10 Gallon Sump

[Fally]

I have a 29 Gallon tank that I would like to build a sump for. The only thing that I can fit under the stand would be a 10 gallon, and that is going to be a tight fit.

Are there any sump experts that would be willing to give me a little help? I have read a few postings and have a basic configuration thought out. I need help with the height of the baffles and spacing. This is what I drew up.





I want to stick my skimmer in the first compartment and have a small fuge area in the second. Does anyone see any problems with this setup?

Thanks!

[dakar]

The layout looks good. As you've discoverved a 10g doesn't afford much working room. Baffle spacing depends on the amount of flow through the sump/fuge you are planning for, up to 300gph 3/4"spacing should be fine, if more than that go 1" spacing for better trapping. Critical lesson learned the hard way, 500gph through a 10g sump is a little much.

If you are looking for more ideas on the design side look on page 2 of this thread.... I tried to get the max amount of volume for the refuge as possible out of a 10g sump, running just under 19g total volume for a 10g display.

http://www.captivereefing.com/viewtopic.php?t=1833

Things have changed a bit since then, but the layout is still the same. Been a while since I've updated that thread.

[Fally]

Thanks, that is exactly what I was looking for!

[Fally]

I guess I'll just leave an inch or two above the baffles for some return in case of a power outage.

Are there any 'rules of sump building' that I should know about? I would hate to get this thing built only to find out that it would be much better if I just did one small thing differently. I am going to add a crash area for my overflow, like your nano. I was already thinking about it, but your posts convinced me that it would be very useful. I don't need my skimmer sucking up a bunch of bubbles.

I updated the diagrams in the first post.

[AquaSquid]

Make sure you put a check valve between the pump and the return. This will prevent siphoning from the tank if power goes out.

[Fally]

I read that you can drill a couple of small holes in the return in the main tank just below the water line, and that would break the siphon in the event of a power outage.

How do the check valves work? Is it a one-way valve?

[jerryc]

[quote="Fally"]I read that you can drill a couple of small holes in the return in the main tank just below the water line, and that would break the siphon in the event of a power outage.

I personally like the hole in the return to break the siphon.

With the high calcium we keep in our tanks its not long till the check valve
will not work as it is supposed to.

[dakar]

That's exactly it, check-valves are just one way valves. Like anything else they are subject to Murphy's Law, they will only fail when you need them. Best to design in your own safety measures to keep the water off the floor.

The one note I will add to the mix here is to consider adding some sort of auto-top off to keep the water level consistent, you'll want to stay very close to the divider between the fuge and pump return chamber to avoid water from dropping in and picking up air bubbles for your pump to pick up.

There really are no 'rules' to sump building, they are only limited to your imagination. The tried and true methods work, but don't let that stop you from trying new things. This whole hobby/obsession is a lesson in progress.

[Fally]

So if the water has a long way to fall it will create some air bubbles to get sucked back into the main tank. Thanks for the tip... What if I put that last divider in at an angle? So that the water ran down the divider instead of waterfalling off it?

I would like to put in a water-level sensor in the main tank to shut of the sump pump if the water level rises too high. This along with holes drilled in the return line should prevent any overflows. Sound right?

[Fally]

I was thinking that the crash chamber might create a lot of bubbles to spill over into the skimmer area. Does anyone know if this is true? Would it effect the operation of the skimmer?

I was thinking about changing the design a little. I could open the skimmer area to the fuge and put the bubble trap at the other end of the sump. Does anyone think this would be a good idea? I guess I don't care that much if there are bubbles in my fuge area...

Here is the updated design:



Any advice would be greatly appreciated! I am pretty new to this.