Building a new sump

[Sniperhank]

Ok, I want to get rolling on my new DIY project. I'm thinking about a 20 gallon long for the sump. My mother does stained glass, so she has a glass supplier. Do you think that some of the glass sheets from there would work as baffles or would it be too thin? I haven't really started the investigation on that part yet. Hard enough to get a cheap tank up here.

My plans for in the sump are as follows:

• Recreation of my refugium
• housing my protein skimmer, heater, uv sterilizer, and anything else i can think of tossing in that I might not need
• DIY algae scrubber - the next DIY project. Since reading about them I have to have one now
• Pump for my dual reactor to remove the reason my plumbing lost siphon (T-off)

Think there will be enough room in a 20 long for all this? I'll be honest, it is alot of stuff and probably overkill at this point, but after ordering my JBJ ATO today this project needs to get off the ground.

 

[somethingsfishy]

The baffles dont hold much weigh so the don't need to be that thick. What size tank is his sump for? I have a 20 long and will upgrade to a longer for the extra space. I'd say to set up a dry version to make sure everything is going to fit.

 

[Sniperhank]

55 gallon dt.

 

[somethingsfishy]

That's a good size volume wise. Do you have all the equipment to do a trial setup. Also with the algae scrubber, are you going to use the overflow or a second pump?

 

[Sniperhank]

Ok, it seems to be impossible to get a 20 long in the middle of western pa. If I can't stumble upon one in Petco or walmart, then I'll prob have to settle for a reg sized one.

 

[Sniperhank]

Found a 20 long and started drawing up how i want things. Fuge will be in the middle. My only unsure piece is the algae scrubber. Considering running it off of the return from my dual reactor...but that might not cause enough nutrients for the algae making that useless. I also need to find the lighting for this scrubber. I want to enclose the system in maybe blackened out acrylic or something...i know how to get the scrubber going just not prevent my living room glowing between the scrubber light and fuge light.

Im looking at making the 3 sections as close to 10 inches as possible. Having exact measurements is impossible as im in a meeting and work basically til 3pm tomorrow. When i get home ill be measuring to see if i can i can get this system in my stand. If i can forget making some of the complicated stuff to hide lighting. Going to require modification either way, the biggest issue would be getting the tank in there as the doors are so small.

 

[Sniperhank]

My plans.

 

[Hondatek]

IMO using the reactor and the scrubber is like beating a dead horse lol. I think once your scrubber is established the reactor isn't going to be doing much if it does anything at all except just another piece of equipment to maintain. Within about 3 weeks of my scrubber install I went from 80 nitrates to in between 5 and 10. They are very efficient .you also won't be able to keep macro algae alive in your fuge with a scrubber so it isn't needed

 

[somethingsfishy]

Wouldn't the scrubber also replace the skimmer? You could forgo the reactors and the skimmer and just use the pump to provide water for the scrubber i think. Thus needing less room. I'm no expert on scrubbers though.

 

[Hondatek]

Most people who have scrubbers don't have skimmers. I'm using mine still because my tank is a predator fish tank. They do 2 different things though. Skimmer removed dissolved organics before they turn into nitrate and scrubber just soaks up nitrate after the fact. If my skimmer ever should stop producing i plan to remove it.

 

[Sniperhank]

Well, the skimmer and reactor already exist. Maybe the scrubber can go onto my 36 at some point...owell we'll see later on.

I'm mostly interested in the baffles on this setup. I want a trickle down into the fuge...so I'm not sure why I drew it up with a 9 inch baffle on each side...the one going into the return chamber would need to be lower, I was thinknig 8 inches?

 

[Hondatek]

Not sure on this but isn't the flow thru the sump going to be determined by your return pump? If you keep both baffles at 9 inches it would still work but I would think the flow in the fuge would be close to nothing. But on the other hand if that is correct you can get a small adjustable power head to tumble your cheato to your liking.

 

[Sniperhank]

When I say trickle, I mean that I'm looking for water to fall down into the fuge rather than its speed. But that actually isn't a bad idea...I do have a small korallia 550 I could put in there, but it might be a tad much. Not spending more money is the key to this project. Why I'm not just running the scrubber since I already have a dual reactor, skimmer, and cheato'd fuge.

 

[Hondatek]

O I think I gotcha you wanted to run off from the scrubber to drain into the fuge? I understand not wanting to just take your reactor or skimmer off. I was highly upset when I had to cut all the baffles out of my sump that I worked so hard on lol.

 

[Sniperhank]

Well, my skimmer is a garbage seaclone. I'd replace that stupid thing in a heartbeat. I have it so I use it. Does an OK job for the time being.

 

[Hondatek]

Haha I had one a while ago. Best thing i did with it was take it out back and smash it. I'll be interested to see how you get the trickle that you want.

 

[Sniperhank]

Here is an image of the waterfall effect I was talking about.
Google Image Result for http://www.fishtanksdirect.com/ProductImages/refugium45-large.jpg

I'll have an updated plan up in a second once it uploads. My shipment arrived today so the project is getting started tomorrow once I get the tank/supplies. Think I should paint the baffles between my fuge black?

 

[Sniperhank]

 

[Hondatek]

I wouldn't paint anything in the sump. Too risky for me. The new layout looks fine. The only thing I dont like is the heater in the return section. But since you have an ato I think it will be ok.

 

[Sniperhank]

It can go into any section in reality. With 10 inch sections I should be able to lay it down rather than have it standing up, which is how I had it in my current setup. Will be going to get the stuff after work to start the build. Hopefully I have enough PVC leftover!