my sump design will it work ?

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brad3314

Aquarium Advice Activist
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Nov 22, 2006
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Tasmania, Australia
ok have drawn this plan up using two seperate tanks the display tank is 50g and both the sumps together is about 19g i'll be using two hob overflows

will it work ?

i have a couple of questions though will i need a bubble trap on the other inlet side of the refugium ?

do i need the check valve ?
 

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The concept is decent, but the mechanics might need a bit of work. It appears your plan is to push the 2 separate tanks together and let the one (fuge) overflow into the sump? I don't think this is a good idea, you'll get stray water everywhere.

I had an extremely similar design, but instead of just having the fuge overflow, I cut a hole and put a bulkhead in there, then used PVC to pipe it over to the sump inlet.
 
sorry i should have pointed out more clearly that the two tanks join together where the two elbows come out of the first one next to the skimmer i'll alter the picture so it's more clear
 
Why have the expense of 2 overflows?you could use 1 and connect a T to route to the skimmer section and the fuge section,put a valve in the fuge section to adjust the flow to around 25%.Also on the 2 elbows make sure to add pipework down below the water level to help stop salt creep,splashes and moisture in your stand.if possible I would use a bubble trap at the fuge end too.Your bubble traps are the wrong way round,water entering the trap needs to start at the bottom not the top!! bubbles rise remember.
 
Why have the expense of 2 overflows?you could use 1 and connect a T to route to the skimmer section and the fuge section,put a valve in the fuge section to adjust the flow to around 25%.Also on the 2 elbows make sure to add pipework down below the water level to help stop salt creep,splashes and moisture in your stand.if possible I would use a bubble trap at the fuge end too.Your bubble traps are the wrong way round,water entering the trap needs to start at the bottom not the top!! bubbles rise remember.


thanks for the info i thought i may have to put a bubble trap at the other end but was 100% sure

the idea of two overflows was for a bit of added safety i guess just in case one overflow got blocked for some reason then the other will still drain just as a backup

as for the bubble trap every one i have seen is an over, under, over configuration where the center baffle is higher than the two outside ones ??
 
Yeah but by going over first you can drag bubbles through when flow is good,so under first eliminates this
 
Also be aware that your return pump needs to be rated just below the overflow gph or throttle down to the overflow gph, so if you have 2 overflows and one does get blocked/loose syphon the remaining overflow won't be able to handle the gph.But to be honest as long as you have everything setup correctly one overflow will be enough,I use an 800gph overflow and have had no problems with it,as long as you keep the return pump filter clean the syphon should never have air accumulate in it.
 
why not put the fuge in the middle, have the fuge suck out any nutrience the skimmer missed before pumping back into the main tank
 
Gti_Leo said:
why not put the fuge in the middle, have the fuge suck out any nutrience the skimmer missed before pumping back into the main tank

I have done it like that so i can have less flow in the fuge
 
David S said:
Also be aware that your return pump needs to be rated just below the overflow gph or throttle down to the overflow gph, so if you have 2 overflows and one does get blocked/loose syphon the remaining overflow won't be able to handle the gph.But to be honest as long as you have everything setup correctly one overflow will be enough,I use an 800gph overflow and have had no problems with it,as long as you keep the return pump filter clean the syphon should never have air accumulate in it.

Yeah i have a couble of pumps here i have a 1500lph and 3500lph which have adjustable flow so was hoping to use one of them but if i have to get a new one its ok i reckon i will just go with the one overflow then and do like you suggested
 
well sump is in and piped up as usual i changed my mind last minute :rolleyes: i have decided to use the taller tank as the fuge now as i can have a good dsb and then i can use the other side for the heaters and skimmer i just need to lift the skimmer up a bit i decide to go the two overflows as i went with this setup DIY OverFlow Pipe - UltimateReef.com rather than overflow boxes

it was cheaper so thought why not i will have to get a bigger pump though as i have had to cut the return flow back slightly as it was draining to quick as you can see from the marks i have put on there it pretty much maxes out the sump when power off but no overflows (y) restarts perfect everytime to no matter how long i leave it off. I went with the over under over bubble trap just to see how it went and it works fine so no need to change that i still could not find anyone who had done it the other way around. oh and i havent properly piped the return up yet i ran out of pipe.

pretty happy with the setup so far just a few little things to fix here is some pics !
 

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Nice design/ setup! On your first diagram I would think the UV would not work as it would have to much water flow to have enough contact time. Just a thought, I may be wrong.
 
TomStav said:
Nice design/ setup! On your first diagram I would think the UV would not work as it would have to much water flow to have enough contact time. Just a thought, I may be wrong.

Thats true where should i put then does it have to be in the return line
 
brad3314 said:
Thats true where should i put then does it have to be in the return line

I think it's best to put them in the sump with their own pump, unless you split the return with a ball valve and just have a low gph going through the uv. You may want to research the contact time thats required for the watt uv you have. If the water runs through them too fast they become useless.
 
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