Pics of my sump/refugium design. What do you think??

[little_tuna]

Ok so this is my first saltwater aquarium and my very first sump/ refugium build. Its a 29 gallon tank with a 15 gallon sump/refugium

After searching the web back and forth this is what i decided to do.

Now ill try to see if i can get these pictures loaded. I drew on the tank with dry erase markers and put some white paper behind it so you can see my sketch. Let me know what you think, open to suggestions :D

The sump will be in the cabinets under the main display but as you can see the skimmer is too tall to fit so it will be hanging off the back in the sump. --shown off the side in the pic for reference--

and also tell me if im just being paranoid but the sump will be in the cabinet, and unlike most other stands the cabinet is lifted off the ground which means the sump will be adding more weight on to the tank stand. Will the stand be able to hold the extra 10 gallons or so or should i try to reinforce it somehow???:question:

(baffles will be 8" tall)

 

[ErinCahir]

Looks good! I love your drawing.

 

[little_tuna]

Thank you :mrgreen:

 

[14 gallon nanocube]

Hello looks like you are off to a good start

 

[BL1]

I think your stand should be fine but, if your worried about it you could always reinforce it with some blocks of wood underneath. I think it looks good too but, I would try and make the return section a little bigger, the smaller that section is the more likely your pump is to run dry.

 

[AmberSunrise]

You must be an artist thats some awesome drawings

heehee

 

[SeaBee]

ixnay the sponge in the baffle, you wont need it. Use a sock on the intake from the overflow, it will do the same job, only you will be forced to clean it. Looks good though.

 

[little_tuna]

Yeah i thought about using a sock but hadnt decided yet. Some people seem to like them while others dont. And yeah i didnt know if the sponge was really necessary or not, ive just seen some sumps useing them.

Oh and my thought on the return pump section was that if my overflow was to ever loose syphon some how then my return pump would end up over flowing my main display, right?
So the smaller i make the return pump section the less water the pump would have to fill up my tank.
The only downside im hearing is that i will have to check it often and top it off from the evaporation.

Does that sound right??

How often will i be topping it off?? Like once a week when i water my plants? Or every other day??

Im just paranoid about waking up in the middle of the night to the sound of water dripping on the floor so im trying to think of all the scenarios and avoid them from happening.

 

[bojangles93]

My return section is approximately 4 gallons and I end up having to top off with about three pitchers (not 100% sure of the size but I think its one liter) every other day. remember that your return section is the ONLY place where you will see any evaporation. :twocents:

Good luck

 

[Waddi]

Looking good so far buddy!!
Just one question.......... do you know little_fish on this site?? Any relation?? Hahahahaha ;)

 

[little_fish]

haha, i dont think so!

I dont think i have any relatives in texas, nor have ever seen a little tuna .. . those are some big fishies!!

 

[Bifferwine]

Your drawing looks good! When you plumb it, be sure to drill a small hole at the water line where the water comes out into the display tank. This will stop a reverse siphon from occurring during a power outage.

 

[little_tuna]

Thank you all for your advice.

Much appreciated :mrgreen:

 

[PRC]

+1 Biff. You want to make sure the walls of the baffles aren't so high that if you lose power, the water form the display tank doesn't over flow the sump.

If you drill the hole, that will stop alot of water from coming down to the sump, but you still have to account for the water that is already in the pipes.

I would also consider installing an additional baffle between the chaeto and your return. If you install an additional baffle, and let the water enter the return pump area from the bottom rather than the top, you're going to cut down on air bubbles getting in your display tank.

If the water comes form the top of the baffle to the return, it splashes a little. The splashing produces bubbles which are then sucked up by the return and sent to the display tank. and the additional baffle will quiet the system because there won't be an splashing sound.

 

[little_tuna]

Well i built the sump the other day but I was too paranoid about the stand i had holding the weight of the sump and main display so i returned it. :-(

Good new is that i found a 34 gallon tank with a nice stand on craigslist that has a lot of room in the cabinets for a bigger sump. :mrgreen:

So im going to try to sell the 15 gallon I built on craigslist and make a new 20 gallon for this 34 gallon tank.

And on the even brighter side, I now get to build it even better with all this great advice from all you guys :mrgreen:

Oh and this 29 gallon tank and stand i returned cost me about $280 and I bought this 34 gallon tank and stand for $100 so i saved a lot of money for other equipment :^:

Ill post a pic soon of my new 34 gallon tank

 

[little_fish]

Wohoo on the upgrade AND saving money!

 

[Waddi]

Wohoo on the upgrade AND saving money!

Shame it never works for me!! :grumble:

 

[little_fish]

Me too :(

 

[little_tuna]

In the process of sanding it down to stain it a darker color so itll match the rest of the furniture.

First time doing this so we'll see how it turns out :bowdown:

 

[Tifoez]

That stand is looking good.. anything new with it lately??