Finished my DIY Sump/Refugium. Need some feedback

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Just make sure when it`s running that it leaves you enough room for the back flow if the power goes off. Or dreill a small hole in the return line at the top. I dont have hole drilled in mine but my refuge handles the backflow.

The only thing I see has already been covered. I like the media shelve you put in.

I have a 55 gallon that I turned into a sump.

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That was the whole idea, I want a slower flow rate thru the refugium where the microalgae is going to reside while the flow rate is going to be faster through the skimmer section. Note, the flow rates will be fully adjustable via each valve, one on the skimmer side and the other on the fuge side.


good luck with that.(y)
 
The only thing I see has already been covered. I like the media shelve you put in.

I have a 55 gallon that I turned into a sump.

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View attachment 21197
Hey, that looks familiar. LOL. Nice looking job BigMike(y). If I'm looking at it correctly the fuge is on the right, return in the middle and main intake/skimmer compartment on the left. I noticed that when I did my test fill that the water flowing from the fuge side created a good amount of bubbles which made me glad I added the bubble trap on that side as well. when you test yours keep a look out for the bubbles, the water is falling pretty far. The media shelf was one of those on the fly changes I made, I needed a place for my stuff in case I decide to retire my 2080.

Is that black egg crate at the top of the fuge baffle to keep everything in there, if it is where can I get it?
 
Is that black egg crate at the top of the fuge baffle to keep everything in there, if it is where can I get it?

That is what its for. Should stop any microalgae from flowing out of your fuge.

BLACK 2' x 2' Squares of Egg crate Bulk Reef Supply

It is a little higher then regular egg crate, but if you order anything else from BRS it is a nice pickup.

With slower flow rate going into fuge and a 90 half way in your waterline you shouldn't have microbubbles. The air should come out the top of the 90 that is not in the water.
 
That is what its for. Should stop any microalgae from flowing out of your fuge.

BLACK 2' x 2' Squares of Egg crate Bulk Reef Supply

It is a little higher then regular egg crate, but if you order anything else from BRS it is a nice pickup.

With slower flow rate going into fuge and a 90 half way in your waterline you shouldn't have microbubbles. The air should come out the top of the 90 that is not in the water.
Thanks for the info on the black egg crate. I was talking about when the water goes over the fuge baffle into your return chamber, when the water into the return water it creates bubbles. Maybe it's negligible but it's what I saw during my test at the sink.
 
Like you stated without the bubble trap yours would have had a long fall to the return section. Mine is only a 3 inch fall to my return section. The distance is what causes those bubbles.
 
Like you stated without the bubble trap yours would have had a long fall to the return section. Mine is only a 3 inch fall to my return section. The distance is what causes those bubbles.
Oops, i didn't notice the height difference in the photo, my bad. My difference is about 5 inches. I'm in the middle of attempting a DIY PVC overflow, I should have it completed in a 1/2 hour and am going to test it with two 17 gallon containers outside.
 
What's wrong with a straight siphon?

I was testing out several pvc overflow configurations and found the flow to be horrible, went to a straight siphon and it works great with plenty of flow into my test setup in the yard. Is there anything wrong with using a straight siphon? To me it's very simple and works.
 
If you do take on this project you better get your calculations nailed down because a 1" pipe gravity fed will allow a flow rate of 16gpm or 996gph, this will make a mess in hurry. As far as the caulking goes the only baffles that are siliconed 100% on both sides are first ones on each side the other baffles I pressed the silicone in with my finger on the side that was accessible so it would go thru to the other side just a tiny bit because trying to get in there to smooth it out is not happening.

BTW, that sump is in nasty shape.

That makes sense. What about at the bottom? Do you just put in a thick bead or do you round the corner of the interior pane and try to get it as close to the bottom of the tank to get a smaller seal?

It seems to me that if you set the sump in place with the DT level at the bottom of the overflow, so no water is running through it, then fill up the sump all the way and fire it up, you will never have a problem with the sump overflowing if the power goes out. Is there something I'm missing in that logic? Newbie to SW for please forgive my ignorance.
 
I was testing out several pvc overflow configurations and found the flow to be horrible, went to a straight siphon and it works great with plenty of flow into my test setup in the yard. Is there anything wrong with using a straight siphon? To me it's very simple and works.

Just from reading: Straight siphon you have a full siphon effect and I think that they are louder. HOB overflows use these but they are slowed down by U tube or passage.

Please if someone has used this method I would like to hear about it too.
 
"It seems to me that if you set the sump in place with the DT level at the bottom of the overflow, so no water is running through it, then fill up the sump all the way and fire it up, you will never have a problem with the sump overflowing if the power goes out. Is there something I'm missing in that logic? Newbie to SW for please forgive my ignorance."
To answer that question, it would depend on the flow rate of your return pump. If it pushed to much water into the DT it would overflow from the DT. If it's the other way around then the sump might overflow.I may be wrong in this logic,but that's why I call it a hobby...it's a learning thing.......
 
as long as you do an overflow and dont have a line coming off the bottom of the tank in to the sump, there is no logical way for it to overflow... im in the "planning" stage of building my wet/dry from a 55g tank, i plan on using 2" pvc... the only way water is going to come from the tank to the sump is by water being pushed from the sump to the tank... the overflow will be set just right so that only water pumped up from the sump to the tank will come back down the overflow... so unless the overflow clogs up, there is no way anything will overflow...
 
Update on plumbing

I started the plumbing today and chose to go with a straight siphon. I got about 90% done today, the only thing left to do is drill holes in the main and fuge intake pipes and set the return and intake to the correct depth.. Here are some pics of my progress. Also had to relocate my eheim outside the tank otherwise I wouldn't be able to get it out if something were to happen with it.

The Eheims new home, Poor guy:(
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The other pics
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please post pics of your "straight siphon".
if its what i think youre talking about, it is a VERY bad idea.
hopefully i am wrong.
 
OK, got to ask what is the blue line and valve for?

With your drains like that wouldn't it cause alot of back pressure?
The blue valve is to start the siphon. Not sure exactly what you mean by back pressure?
 
please post pics of your "straight siphon".
if its what i think youre talking about, it is a VERY bad idea.
hopefully i am wrong.
I haven't completed the pickup in the DT yet, but is going to operate as a direct U tube from tank to sump via the manifold so i can independently control the flow into each compartment. Here is a pic of the DT intake which may change to a straight down tube with a siphon break.

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To answer that question, it would depend on the flow rate of your return pump. If it pushed to much water into the DT it would overflow from the DT. If it's the other way around then the sump might overflow.I may be wrong in this logic,but that's why I call it a hobby...it's a learning thing.......

Hmmm...I would think that if you were using a DT with w built-in overflow, whatever levels your DT and sump were at would eventually reach a natural equilibrium if there was only enough water to keep the sump full w/no power and not enough in the sump to overflow the DT if the overflow got clogged and the sump drained to it's minimal level for any reason. Of course, you could never have your DT completely full, and that's the problem. But it would only be a problem if your overflow line got clogged - snail example is a good one, I talked to someone who had that exact problem and took apart the whole tank before figuring it out.
 
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