I'm building a sump out of a 30G standard tank (36x12x16). I'm trying to figure out the best configuration to meet my goals, which are:
1. Leave plenty of room to hold water with pumps off. My main tank drains about 3 gallons, though if given enough time, my corner overflow will slowly drain another few gallons as the standpipe isn't glued in at the bottom. (min 5-6G)
2. Maximize volume to be able to drain the sump enough to do an entire water change. (min 10G)
3. hold skimmer and heaters.
4. eliminate bubbles
5. minimize water that's pumped by the return in the case of a drain problem.
6. I need room in the return area for another pump or two for a few other small tanks (fuge, frag tank)
I do NOT want a refugium in here.
It's drilled on one end for an external return (thanks to JohnK).
After thinking about this all last night to take my mind off the disastrous super-bowl, I think I've settled on a simple configuration in the attached pic.
The left baffles trap most of the bubbles. Watching my current sump work, it seems that two baffles, over then under, do a good job at stopping most. (Goal #4) A third over baffle isn't needed since I won't have a refugium in the middle.
The large center area can be drained for water changes (goal #2). The drain and return areas could be drained as well if needed to get a few more gallons. So room in the drain area for a mag 5 would be a good idea.
The large center area can house the skimmer and other equipment (goal #3).
The right baffle keeps the amount of water pumped out to a minimum in case of a drain problem. (goal #5)
So, the question is, how high to make the baffles, and where to position them?
9" baffles positioned 4" on the left and 8" on the right will give me the following if I run the water level at 9":
o 3.7G in the return area = max flood, minus what's displaced by pumps.
o 11.2G in the center area = water change capacity (minus what's displaced by the skimmer plus what drains from the tank)
o 13G unused drain capacity for when the power's off.
These all seem to meet my goals, but am I missing any important factors or considerations? Or is it a good plan?
Having written this, it seems like the ulitimate dead-simple sump, but hopefully this helps someone else who is thinking along the same lines as well.
thanks.
1. Leave plenty of room to hold water with pumps off. My main tank drains about 3 gallons, though if given enough time, my corner overflow will slowly drain another few gallons as the standpipe isn't glued in at the bottom. (min 5-6G)
2. Maximize volume to be able to drain the sump enough to do an entire water change. (min 10G)
3. hold skimmer and heaters.
4. eliminate bubbles
5. minimize water that's pumped by the return in the case of a drain problem.
6. I need room in the return area for another pump or two for a few other small tanks (fuge, frag tank)
I do NOT want a refugium in here.
It's drilled on one end for an external return (thanks to JohnK).
After thinking about this all last night to take my mind off the disastrous super-bowl, I think I've settled on a simple configuration in the attached pic.
The left baffles trap most of the bubbles. Watching my current sump work, it seems that two baffles, over then under, do a good job at stopping most. (Goal #4) A third over baffle isn't needed since I won't have a refugium in the middle.
The large center area can be drained for water changes (goal #2). The drain and return areas could be drained as well if needed to get a few more gallons. So room in the drain area for a mag 5 would be a good idea.
The large center area can house the skimmer and other equipment (goal #3).
The right baffle keeps the amount of water pumped out to a minimum in case of a drain problem. (goal #5)
So, the question is, how high to make the baffles, and where to position them?
9" baffles positioned 4" on the left and 8" on the right will give me the following if I run the water level at 9":
o 3.7G in the return area = max flood, minus what's displaced by pumps.
o 11.2G in the center area = water change capacity (minus what's displaced by the skimmer plus what drains from the tank)
o 13G unused drain capacity for when the power's off.
These all seem to meet my goals, but am I missing any important factors or considerations? Or is it a good plan?
Having written this, it seems like the ulitimate dead-simple sump, but hopefully this helps someone else who is thinking along the same lines as well.
thanks.