks. I'll only throw a sock on after I've done an aggressive cleaning of my rocks with a turkey baster/brush. Aside from that I'm sockless. IMO socks are one step back from K.I.S.S :-)

Exactly, I need to keep in mind that my 20 year old son will be the tank sitter when we are on holidays and the fact he has zero interest in the tank it needs to as simple as possible.

I'm not a big believer in refugiums in sumps, so my sumps are very simple. One side is the skimmer chamber, then 4 baffles for microbubble elimination, then a return chamber. Done.

Sump design, complete...New tank is going to be 48"W x 24"H X 30"D Still waiting for the "okay" on one of two locations for the tank. Wanted an external overflow on one of the ends with it being off set towards the back of the tank and the return on the same end.