Sump questions.. need advice

[One_Divided]

I don't know how crutial this is, but I want to be safe and check with you guys. I'm making my own sump for the 50 gal. I need some recommendations on a few parameters..

I am trying to figure out how high/low to put the dividers on each side..



The skimmer is running on a mag 7 and will be returning from the left, to the main chamber. The eggcrate will be covered in frags eventually.
There will be about a 3-4 inch sand bed around 3-4" below the eggcrate. The entire sump is 13 inches high.

Thanks in advance for any help!

[Canadian Man]

well if your current design is to scale then the water level in your sump will be as high as the two lowest dividers. so if you put frags on the eggcrate they will be out of the water.

[titus]

Hello,

No that's not true. Water level can be set by higher and maintained with an auto top off unit.

[Canadian Man]

Ahhh yes titus is correct.
i sat here for 10 minutes staring at the diagram and now it makes sense.

[One_Divided]

yes, I forgot to mention that there will be a float switch incorperated in to here somewhere..

the sump dimentions are 30lx13hx16w.

Is the picture a safe way to approah this, or should I make the inner partitions extend 3" beyond the eggcrate to make sure there's enough water when I do a water change??

This is a pretty simple sump design, but I've neevr done a sump before so I want to make sure I don't regret anything..

[fishboy]

Here's a pic of my sump. Kind of the same idea.
Dimensions are 15"D x 29"L x 14"H. The baffels on the right are 9 1/2" high. Mine flows right to left. I find if I run the water level higher than the baffles that I get a scum build up on the surface. Letting the water drop a bit takes care of it. The box on the top left is for r/o water top off. One problem is i need to keep an eye on the water level for the return pump(left hand side) so it doesn't run dry. If I did another one I would make that compartment bigger. Hope that helps.



[ 08 April 2002, 20:15: Message edited by: fishboy ]

[titus]

Hello,

You can take a look at a sump I just made at:
Sump

It's the 2nd one down.

[Canadian]

Adam, without using your shortest lengths of partitioning (is that a word? [img]smile.gif[/img] ) as a means to control bubbles then you're likely to end up with bubbles getting back into your main tank. i.e. filling the sump up past the lowest baffles will not help with a bubble situation.

Furthermore, by not controlling the depth of the water with baffles you're going to have fluctuating water levels feeding your skimmer pump. This will result in varying water pressures and varying ouput by your skimmer. For this reason, I suggest that whenever a sump is built that the water level where the skimmer feed pump is housed remain as constant as possible.

*Warning - I've been doing homework for 8-10 hours a day every day (on top of going to school) for the last week so it's entirely possible that something I've written above could be totally incoherent and/or inaccurate.

[One_Divided]

Ahh this is starting to seem more complicated then I imagined heheh. I am not terribly concerned about bubbles. All I care about is that the pumps on each side are are separated off from the sandbed and that the water level throughout the whole sump remains relatively constant from chamber to chamber. I'm thinking in this case, that the outer baffles could be relatively short and the lower baffles (housing the sand bed) will come up higher.

fishboy, I wish I could see the pic of you sump, but whatever I try, it won't work.. can't get to your website either..

Titus, what is the purpose of the drip trays or whatever they are? seems a little complicated for me heheh.

Andrew, that was a concern about the skimmer becuase it would be pumping in to a separate chamber. Yet if it was in the same chamber as the pump, it would be inefficient... circulating the same water. I think it would be ok if the water level was lower in the left chamber since it will contantly be being filled.

[One_Divided]

I wonder if this would even work.. simple as it is.. maybe a powerhead across the surface as well to provide for more circulation.