Sump Design

[LoneStar]

Here's my preliminary sump and fuge design. It will be made out of 1/4" acrylic.
The skimmer will be a Trigger Systems TS 300.


I have not decided on the baffle design yet. I'm not sure whether or not to go under over under OR over under over....... :unsure

The pump on the system will be a Sequence Dart. It will be feeding the skimmer, the chiller, and the return line to the display tank.


The fuge will be elevated above the monster 2" true union ball valve by a wood stand. It will have a bulkhead on the side that will overflow into the sump. All the drains going into the sump will go through a filter sock/socks. My overflow on the tank has two outlets. One will go to the sump and the other to the fuge.

Floor space is very limited but my over all heighth inside the stand is very high though...

Looking for more ideas, comments, questions..... :huh

[Richard]

The baffles on the sumps I like go under, over, under. With the final "under" being a chemical chamber. That is, elevated eggcrate so you can put carbon, filter floss, or whatever in it. Crappy drawing but you'll get the idea.....

[matt]

Seems like it will work. I have two suggestions; 1) use a separate pressure pump for your skimmer, I think you posted that question on another thread. It will definitely work better, as I mentioned in the other thread. I'm certain of that, but of course, do as you see fit. 2) I'd put your baffles (over, under, over is the way) further away from the return area. You want the area after the last baffle, before the return pump to be as large as possible, as all your evaporation will take place there. With such a small area, that level will drop quickly and you stand a chance of running your pump dry unless you keep up with top-off. Plus, a large area after baffles, with slow moving water (more area=slower movement at a given flow rate) the bubbles will have a chance to rise to the surface and disperse before getting sucked into the return pump.

Will your skimmer be external? If so, plumb the input and output into the same compartment in the sump, pre baffles so that the level in that compartment is constant. The smaller that area is, the less you'll be re-skimming water, as output water will exit that compartment quickly. If you can figure out a way to plumb it so that the output is "downstream" in the flow, but in the same compartment, that's best.

Looks like a nice skimmer!

[LoneStar]

Richard
I like the idea of the eggcrate on the last baffle. I'm going to try to configure that in the next design.

Matt
For cost reasons and space, I will have to stick with one external pump and possibly another submersible. The skimmer for now is located in the sump portion, on a stand to elevate it higher up. To control evaporation, I have a Tunze Osmolator that I am currently using.

Greenmako
There will be ball valves from each drain on the tank; that way I can control the flow going into the sump and fuge. (I'm doing that now anyway on my current setup). The main tank has a overflow box with two 1" drains on it. Basically what will be happening from the Dart, there will be a three way split. On each section there will be ball valves controlling the output flow. It will be close to a 60 20 20 percentage split up. There will be two 0.5" lines (one for the chiller and the other for the return line) and one 0.75" line going to the skimmer itself. I'm looking also looking at 5.5' head height. That combined with the ball valve(s), I do not think there will be a problem with the flow back to the sump.


I was going to draw all the plumbing lines and parts but got tired of it so thats why alot is not showing... ;)

[Richard]

You might want to hook up with Steve(Ram_Puppy). He just got his sump of similar dimensions and will be setting it up somewhat similar to what your doing. Might give you some more ideas...

[LoneStar]

Thanks Richard, I'll shoot him a pm...

[NaCl_H2O]

With a drain in the side of the fuge as you have it drawn you will get variable water level in the fuge, "gurgling", and no water surface skimming. I would add a small overflow box in the corner of the fuge with some type of standpipe design to fix all of these problems.

[LoneStar]

Well my plan was in the fuge, to run a 90 degree elbow up from the bulkhead. That way when the water raised high enough, it will flow down the drain.

[NaCl_H2O]

Well my plan was in the fuge, to run a 90 degree elbow up from the bulkhead. That way when the water raised high enough, it will flow down the drain.

That will definitely "Work", but you will get 1-2" of water level variation, "gurgling", and inefficient surface skimming. It may "balance" for days at time, but now & then the open pipe will pull more air than normal, which will cause less flow, the level will rise in the fuge until water pressure can wash out the air, siphon will take over, water level will drop, more air sucked into the pipe ... repeat. I fought this for months in my fuge and frag tanks, a 4"x4" overflow in the corner of each tank fixed it.

[LoneStar]

Well depending on my schedule and if I get around to drawing the cut out prints, I will pick up some acrylic this week. I will scavenge the scrap bins too and tinker with making a overflow box. I see what your saying Steve and if I can get away with making a 'test' overflow, it might be a cheaper route too....