Getting 75 g drilled...

[Mrc8858]

Ya but make sure you do a couple extra passes on it.

[Flaxon-Waxon]

Will do! Any good ideas on sump layouts? 3 chamber, 4 chamber, 2 chamber lol?? I was thinking about doing a 3 chamber, but needed to get a couple ideas for how to set it up. I was thinking about putting the skimmer in chamber 1, which is the chamber the water will enter the sump from the DT, and go through a filter sock, then a fuge in chamber 2, and a return pump in chamber 3... Or should I switch the skimmer and fuge around?

[Mrc8858]

I built the same setup you just described and very happy with it.

[Flaxon-Waxon]

I need some clarification here with overflows and sumps and gph's... Ok so say a 1" hole will dump 800 gph's into the sump. I want a low flow sump due to the fuge, say 300 gph. So with a 1/2" inch return and a 300 gph pump, where does the difference in the 800 gph into the sump vs 300 gph being returned? Will the sump overflow, or because it is gravity fed, will the water simply just not drain from the DT into the sump as fast, etc...? I can't wrap my brain around how this works 8-( Maybe someone can explain it to me??

[Mrc8858]

Think of it this way.. its called an "overflow" for a good reason. As your pump dumps water into the tank it raises the water level. Once it gets high enough it flows overtop the overflow and drains. With gravity fed overflows you don't have to worry about under powered returns, that's just a big deal if your running a HOB.

[Flaxon-Waxon]

Ahhhhh ok... But a potential issue would be a return pump that has more GPH than the overflow going into the sump can handle, and would overflow the DT right? I think it's starting to make sense...

[Mrc8858]

Originally Posted by Benamayer

Ahhhhh ok... But a potential issue would be a return pump that has more GPH than the overflow going into the sump can handle, and would overflow the DT right? I think it's starting to make sense...

Correct. This is why I HIGHLY reccomend drilled tanks.. eliminates a whole issue that many people worry about daily lol. Hell even sniperhank is having issues with his HOB right now. Almost flooded his house : /

[Flaxon-Waxon]

Originally Posted by Mrc8858

Correct. This is why I HIGHLY reccomend drilled tanks.. eliminates a whole issue that many people worry about daily lol. Hell even sniperhank is having issues with his HOB right now. Almost flooded his house : /

Yea I know 8-( I was reading that thread earlier. Whelp, ce la vis! Anyways I can't wait for my tank to be ready... I gotta pick up the PCV this weekend and still need to build my sump... Are there any diagrams that you know of that you could post? I need details like how high to build the baffles, etc...

[Mrc8858]

Originally Posted by Benamayer

Yea I know 8-( I was reading that thread earlier. Whelp, ce la vis! Anyways I can't wait for my tank to be ready... I gotta pick up the PCV this weekend and still need to build my sump... Are there any diagrams that you know of that you could post? I need details like how high to build the baffles, etc...

You'll want to base the baffles off of how high your skimmer needs first and foremost. Then you'll need to figure out the total water being held in the plumbing and a little from the DT since when you turn your return off (for maintenance or feeding) the water will drain and back siphon the overflow/return nozzles lowest point. For examply there is about 5-7 gallons of empty space in my 20 long sump to allow room for the back siphon.

[Flaxon-Waxon]

Say this is my design... Not to scale lol..



Will the back siphon water rise above the baffles that will be 8"? I don't want water rising above the max line on the skimmer...

[Flaxon-Waxon]

Or is that where the min/max lines come into play??

[Mrc8858]

The min/max line is best height while its running. I just keep my return and skimmer on the same switch so when I turn my return off before the sump fills up the skimmer is already off that way it doesn't overskimming like crazy

[Mrc8858]

Also keep in mind, without an ATO system your return chamber is the chamber that shows signs of evaporation so I try to find a happy medium in size to allow more wiggle room during evap cause you really don't wanna run your pump dry lol.

[Flaxon-Waxon]

How high does the return chamber get or does it depend on the gph, or how wide that chamber is?

[Mrc8858]

The width of the chamber will increase the water volume slowing down how fast the level falls from evaporation. The return chamber will show you how full your tank is. The more water you add to the system the higher that chambers level will rise. It should be the only chamber effected by changes in water volume.

[Flaxon-Waxon]

Originally Posted by Mrc8858

Also keep in mind, without an ATO system your return chamber is the chamber that shows signs of evaporation so I try to find a happy medium in size to allow more wiggle room during evap cause you really don't wanna run your pump dry lol.

So if I add an ATO this would be the chamber to put the float on?

[Mrc8858]

Originally Posted by Benamayer

So if I add an ATO this would be the chamber to put the float on?

Yep....

[Flaxon-Waxon]

Hey MRC I put a pic of my sump on my other thread... "Tank upgrade "