sump size

[dwdenny]

well I got the inside caulked up and ready for painting as well as the doors on will take pics when I get home tomorrow(Thursday as I am in El Campo/Wharton right now) I was just wondering what you all would do in my situation here. The door opening is 26"wx23"h. The inside of the cabinet will hold that exact size but I was thinking about building my sump 25"Lx14"wx20"H (not sure if I need it this tall or not). I was planning on the CSS 220 which has a foot print of 6"x8" I believe. How wide would you make the baffles 1" apart and I planed an over under over system. I would like to make a fuge in the middle but it will only be 7"LX14"wx16" as the baffles will only be 16" tall and so I will have room in case of power outages.
Edit: Added a pic of sump design

[gjuarez]

You dont need that much space for the baffles, I think you will be fine with 1 inch apart. I also made my sump to be over under over. As far as the space for the fuge, I dont know how much space is required. Since I have a barebottom tank, I did not put the extra baffle for the fuge because I am not putting live sand in it. Instead I left it open and put eggcrate as a wall in case I want to put some macroalgae, the eggcrate would prevent it from getting sucked by the pump. If you like we can meet and I can show you the small sump I made. We are meeting on Saturday in Mcallen and I have posted on the deep south texas thread, if you like you can bring your plans and we can get together with Rick and make some suggestions. He built both of his two refugiums he is using.

[dwdenny]

Thanks Jerry I might do that.

[hobogato]

i wouldnt make it that tall. i made mine tall like that (on my 125) and it was a total PITA to get into it and move anything around. also, for the fuge, you may want a little more space for the lights. just my opinion, and my past mistake. when i made my current sump/fuge, i left alot of space above (it is only 14 inches tall).

[gjuarez]

I hadnt seen your pic of the sump. I am not sure you need the extra bubble trap. I think if you get rid of it it will give you more space. ALso, if you put the baffles one inch apart then it only occupies two inches so that gives you two more inches to work with. I am not an expert, I have only built one sump/fuge, so I am not sure about my recommendation about the extra bubble trap. I think one baffle before the return should just fine.

[dwdenny]

you are probably right that is why I am getting advice before I built it. I will have to re-think that. Thanks hobogato.

[hobogato]

how far are you from SA? you are welcome to come by and take a look at mine to get some ideas if you want.

[dwdenny]

well I will have to do that one of these days. I know I will be up there in in December so i might see if I might be able to get a glimps. It will be the weekend of the 10th as I will be meeting up with my brother-in-law and dad to drive to Dallas to catch the game against KC. :)

[gjuarez]

I agree with Hobogato on the sump and baffles not needing to be that tall. What size was your tank again? BTW, thats going to be a good game. I think Dallas is for real this year.

[ansonluna]

If you don't make the whole thing not as tall, at lease bring the baffles down a bit. You definitely want enough room in there so if the power goes out it will hold all the water that drains out of your display tank. You may have already though of this, but just making sure your thinking about the small things. Also do a power outtage scenario (preferable w/o salt water) before you get everything up and running.

[dwdenny]

I will do a FW run before for sure. I was thinking 20" tall mainly for that reason(power Failure). I have been thinking about it and going to change things up a bit. When I get it designed I will repost the pic to get you alls thoughts. I am looking at 14" baffles rather then 16" baffles less water but more room for tank water for those unexpected events of mother nature and the power company. lol

[dwdenny]

I think this will work out better and still give me room to work in and around.

[gjuarez]

How will you get the water in the fuge to your return?

[gjuarez]

Never mind, didnt see that you were splitting the input.

[hobogato]

the only problem i see is still getting your hands into the sump if you need to. for example, to clean or remove thing. 3" seems like a good gap (its exaclty the same gap i had on my old tank), but when you have to reach in and down to the bottom, your arms just dont bend that way. you can alway drill an anti syphon hole in your return lines to keep from overflowing the sump if the power fails, or put your return pump on a computer battery backup. I did both with my new setup. still, when i did the what if the power fails for longer test, i didn't overflow the sump.

my tank is a 240 gal, and the return section of my sump it 14.5" wide by 24" long, and i keep the water about 9" deep. the overall height of the sump is only 14 ".

[dwdenny]

sorry I did not state that well enough. The cabinet opening is 23" tall but then the sump will drop down inthe stand another 5" or so. Totalling about 10" between the door opening and the sump. The inside stand area is 33" tall by 27"long by 14.5" wide. I think I will have enough room to get in there to clean and remove things. But when I get home I will measure to make sure. I might have to still shorten the sump to like 18" or smaller. I am just trying to maximize by volume but it might not work like I want to we will have to see before I build it. If you take alook here of the stand you might be able to see what I am talking about. http://www.maast.org/index.php?name=PNphpBB2&file=viewtopic&t=15484 mainly the last two pics on the thread.

Thanks again

[hobogato]

that sounds like it will work well then, i just wanted you to understand how many time i cussed that 3" clearance space - so many times that i now have about 15" :lol :lol

[dwdenny]

Yeah I know what you mean. I will for sure check the clearence so that I know for sure that I will or can get in there to clean and remove things if needed. Thanks for the input though