sump blueprint

[mrarturocampos]

I wanna upgrade from a 75 gal tank to a 125, but I want to build the sump out of a 30 gal tank I have, so the question is does anybody have a blueprint for a good sump design?

[BBQHILLBILLY]

why 30? why not 75 or 100 gallon? you would be able to control your flow rate and refugium size.

[mrarturocampos]

Well I thought 30 gal would be sufficient but I can definitely go bigger, I do want a big refugium.... what about a 50?

[BBQHILLBILLY]

The bigger the sump/refugium you can fit in the stand, the more fun youll have.
tank dimensions, stand dimensions,you have to fit the sump, refugium in the stand. sump/refugium dimensions. I normally divide the sump/refugium into 3 sections.
The first is your drain and height of the baffle is determined by your skimmer. keeps water level for it.
2baffles separated by 1inch to put LR rubble in there.
The 2nd is your refugium so the bigger the tank the better, more chaeto. maybe a frag rack or 2, LR, rubble, sand. Its more fun then your display.
2baffles separated by 1inch to put LR rubble
3rd and last baffle is usually determined by return, reactors, uv, etc . . .

also you need to remember if there is a power outage sw will drain back into the sump so you need some ceiling room for that sw

[reefreak]

I have a 55g

[BBQHILLBILLY]

yes Jeremy is right, 55 might just be perfect depending on the stand height. you should be able to work with 9 in baffles and still have ceiling room to drain in case of a power outage.
stand height you need maybe 36 in or more, that should give you 16 inchs to get your arms above sump/refug

[mrarturocampos]

OK, well I'm also going to build the stand so I can make sure I have plenty of space and also so I can run all my electrical and plumbing the way I want. I know the basic concept of the different chambers but Im looking for a blueprint of a high end sump design to duplicate....thanks for the info though

[BBQHILLBILLY]

if you can build the stand, 42 inches is sweet for stand height, that for sure will give you room to get really creative in the stand.
also think about if you want to put a 75 or 100 tank for refugium, look for the room there and side door is cool to replace the sump in case it cracks, never know

[mrarturocampos]

Yes, I am gonna build it higher

[koa25]

A 55 gallon would be kind of too tall. Lots of useless space lost in the height. I do agree. More water volume and space the better. But you want to leave space in the interior of the stand. Dont want it to be all sump.

[mrarturocampos]

Side door is also a great idea....thanks!!

[mrarturocampos]

Well what size tank would u do?

[BBQHILLBILLY]

An added benefit of tall sumps is that you can purposely disconnect the power from your 2 returns and let the sw drain into the sump/refug.
With all the extra sw now this is where you do your sw change. of couse this assuming you dont plumb a drain directly to a 5 gallon bucket to do sw change.

[BBQHILLBILLY]

I should mention there are some guys here that can make acryllic sumps/refug of any size you want hobogato, psyko, Elegant Reef too

[koa25]

I had a 125. I had a 48x14x15 sump with three chambers. Skimmer/fuge/reactors and return pumps. My fuge was the largest section. Perfect size if you ask me. My water height was 9" in the first two sections which was perfect for the skimmer. And still had plenty of room for the extra SW from when the power turned off. A 55 gallon tank is 20" tall. That's pretty tall for a sump. Not too crazy I guess.

[mrarturocampos]

Who is hobogato and psycho....I will go talk to elegant reef tomorrow

[BBQHILLBILLY]

Ace hobogato made my 7ft acryllic refugium/sump. I have 4 huge sections. Tuan psycho can also make acryllic sumps, tanks, etc . . Both can do it.

[koa25]

This site has some pretty nice designs. You can get an idea from here and have a local guy or shop build it. http://www.melevsreef.com/allmysumps.html

[mrarturocampos]

Thanks

[polarbear]

I run a 55 gallon refugium on my 90 gallon tank. Its not all the way full but the baffles are set pretty high. I just built a stand for the simmer.

[koa25]

I imagine you can have a DSB and still have LR and cheato no problem. Plenty of vertical room.