Sump plumbing help needed!

[ExtremePCs]

Hi all,

I am going to be replacing my current sump because I am not happy with how it works. See the pic below to see the mistake(s) I made.



I have a 125g corner flow tank (1 overflow in each corner). What I'm scratching my head over is how to run the drain lines. The new sump is going to modeled after the "F Series" on Melvesreef.com. The fuge is on one side, the skimmer chamber on the other, with the return section in the middle.

Should I run a drain line from one side to the fuge, and the other to the skimmer section? Or should I run 1 line, with T's and ball valves cut in to adjust the flow to each section?

Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks!

[jer77]

You can do it how Melev suggests. One drain goes directly to the skimmer and the other goes to the fuge. The drain to the fuge has a T and a ball vavle to adjust the flow to the fuge and the T allows the rest of the water to run back to the skimmer section.

[poppin_fresh]

You will get a ton of detritus in the 'fuge if you run a drain to it. I've been there and done that, its bad. Get the raw tank water to the skimmer first. Branch off the return to the 'fuge with a valve to keep the flow nice and slow.

[murfman]

move the skimmer closer to the drains and let the fuge be the last place the water goes before it returns to the tank. This does two things, as previously mentioned, it picks up more of the dirty water that is falling into the sump. Second, it reduces the chance of microbubbles from the skimmer to the returns and ultimately, into the tank.

[ExtremePCs]

Thanks for the info. So something like this should work? Or at least work better than what I have? I know... Sweet drawing!

All I have is MS Paint.

[poppin_fresh]

I would T off to the 'fuge before the T to the returns. It will make it easier to balance the system. I would also use a spray bar setup in the fuge to create a nice flow. Just make sure its under the water line so that you dont have massive salt creep.