Making Sump

[banditz18]

Hi! This is my first time posting on here, so thanks for the help in advance. We are up grading from a 55 gal to a 125 gal reef ready tank w/2 overflows. For the 55gal we used a wet/dry filter and are switching to a sump filter w/ live rock for the new tank, so this sump idea is new to us and is confusing me. We are making our own and wanted to make sure we are doing to correctly before we cut the glass tonight. We are using a 30 gal long for the sump 36Lx12Wx16H. The first chamber will be 12” long & will include the protein skimmer. The 1st baffle will be 12”H, then a 1” space, then a 13”H baffle that is 1” off the bottom, then a 1” space followed by another 12”H baffle. (a bubble trap) The next chamber will be 12”L with crushed coral. We may eventually add a light to this chamber to make it a referuim(sp). The next/last baffle will be 10”H & lead to the return section. We are using an external pump (about 1100gph). I know the last chamber will only be 9”L but I’m not worried about having to replace water due to evaporation b/c we will have one of those auto topping off things. Does this sound like it will work? Or should we change something? Also, when we are gluing in the baffles w/silicone, do we need to put silicone on the bottom or just the 2 sides?

 

[Chichas01]

Sounds like you got it. I built my sump the pretty much the same way. One thing to note, you only need you middle baffle (the one an inch off the bottom) to be 12"Xyour_tank_width" as well. Not sure if you mean that you might be making the baffle 13" tall. It's going to sit an inch higher than the first one so it will already be at 13" off the bottom. Water level in your intake section is only going to go as high as the first baffle.

Don't use crushed coral. It will trap all kinds of detritus. Use some fine grade oolitic sand if you want sand/substrate in there.

Oh yeah, and welcome to RF!!

 

[banditz18]

Thanks! Another quick question -
when we are gluing in the baffles w/silicone, do we need to put silicone on the bottom or just the 2 sides?

 

[roblou]

I believe you'll want to silicone the bottom as well. That way, you'll force the water to flow over the top of the baffles. Without, I'd assume some amount of water would flow under the baffles, which may not impact too much, but I'd just take care of it while you're already siliconing the sides.

My 2 cents...

Rob

 

[Chichas01]

yeah silicone all contact points. One tip, See if you can find one of those tile grout/sealant tools that make make the job look extra sharp. i tried to make my own out of a credit card and it sorta worked. Oh well so it's a little messy. You hardly see it under the tank

You sure you don't want to remote the fuge to a seperate tank? It will work for you the way your doing it, but you get better benefits the bigger the fuge gets.

 

[kendog261]

try this for some info on sumps it helped me out when I built mine

http://www.melevsreef.com/allmysumps.html