I need the MR sign off before spending hundreds!

[james1990]

I hope the title got you all to click :help:

Its been pretty frustrating trying to design and measure my 6' long 125 tank into a sump for my upgrade. I think its finished and I really need some input before I goto the glass shop and pay for all this glass to be cut.

Im in a rush to get over there so I didn't draw to scale but the measurements are there, so does anything stand out to you that I should change?

first 5 people that answer get a cookie :fish:

the tank itself is:
72 1/2 x 18 1/2 x 23 3/8

 

[BKLYNREEF123]

looks ok have 3 1/2" to spare for the glass baffels and space between. How does water get into the fuge from the return without going over the 18" single piece of glass and overflowing your skimmer? and how does water circulate between the fuge and the return? Does the overflow come in in the far left where you have it labeled drains? your Return has an arrow pointing down, and a 90 degree elbow right there (which from what I understand cuts back on the efficiency). Why not put the fuge in the center?
That seems to be much more simple, no?

 

[james1990]

I plan on doing 1 1/2" spacing between the bubble trap. I will T off the return and feed the fuge so I can control the flow. Im having two 1.5" holes drilled and having a gravity fed elbow draining water from the fuge into the return chamber and use the one as a failsafe. The water level will never reach the 18" baffle level. Yes the drains are on the left. Here is a picture from Melevsreef to show

 

[BKLYNREEF123]

interesting any benefit to this setup?

 

[james1990]

when the Fuge is after the skimmer section and before the return, there is no way of controlling the flow through the fuge. And in my situation, my reef closet gets shorter toward the back so I didnt want my return section on the far side of the tank because its harder to get to. thanks

Does the height of the baffles look ok? the skimmer section will sit in 14" of water which will in turn fully submerge the filter socks.

 

[skene]

baffle height seems a touch too big. Unless you are planning on a really really slow pass through especially with 1/2" spacing between. I would worry about the design.

 

[masterswimmer]

Seems to be approx. 12" of length unaccounted for.

Baffle after the skimmer is exceedingly high (depending upon the skimmer selected, you didn't mention what the optimum operating height of the skimmer is).

The drain from the fuge to the return where the 90 degree elbow points down would be better suited to have a 'T' there to allow the drain to vent.

I would split the overflow from the tank to go partially to the filter socks and partially to the fuge. 'T'ing' off the return to the fuge puts skimmed water into the fuge. Ideally you want unskimmed/untreated water going to the fuge.

JM $.10 minus $.08

Russ

 

[james1990]

thanks for the input, my drawing is crude sorry for that. I plan on running the DC170 reef octopus skimmer and using a stand for it. Good pointer on the vent for the drain on the fuge. I have read many times that the problem with using water from the drain for the fuge is all the detritus that builds up over time. I noticed this as well with a fuge on my nano system.

 

[lnevo]

Why raise the level to put the skimmer on a stand? I dont think you want the water the same height as the socks i would go an inch or two below so that you can see when the socks start filling up. Also why the tee/elbow return from fuge? Just set the baffle height where you want it and fill the gap to the top with some eggcrate to hold back any stray macro. Unless its for noise?

What kind of cookies do we get?

 

[james1990]

masterswimmer ate them all buddy, your skimmate out of luck womp womp wompp

The sock tray will sit 16" and the water level is at 14". If you think it would be better to lower it another inch I suppose it would only help. I want to hold as much WV as possible without a chance of overflowing the tank. the trim sits at 21" so I think there is plenty of room.

As for the Fuge "drain" into the return, because the water level in the fuge will be roughly 17" and the return will sit at lets say 10" (this depends on what setting I end up using on my Jabeo DC1200 and with the herbie overflow) If I used a traditional baffle overflow there would be a lot more evaporation as well as salt creep.

one lessoned I learned is any spacing water will create tons of salt creep

 

[lnevo]

masterswimmer ate them all buddy, your skimmate out of luck womp womp wompp

The sock tray will sit 16" and the water level is at 14". If you think it would be better to lower it another inch I suppose it would only help. I want to hold as much WV as possible without a chance of overflowing the tank. the trim sits at 21" so I think there is plenty of room.

As for the Fuge "drain" into the return, because the water level in the fuge will be roughly 17" and the return will sit at lets say 10" (this depends on what setting I end up using on my Jabeo DC1200 and with the herbie overflow) If I used a traditional baffle overflow there would be a lot more evaporation as well as salt creep.

one lessoned I learned is any spacing water will create tons of salt creep

Sounds solid. You can always shift baffles around if need be or cut them if they turn out too tall. I think your good.

I want my cookie!!!

 

[Tonyscoots84]

james why is this costing you hundreds..... Are you getting the whole sump made from scratch? If you are why don't you get a standard tank and just buy the glass baffles and silicone and put the money towards something else. Just trying to save you a few bucks

 

[james1990]

hundreds was an exaggeration to get you to click my thread, tricky yes, but it worked! in all seriousness I just called Mike the Glazier in Mineola and he wants $20 per baffle!
$140+ on glass baffles this is crazy I could goto petco and buy 4 aquariums and break them apart for cheaper

 

[Rob&Gab]

there is a guy Mike the glazier in Queens, if he is the same guy, He is pretty expensive.

 

[reefs4life]

Unfortunately I'm at work and can't see your sump design because they block the picture. But have you ever considered 1/2" acrylic to make baffles? It may be cheaper and you can do it yourself like I did, given you have tools or know someone that has tools, simple ones such as a table saw. I have a 120G sump, hopefully when I get back from school tonight I can post pics of what mine looks like with the acrylic and all.

 

[vio]

If, i have to build one again, i will try to avoid detritus to go on fuge then back on main tank.

 

[vio]

C/P
"the most important thing to keeping a reef tank successfully is to get all of the detritus out as fast as possible. the more flow the better because it gets the detritus to the skimmer. the skimmer is the only piece of equipment we have that filters the water immediately and actually removes items from the water column completely. the other types of filters just trap the detritus in them. this allows the detritus to rot and release its phosphates back into the system. this is why the skimmer is so important. the more powerful it is the less siphoning you need to do later.

one of the big mistakes a lot of people make when getting into this hobby is setting up the aquascaping so that it is very difficult to get behind it with a siphon to remove any detritus that can accumulate back there. all detritus is bad, and it needs to be removed regardless of where it can hide. the tank needs to be setup to accommodate this or you will always run into problems."

 

[Tonyscoots84]

i agree with vio 100%

 

[james1990]

this is why I keep going back and forth on the fuge. I want more bio filtration but without the detritus trap