Help critique my sump/refugium design

rodstar · #1 10/24/2007, 11:30 AM

So, I am in the process of setting up my 125g tank and I am going to have the sump and refugium in the basement under the show tank. Here are some drawings of what I want to set-up.

Can someone please critique the baffles in the sump and refugium? I am not sure it they are right.

The two tanks are being drilled right now and the baffles are also being built, but I will put them in myself, so I can move them wherever I want. It is 2 29g perfecto tanks and I have 8 baffles on the way.

Thanks in advance.

Derek

drinkhomebrew · #2 10/24/2007, 12:03 PM

i tired to do something like that. LInking two tanks together. I had it level, and the holes were in the same place. It did not take long for cracks to develop at the bulk heads. I am planning to do one large tank as a sump, and divide it with baffles.

rodstar · #3 10/24/2007, 12:09 PM

Ouch. That is not what I wanted to hear... Well, I hope this works. I will let you know.

Do the baffles look correct to you? I have no experience with this. My current tank is a 14g BioCube.

drinkhomebrew · #4 10/24/2007, 12:13 PM

ya, baffles look good, are you going to use spaflex in between tanks? I used a straight pvc pipe, that might have been my problem.

STEVEBEAM · #5 10/24/2007, 12:23 PM

Connect the inlet of the pump to the sump.
Tee the water comming from the tank back to sump. That way you can allow and contol the flow thru the refugium.

Steve

STEVEBEAM · #6 10/24/2007, 12:25 PM

Sorry,
And connect the discharge of the refugium to the sump after the filter media....
Steve

rodstar · #7 10/24/2007, 12:29 PM

Good comments.

The reason for the separate tanks is that the sump will be closed off and drained and refilled for water changes. that is the reason for two.

Here is another image of the full proposed set-up.

swampjeep · #8 10/25/2007, 09:46 AM

I see you changed the drains as steve said, butthis design with have water going thru the refugium at a rate of the sump/skimmer plus what ever, I think you would want to have the return pump in hte middle, that way you can slow the flow thru there. (as steve stated)

eznet2u · #9 10/25/2007, 10:51 AM

I have gone through several 20g tanks trying to do the same thing.
The glass on the "little" tanks is 1/8" glass. IMO this is not strong enough to support any bulkheads, for any length of time. I have had 2 crack. If you are set on doing this...I would support both sides with 1/4' glass. Silicone them together like a sandwich. I have my 4th sump setup now.

Tile or carpet? Homeowners insurance?

rodstar · #10 10/25/2007, 10:54 AM

125g is on hardwood and spans multiple joices.

The sump and refugium are in the basement on concrete (well, on a couple stacked 2x6 pieces to get them off the floor.) And the basement sump is right there...

Yes, I have homeowners insurance.... lol

drinkhomebrew · #11 10/25/2007, 11:20 AM

do you have flood insurance. hahaha

jschottenfeld · #12 10/25/2007, 04:37 PM

Rodster, I am in the process of the same exact setup. I have a 125G on my main floor (hardwood flooring, over joists), right next to concrete wall. Sump and fuge will be in the basement.

First, Tony at Reef Exotics advised me to put sump/fuge on a stand A) elevates pump a few feet to reduce head pressure and B) makes it easier to see what's going on instead of bending down to the floor.

I am going with a 30 gal long as my fuge. It is on top of a 10" stand (on my sump table) raising it slightly above the height of my Oceanic sump. It will be fed by a tee connector and ball valve coming off of one of my returns from the tank. This will allow me to slow down the water flow through the fuge.

I drilled two holes near the top of the fuge. Gravity will pull the water through the holes into some PVC directing it into the return portion of my sump. There will be no pressure on those two bulkheads since the pvc coming off of them will just point into my sump.

I don't plan on using any baffles in my fuge, just in my sump. I don't know if that is good or bad, but it is what I'm doing.

Just my $.02

rodstar · #13 10/25/2007, 04:45 PM

I may end up with something along those lines as well. I am reworking my set-up on paper right now....

My only reason for two separate set-ups is so I can isolate the sump, completely drain it and refill it for water changes, all without shutting down the main pump.

rodstar · #14 10/25/2007, 05:39 PM

Ok, I have tried to rework this.... Let me know if this makes more sense...

Did I mention that I really appreciate your help??? Well, I do!

0 Agios · #15 10/25/2007, 06:15 PM

too many baffles = alot of dead spots = problems. I would just use 1 on the refugium

swampjeep · #16 10/26/2007, 01:39 PM

on hte 'fuge I would put all 3 baffles right away (over under over) then have a bulk head near the bottom at the far other side to return water...

one thing you may already have though of is to have a way to releave pressure on your pump, people ussually put a branch off from the return line back to teh sump/fuge, this allows you to open it to slow the water flow thru the fuge, and also helps to not have full pressure built up on the pump. The only problem I still see is when you shut down the sump to drain you will have water rushing thru the fuge at a high rate.

How long with a water change really take? why not just shut the return pump off durring these changes, but keep the plumbign as you shw so you still could close hte ball valves and isolate the one tank, drain it, fill it, turn back on... (maybe this is what you already planned)

rodstar · #17 10/26/2007, 01:45 PM

Yeah, that makes sense... I am going to keep th ebaffle on the right of the refugium to keep all my algae, etc from flowing into the pump, but I like the three baffle idea on the left.

The more I look at the design, the more I realize that I am going to have to shut it off. But, we will see. That can be done easily enough. Experimentation will tell me for sure...

jschottenfeld · #18 10/26/2007, 02:35 PM

If I wasn't planning on having baffles in my fuge, will I have a problem of the Algae getting stuck on the outlet strainers?

Didn't quite think of that one. I was thinking the purpose of the baffles was to slow down the current and allow the water to move from low to hi in the tank in a more controlled manner.

rodstar · #19 10/26/2007, 03:43 PM

pretty sure you would end up having sand and all sorts of other stuff getting sucked in....

kar93 · #20 10/26/2007, 04:22 PM

you could try putting the heater in the fuge

jschottenfeld · #21 10/26/2007, 05:17 PM

I'm not sure if I will have all that much stuff sucked into the drains. First off, the flow will not be that great and second the drains will be all the way at the top of the tank.

MrRyanT · #22 10/26/2007, 05:26 PM

As Jschottenfeld said, if you can put the refugium higher than the sump and let it gravity feed to the sump I think you'll be able to control the flow better and you wouldn't need the bulkhead going into the sump, it could just feed over the top.

drinkhomebrew · #23 10/26/2007, 08:54 PM

i think you will over flow if you do that. No way to make the water spilt 50-50 coming out of the tank. One sump will fill faster than the other, and then over flow.

jschottenfeld · #24 10/27/2007, 07:57 AM

Homebrew...Exactly. The fuge will flow over through the drains into the sump. You do not have to have the water split 50:50 between the two sumps. You direct whatever portion you want into the fuge, (preferrably less than the sump since you do not want the water flowing that quickly inside fuge).

The sump cannont overflow since it is receiving water from both the fuge and display tank exactly as fast as it is pumping it back up to the display.

NanoReefWanabe · #25 10/27/2007, 02:41 PM

i think i would remove the drain to the refuge and have a tee off the return feed the fuge...then just have a mj1200 feed the water back into the sump, using a gate valve to match the output of the MJ1200...less drilling...and less flow problems...only concern would be the water entering the fuge will already have been polished by the skimmers, and may not leave enough dirty water for the marcos to grow..

i thikn trying to do linked tanks with one return and maintain the return while doing water changes is going to be very difficult....just opening and closing valves and trying not to get an overflow situation is going to be a PITA...

drilling the bottom of the tank is going to be tough too unless you are having the tank made since the bottom will be tempered..

and 20+ tanks are 3/16 (5mil) glass not 1/8 (3mil) i have plenty of holes in my 20 and no broken panes..

just my .o2