DIY 20 Gallon Long Sump...

[marrone]

The top offing he doing now, once or twice a day, is not with the new sump. The compartment looks big enough, plus it's high, to handle enough water so he should only have to top off once a day or once every other day. If you got a dosing dump or a ATO system he would be fine.

He needs to put this unit in place and see if he's going to have problems with overflowing and how much he will need to top off before he makes any changes, if he even needs to make changes.

 

[nanoreefer22]

I'm gonna go with Mike on this one. My sump was set up identical to this one. Dean has it now, never had any problems with overflowing. I think my return section might even be smaller than that if memory serves me right. Even when i turned off the return pump I didn't run into trouble.

EDIT DAMN T YOU USED A LOT OF SILICONE LOL

 

[marrone]

Tony really needs to set this up and try it out and see if it's going to work. A lot of this should have been worked out before hand but it is a learning process and the good thing about it is that things can be changed if needed.

 

[Deanos]

Dean has it now, never had any problems with overflowing. I think my return section might even be smaller than that if memory serves me right. Even when i turned off the return pump I didn't run into trouble.

Yes I do have it. :splitspin It works great for my application. I have two fans on the sump and probably wouldn't need to top off for a day or 2. But I have an ATO.

 

[joseney21]

i still don't see why not make the return section bigger, except if the skimmer is so big that it requires all that room. tony the skimmer doesn't need any extra room to do its thing. the reaction chamber is all the room it needs.a filter sock and heater should only take up a small area in one of the corners. i'd still go with a bigger return area....being that its all done i would test it out, like everyone else suggested, and if it works i'd leave it alone. you definitely have to test it though.

 

[joseney21]

looks like you have room for a little over eight gallons if power goes out.

 

[masterswimmer]

i still don't see why not make the return section bigger, except if the skimmer is so big that it requires all that room. tony the skimmer doesn't need any extra room to do its thing. the reaction chamber is all the room it needs.a filter sock and heater should only take up a small area in one of the corners. i'd still go with a bigger return area....being that its all done i would test it out, like everyone else suggested, and if it works i'd leave it alone. you definitely have to test it though.

I wholeheartedly agree Jose`.

swimmer

 

[marrone]

Looking at the tank it seems the setup is as following:

Return compartment:8 1/2"
Baffles:4"-5"
Skimmer/other:16 1/2"

With the tank being 30" long. The skimmer will take up about 8"-10", which leave about 5"-6" for the heater, overflow pipe from the tank and other things. The extra space is probably a good thing as if you want to take the skimmer out and it's tight you can easily break one of the baffles. The return compartment is big enough to handle one to day days without being topped off, specially with the height of the baffles.

 

[joseney21]

okay, maybe you dont have to test it to get the idea, lets try this

how far down does the water go in your main before the siphon breaks??
using this calculator fill in the #s. tank width and length, height being the answer to the above question. this is what i did to figure out ~ how much room you have in your sump. see if it all adds up.

 

[Tonyscoots84]

:grouphug: :type: :lol: :Up_to_som ok guys, mr. jose i took everything out and i posted the pic below to show ya thats the way im going to have it wanna make sure before i do it, its going to be ok... skimmer chamber is 13 1/2" and return chamber will be 12 1/2" with a 7" baffle on both sides to allow my self some flexibility in case the pump fails middle baffle is 9 inch.. nothing is siliconed yet so thats why the middle baffle is down but it will be up to allow for the over under over flow.. .. the baffles are going to spaced 1 1/2" apart... hows this looking.... let me no as soon as possible guys so i can silicone it and let it start drying....

 

[masterswimmer]

Looks great to me T. Just dry fit all your components into the skimmer side to verify that it all fits. Don't forget your heater.

Nice job.

swimmer

 

[marrone]

Tony

You just wasted a lot of time and didn't even try it out. You should have just tried it first and then made adjustments to it if needed.

 

[Tonyscoots84]

yea i could of marrone but i would rather install it and not have to take it back out and waste even more time... looking at it now its better with more water in the return compartment and i could do it alot neater... and i also made the baffles a lil smaller...

 

[marrone]

The only thing that may have been a problem was the high of the baffles, there was nothing wrong with the return area. Also take into account that the baffles are lower so even though you increase the return compartment you have decrease it's high also.

 

[nanoreefer22]

T,
I think you made a mistake by redoing it. It was perfectly fine the first time. Now if you want the make the skimmer recirc I dont think you could it in any side of the sump. I had 24inches on one side of the sump I believe and like 4 for the return compartment, never failed. Dean can verify/correct the numbers.

 

[joseney21]

was it enough room to handle the siphon for your tank kris, in case of a power outage??tonys tank is also slightly bigger....i don't see why a skimmer with a recirc mod wouldn't fit in a sump if it fit before the mod, all you need is to plumb the intake with an elbow right??

 

[joseney21]

we're all going to make tony go nuts

 

[nanoreefer22]

was it enough room to handle the siphon for your tank kris, in case of a power outage??tonys tank is also slightly bigger....i don't see why a skimmer with a recirc mod wouldn't fit in a sump if it fit before the mod, all you need is to plumb the intake with an elbow right??

Yea my sump was fine with power outages. With the recirc mod the foot print of the skimmer is enlarged by a good few inches. The gate valve probably doesnt add much.

 

[Tonyscoots84]

was it enough room to handle the siphon for your tank kris, in case of a power outage??tonys tank is also slightly bigger....i don't see why a skimmer with a recirc mod wouldn't fit in a sump if it fit before the mod, all you need is to plumb the intake with an elbow right??

the skimmer and recirc. mod when i do it will fit no prob..... and also kris something else u prob. didnt realize is that is my tank is not reef ready so it will take down more water then urs i think... but wateva the case maybe u guys have officially drove tony up the wall.... lmao i appreciate all the help guys... keep it comming.. lolz

 

[marrone]

Actually with the tank not being reef ready you can easily adjust the over flow box so if the pump does go off only so much water will flow back into the sump from the tank. My tank isn't reef ready and I use a over flow box and have a similar setup to what you have your sump was and I never had a problem with flooding.