Small homemade sump

[Kasey]

My sump looks pretty much identical to this:

http://www.melevsreef.com/acrylics/sumps/glass/

(Second photo down)

My refugium section has a live sand bed, piece of live rock and some chaeto.

The tank is 10 gallons and my baffles are 8" high, the middle bubble one is 1 1/2" higher then the outer two. The final (return) baffle is about 4 1/2" - looks just like the photo.

The problem is that the flow over the final bubble baffle / start of the refugium is stirring up the sand and the return is blowing it back into the display.

Is my refugium water level not high enough, my incoming flow to great or.... Should I just remove the sand and use crushed rock or use nothing?

Also, is your sump loud, as in the sound of flowing/pumping water?

For now my sump is off until I figure out a solution or pelt my livestock to death with sand.

 

[Mthompson]

Just attach another piece or two of acrylic (a small lip of sorts, only 1/2" or so) to the baffle that is causing the sand to stir. Put this lip just below the water level (fuge side) and attach it so that is creates and 'L" shape. This will force the water out into the fuge instead of down into the sand.

Can you understand that? If not I can make a picture.

 

[Mthompson]

Here, I went ahead and made the picture. Hope this helps...

 

[Kasey]

I'll give it a shot.

I was also thinking of maybe a criss-cross grate using two left over pieces of white plastic (the lid you see in the photo).

My sump looks like the second photo, so my refugium is small.

Either way, I'll report back.

 

[Kasey]

I made up the extra piece to help slow the flow down.

I'll install it today and test it again.

If it works, I'll post full photos and such for other likeminded budget reefers.

 

[Kasey]

Success!

I just have to do some minor plumping tweaks.

To much return and it stirs the sand bed in the display, too little and I get bubbles.

Just need a dollar or two in parts and let it run/monitor it.

 

[mr_X]

wow. i don't see how that lip would have helped.
when you have evaporation, doesn't the water still splash down some?

i would have made another baffle that was raised some, and let the final water come to the return pump through the bottom, instead of having to come over the last wall. mine works this way and by the time the bubbles get to the bottom of the last baffle, they float back up, instead of coming through the opening.

 

[Kasey]

I just realized I never uploaded photos.

 

[Anonymous]

A quick note on homemade sumps.

Many years ago, I built a sump/refugium out of an All-Glass 40 galloon breeder tank (24"x18"). I added a full-width baffle made out of relatively stiff plexiglass that divided the tank into front and back halves. Even though I cut the baffle a little short, the ends of the tank still flexed inward enough when filled to cause the tank to crack against the baffle. This happened to me twice. Be careful when using stiff full width baffles in larger tanks.

 

[mr_X]

the glass flexed inward when you filled it with water? how is that possible?
i used rigid baffles in my 125 sump, right against the glass. i don't have any trouble, knock on wood. how soon after you added the water did the tank crack?[/i]

 

[Anonymous]

the glass flexed inward when you filled it with water? how is that possible?
i used rigid baffles in my 125 sump, right against the glass. i don't have any trouble, knock on wood. how soon after you added the water did the tank crack?[/i]

Which is what I said after the 2nd brand new 40g tank cracked, eventhough I cut 1/8" off the end of the baffle and made sure it did not fit tight against the saide panels of the tank.

When I called All-Glass, they told me that, because of the dimensions of the 40g breeder tank (36" x 18" - sorry, the last post incorrectly said it was 24" x 18"), the front and back panels tend to bow out more than the side panels - thus shortening the overall length of the tank. The 40g breeder tank also used relatively thin glass. This is probably not much of an issue with most tanks. Besides, most people run there baffles parallel to the sides, which is the shorter plan dimension. But you have to keep this in mind if running full-width partitions parallel to the longer plan dimension.

 

[mr_X]

ahh. i misunderstood. you placed a baffle long-ways. i still can't believe that happened, but i'm not saying i don't believe you, i'm just saying that it's very interesting. :wink:

 

[Anonymous]

ahh. i misunderstood. you placed a baffle long-ways. i still can't believe that happened, but i'm not saying i don't believe you, i'm just saying that it's very interesting. :wink:

My wife didn't think it was very "interesting" since it happened while I was traveling and she was stuck scooping 50 lbs of live sand out of the sump to keep it alive. 8O