Looking for direction

[Steve silbernagel]

Building a sump/refugium for my 55 gal. I got a empty 10gal. ready to go. Just need to know what direction on equipment and size

 

[fort384]

It will be very difficult to fit all your equipment into a 10 gal. Is there any way you can go larger? The bigger the better, and generally folks will recommend getting the largest sump you can fit under the tank.

What kind of sump are you planning on setting up? Are you looking to put in a fuge as well, or just for equipment?

 

[Steve silbernagel]

Yes I mostly want to run a fug

 

[Steve silbernagel]

I got a 20 tall but I won't have any room to work. I'm currently ruining a aqua clear 110 converted into a mini refugium which I plan on keeping bc it helps my water flow

 

[fort384]

It will be really difficult to get a skimmer, return pump, 2 heaters, and still have room for a refugium in a 10 gallon tank. A lot of folks will say if you can't have a fuge that is at least 10% of the DT volume, it is no good. For you that means over half the sump needs to be fuge, which will leave no equipment room.

I am not sure I subscribed to the volume requirement, however. Certainly any fuge size will have some benefit to the system... it just may not be a large benefit.

 

[Steve silbernagel]

My plan was 5" inlet 10" fuge and 5" return. That's with a double baffle before the fuge and a
single baffle after the fuge

 

[Steve silbernagel]

Anyone got dimensions on a 20 gal long sump/refugium. I got all my equipment ready just need to get the glass cut and silicon it in

I changed my original plans and modified my stand to fit a 20 long

 

[Steve silbernagel]

Looking for website to calculate size of cambers in the sump I'm trying to build. Anyone out there seen it. I swear I seen it in a thread weeks ago but can't remember.

 

[fort384]

Hmm, haven't seen the website. My suggestion would be to size the first section as small as you can to still fit the skimmer, and size the last chamber as large as you can to allow for evaporation and top off. If you are planning on running an auto top off system that isn't as critical... but still you will want some volume to your return section. Whatever is left is the refugium.

In my 20, I think I have about 8" for the inlet/skimmer, 12" for the refugium, and 10" for the return system. It works out well, but I have an ATO. With the ATO off, I lose about 2" of water per day in the return section.

 

[Steve silbernagel]

Check this out 7.25" on the inlet, 10" refugium, 7.75" on the return. Almost 4" for power loss

 

[fort384]

I think that'll work ok. Are you doing an auto top off system?

How do you plan to light the fuge?

 

[Steve silbernagel]

I got some sheets of 1/8" acrylic sheet for a lid to cut down on evaporation. Not sure about a light yet. I got a home depot 6" fluorescent on my AC110 home made refugium. Which grows the macro very well. Probably gonna keep that running as it contributes to the water flow

 

[fort384]

Cool. I put one of those little $6 metal clip on work lights from HD on my fuge and put in a 6500K spiral CFL and it has kicked butt growing macro.

The lid will definitely help with evaporation.

I would recommend an ATO system if you can swing the cash. I think I got my whole ATO up and running for around $100 with dual float switches and a water tank that I spray painted black to match the aquarium stand. It uses an aqualifter to move the water, and only requires filling every 2 weeks.

 

[Steve silbernagel]

Do u have any links for that

 

[fort384]

For which?

 

[Steve silbernagel]

For a ATO system

 

[fort384]

There are links to the ATO switches and the reservoir in the post above.

For an aqualifter, any aquarium site has 'em. I think I bought mine from Marinedepot when they were on sale for less than $10 each.

 

[Steve silbernagel]

Thx I'll look into that down the road.

 

[fort384]

I can't imagine not having it on my tank... wouldn't ever go without one now that I have seen it work. Makes the tank maintenance free for basically 2 weeks at a time.

 

[Steve silbernagel]

Is my sump really gonna go through water that fast and why