sump question

[kdogg85]

I was wondering, in the first chamber of most homemade sumps I have seen, the water falls in the top and exits the bottom. The divider plate is placed at the top of the tank and about 1 or 2 inched is left open or covered with eggcrate to keep the rock in place. Would there be any problems with head pressure from the water going in the fuge and overflowing to the return section? Look at where the bio-balls are in the picture, would a setup like that cause problems?

 

[melosu58]

I dont see why it wont work. I have mine going into the fuge first and then through the bioballs and then into the return area. As long as it works I dont see a problem/ Moving this to the General Hardware and equipment discussion forum.

 

[cmor1701d]

First, you want the drain line to end below the water surface in the sump. That will prevent the splashing noise.

Next, baffles are usually in threes. The middle one is high and doesn't reach the bottom. The last one is at the bottom and extend to about an inch or two below the middle one. This creates the bubble trap. You want this trap just before the return pump.

Last, don't mix course and fine sand. The fine sand will work it's way to the bottom leaving the course sand on top. Just use fine.

HTH.

 

[ccCapt]

I don't know how much to scale that is, but I see 2 issues.
1st - bioballs are made to be used in the "wet/dry" portion of a sump. In other words, they are not supposed to be submerged. They should be above the water line and the water coming in from the tank "trickles" thru the bioballs and then into the sump water.
2nd - when water evaporates, the way that sump is setup, the water level will only drop in the last section where the pump is located. Unless you have an ATO setup or plan on watching it alot, there is a good chance the water can drop too much and cause the pump to run dry and burn up....or worse.

 

[melosu58]

2nd - when water evaporates, the way that sump is setup, the water level will only drop in the last section where the pump is located. Unless you have an ATO setup or plan on watching it alot, there is a good chance the water can drop too much and cause the pump to run dry and burn up....or worse.

Good point

 

[kdogg85]

I have mine setup as the whole tank is the sump and then there is a 3'' hole that overflows to the fuges, the fuges stay full and the sump stays 3/4 full. My sump has no baffles, I was just wondering about head pressure from the first to the next chamber with a setup like that. If it would work better than what I have now? Thanks for the advice.