Sump issues

[scuttlebut]

The tank I'm using to make my sump is 31" x 14" x 17" and my skimmer's footprint requires 10" of the 31". That leaves 21" to be divided between the refugium, return and baffles. How much capacity do I need for the refugium / return? My pump will fit in an area 4" wide but in my opinion that is not enough capacity, not to mention overflow if it looses power. Any suggestion?

I guess I need to mention the display tank is a 90 using two 1" drains and the pump is 900 gph.

 

[91YOTA]

do you have an ato? if so i would say make the fuge as large as possible and the return section ~5-6" wide to hold the return pump... just leave the baffles a little short from the top so that the whole footprint of the sump can absorb the overflow in cse of power outage....do you know how many gllons will drain from the display if you lose power?

 

[scuttlebut]

Just getting started with this project and I'm having the tank drilled this week. It was not a reef ready tank. Not sure exactly how much will drain. The drains (2) are going in the back of the tank and (1) return and should flow about 800 gpm maybe a little more. I'm sure I will have to make and ATO but have not reached that stage yet. Is there an advantage of having a bubble trap between the skimmer and fuge vs. the fuge and return?

 

[91YOTA]

tha main thing is keeping bubbles out of the return area... the skimmer shouldnt care about bubbles really and depending on the skimmer it might let out some bubbles anyway... just put a bubble trap before the return pump

 

[Krish]

The tank I'm using to make my sump is 31" x 14" x 17" and my skimmer's footprint requires 10" of the 31". That leaves 21" to be divided between the refugium, return and baffles. How much capacity do I need for the refugium / return? My pump will fit in an area 4" wide but in my opinion that is not enough capacity, not to mention overflow if it looses power. Any suggestion?

I guess I need to mention the display tank is a 90 using two 1" drains and the pump is 900 gph.

What do you plan to keep in the fuge that would require the space? Live rock? A sand bed? A maro algae etc? If more space is required than what you have left after the skimmer, you could quite possibly add on a section as I've done before if you have the space in your stand, or like some some of the others, you can plumb two tanks/sumps together to work as one sump. In addition, if you have the space as well, there are always those hang on CPR refugiums that you can use as well. I'll see if I can grab you a few pics/links to show you what I mean incase it may help some. Give me a few

 

[Krish]

K...This is what I did to expand my sump for more water volume. The two seperate pieces I was using were made from acrylic, but I'm sure something similar can be done with glass.

Existing sump




New chamber





Where the new chamber will sit in relation to the sump









I cut a hole it both the new piece and the sump in the exact same spot.







I slipped the 2 pieces under the stand sealed it up real good and clamped it and installed the bulkhead







Finished product.





Then there are other ways to do the same thing like what Tony did here using 2 tanks. Look at post # 21

http://www.reeffrontiers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=11834&page=2


Also, this website shows a few ways to join 2 tanks

http://www.wetdryfilter.com/special_requests.htm

Lastly, this page will take you to a sponsors website to a page that has a list of different hang on refugiums that possibly you can use. They can either hang on yourt tank or your sump.

http://www.premiumaquatics.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Category_Code=Special


Just a few thoughts incase you had the space and would like to add on for more space for your refugium. 21 inches shared with baffles, a return pump chamber and a refugium surely doesn't leave much room for a fuge so hopefully one of these ideas may help