Sump/Refugium Design help

Looks good. You might want to add a spot for some activated carbon to help the filtration, or just put it in a meshbag. Watch out for the current coming into your live rock rubble, you might have some sand shifting around quite a bit with your flow. Just in case, you might want to add a union or two just incase you want to take it about to clean or move stuff around later.

 

Looks good. I did something similar but I switched the place of the mag pump and skimmer, this way I only had to construct 1 bubble trap. In the space between the skimmer and the refuge I just drilled holes in the acrylic, simply because I didn;t have the tools to make teeth in it. I also made 2 chambers for the refuge, one just has live rock (this is where the inlet is). This chamber flows over to the deep sand bed  portion with more liverock and chaeto. This was just my way of making the sand bed have much less flow over it so as to not be disturbed. Same basic concept, just a little less work.
As for the activated carbon, I just put a HOB filter with carbon packs directly in the sump (HOB of the sump of course) in the same chamber as the skimmer.

 

I've been told that there should never be a on/off valve on your return line that it degrades your return flow and is not needed (just turn off the pump...you don't want to be running your return pump without a place for the water to go anyway).
What about a filter sock for the larger detritus?

 

Posted By apjohnson on 04/01/2009 02:38 PM
I've been told that there should never be a on/off valve on your return line that it degrades your return flow and is not needed (just turn off the pump...you don't want to be running your return pump without a place for the water to go anyway).
True.  But I did put one on my return because when turn off my pump, I close it so water doesn't get sucked from the tank to the sump.  I have my return lower than my overflow box, also.

 

Do a lot of people have their return pump in the middle chamber? Mine's set up so the water flows through the fuge chamber to the return pump/skimmer chamber. What's the reasoning behind splitting your water between a fuge chamber and a skimmer chamber? I figured I'd give my fuge inhabitants first crack at the nutrients and then have the skimmer pick up the rest. Is it just a return line length issue?

 

Couldn't you get a check valve if you were worried about that?

 

you should pay close attention to the size of that center chamber or end chamber however you decide to make it. I would give at least 5 to 10 gallons depending on sump size. All of your evaporation will lower the return chamber and only that chamber. Unless you run an ato you'll want to watch how much water your tank looses in a day or two and allot that plus some so your pump doesn't suck air or run dry. The first sump I made maximized two large chambers and a small return chamber.....it also burnt up a really nice return pump as I lost a gallon of water a day more than the return chamber held. Hard lesson learned

 

Posted By h2so4hurts on 04/01/2009 03:03 PM
Do a lot of people have their return pump in the middle chamber? Mine's set up so the water flows through the fuge chamber to the return pump/skimmer chamber. What's the reasoning behind splitting your water between a fuge chamber and a skimmer chamber? I figured I'd give my fuge inhabitants first crack at the nutrients and then have the skimmer pick up the rest. Is it just a return line length issue?
There's a huge discussion on this over @ Reef Central.
Most believe (most -not all) that the sump should be the way yours (and it sounds like mine, but reversed) is designed - drain chamber w/skimmer, middle/fuge, third/return.  Someone gave some very interesting info as to why there isn't a benefit to having the return in the middle and feeding the fuge with less flow.
Mine

Have a total of about 5 gallons reserve capacity.
-Eric

 

Posted By lordofthereef on 04/01/2009 07:27 PM

Posted By REEFer Madness on 04/01/2009 03:03 PM
Posted By apjohnson on 04/01/2009 02:38 PM
I've been told that there should never be a on/off valve on your return line that it degrades your return flow and is not needed (just turn off the pump...you don't want to be running your return pump without a place for the water to go anyway).
True.  But I did put one on my return because when turn off my pump, I close it so water doesn't get sucked from the tank to the sump.  I have my return lower than my overflow box, also.
Couldn't you get a check valve if you were worried about that?
I've never used a check valve because people claim that they will fail - not if, but when.
I have small holes drilled in my return (obviously in the tank) to break the siphon when the pump is off - I always plan and test for a worst case/power outage scenario to ensure my sump can handle the additional volume.
Many people will throttle the output of a pump with a valve, whether it be a return or for the skimmer.
-Eric

 

[color=#0000ff>[url="http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1583744"]Here's where I asked a question about baffle height that turned into a sump/chamber discussion on RC[/color=#0000ff>
-Eric

 

Posted By lordofthereef on 04/01/2009 07:27 PM
Couldn't you get a check valve if you were worried about that?
Yeah, but $20+ the hassle of finding verses $4.

 

Ive never heard of a check valve not working it is just a flap that closes from the pressure of the water flow. Not saying it cant happen just saying never experienced for myself. Definetly do not run a on off valve. Also There are some really neat programs on the web that can calculate your water flow by typing in your PVC/tubing info such as turns or valves. I will try to find this site for you I found it very helpful when designing my plumbing you might be surprised as how much flow can be lost or gained on some applications.

 

Posted By Phathead on 04/01/2009 08:38 PM
Also There are some really neat programs on the web that can calculate your water flow by typing in your PVC/tubing info such as turns or valves. I will try to find this site for you I found it very helpful when designing my plumbing you might be surprised as how much flow can be lost or gained on some applications. Calculators on Reef Central (I've seen them other places as well):
Head Loss Calculator [color=#0000ff>http://reefcentral.com/calc/hlc2.php[/url]
Drain/Overflow http://reefcentral.com/calc/drain.php[/color=#0000ff>http://reefcentral.com/calc/hlc2.php
Drain/Overflow   http://reefcentral.com/calc/sump.php
Tank Volume[color=#0000ff> [url="http://reefcentral.com/calc/vol.php"]http://reefcentral.com/calc/sump.php[/color=#0000ff>
Tank Volume[color=#0000ff> [url][/url]
Water Change http://reefcentral.com/calc/RODICalc.php[/color=#0000ff>
Water Change
Unit Conversion http://reefcentral.com/calc/unit.php[/color=#0000ff>http://reefcentral.com/calc/RODICalc.php
Unit Conversion
Tank Electrical Usage/Cost http://reefcentral.com/calc/tank_elec_calc.php
-Eric

 

That's what makes reef ready tanks so nice... Built in siphon breaks /DesktopModules/ActiveForums/themes/_default/emoticons/tongue.gif

 

I have a small filter sock on the pipe leading into the sump.
I didn't mean to discourage you in any way... or claim that why way is right or better than yours. I can say that my way was way less work/planning and that always works for me /DesktopModules/ActiveForums/themes/_default/emoticons/wink.gif