Sump design.

Sir Alex

Sir Alex

Dragon the eel (below)
How does this look?


sumpw.jpg
 
You'll want your return pump section larger, since that is where you'll see all the evaporation. Too small, and your pump will by sucking air and running dry frequently.
 
Due to the inconvenient position of the input pipe the skimmer area has to be very large not leaving much room for the other stuff. Can I make the fuge smaller? I'll probably be able to make the skimmer area a couple inches smaller.
 
The input pipe doesn't have to go straight into the sump, you can put a 45 degree elbow in it so the water will come in further to the left of the sump.
 
I won't be able to add a pipe due to a piece that is glued on to the end. I think it's okay. Is this better?


sumpw.jpg
 
I'm going to have to make the baffles smaller because the water level needs to be at about 12". The inside part of the stand is only 30" tall and the protein skimmer is 21" tall, sooo, if I make a 6" stand for the skimmer then the water level would need to be at 12", and there would still be a couple of inches between the top of the skimmer and the stand. The problem with this is that the cuts the volume of the water in the sump in half. It also means that the distance from the light to the chaeto is going to be over a foot. It also means that there's going to be less room for evaporation in the return area. Does anyone have a better idea on how to fit a big protein skimmer in a not so big stand?
 
Why do you need a 6" stand for the skimmer?

Also, it's impossible for you to have the baffles run all the way to the top of the sump. If you did that and your return pump shuts off for some reason, your sump would easily overflow.
 
That still might be a fairly small area for the return pump, but you could make your life a ton easier if you rigged up a small auto top off to keep it filled. That way you won't have to refill that small area as much!
 
BL1 said:
Why do you need a 6" stand for the skimmer?
Click to expand...

The skimmer needs to be in 6" of water. If it's 21" tall and 21 + 6 = 27 then that allows 3" between the top of the skimmer and the roof of the stand. 12" (6" stand + 6" of water that the skimmer is in) is as high as the water level can go without the skimmer being to big. If the water level were higher then the skimmer would have to be higher then it wouldn't fit in the stand.

I calculate that the return area will be about 6 gallons. Is an auto top off worth it? They're kinda expensive. But I do want to be able to leave for a few days without worrying that it's going to run dry...
 
What skimmer are you looking at, Most have a range for the water level and 6" seems pretty low.
 
Reef Octopus Extreme xs-160. It says here that it should be in 6" of water. I have the bigger one in my 110 in 8-1/2" of water. It's says on that website that it should be in 8" of water. It's a bit on the high side now so they obviously aren't exaggerating about the water levels. The water level can't be above the output pipe or it will overflow. So I'm thinking that maybe I could get a longer pipe and put it on there so that the output is higher. Would that work?
 

Similar threads

A
Long green worm with ribbon end ID?
Replies
1
Views
535
Mike
Mike
Mike
We're Back!
Replies
0
Views
649
Mike
Mike
F
New to marine.
Replies
2
Views
1K
kbuser92
kbuser92
Sashimi
75 gallon LPS 2.0 suggestions
Replies
0
Views
2K
Sashimi
Sashimi
Sashimi
75G LPS 2.0
Replies
2
Views
2K
Sashimi
Sashimi
Back
Top