building my first sump.

I

Incaico

Premium Member
I have a 75 gallon tank that I would like to use as a sump for my 125. I'm a complete newbie to sumps. I've never had and I've only seen one in person [smilie=rofl.gif] I've been doing some research on melevsreef and I hope I can make one. My tank is drilled on each end with two overflow boxes. I plan on using them both as drains and having one return. For the kind of tank I have what do you think is better:

Skimmer --> refugium --> return or Skimmer -->return <--Refugium

I'm still not sure about the return. The tank isn't drilled on the back but I'm considering drilling it as opposed to having the return come over the top. What size hole should I drill?

I'll take any advice. Thanks for your time

William
 
Hi William,

I prefer the Skimmer => Return <= Refugium set up, because it allows you to have a taller section for the refugium zone, plus you can regulate the flow rates to the two different zones (75% to the skimmer, 25% to the refugium).

I wouldn't drill the tank for the return line, just have it come up over the back and into the tank. A 1" return line is plenty, but if you prefer a little smaller, 3/4" should be used.
 
@Renmar wrote:
Is there an added benefit to having the return in the middle said:
The main benefit is that you're able to control the flow going through the refugium independently of the flow going into the skimmer section. In a skimmer->refugium->return setup, the refugium has no choice but to take whatever flow goes into the skimmer section, which might be too much for a refugium (although I've had success with high flow going through my refugium before).
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@Incaico wrote:
Do you control the flow by adding a valve on the return line/pvc? Sorry for the newbie question. said:
Right. You divert water towards the refugium either by splitting your overflow (to send water to the skimmer section and the refugium, with each having a ball valve to control flow) or by splitting your return, with one line goine back up to the tank, and the other going to the refugium. You'd put a valve on the line going back to the refugium.
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@Incaico wrote:
joel do you have a good link to building this type of refugium? said:
The best all-encompassing link is Marc's website: http://www.melevsreef.com/

Specifically, the refugium I describe is like his Model E sump: http://www.melevsreef.com/acrylics/sumps/e/sump_model_e.html

The refugium is one of the compartments of the sump.
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I started doing more research on Melevreef and found this setup that I like.

http://www.melevsreef.com/acrylics/sumps/g/sump_model_g.html

Do you advise setting up the chamber for rubble rock to reduce bubbles? Is it necessary to reduce bubbles if the water is going into a skimmer (only a newbie would ask this?)
 
Yes, you want to reduce the bubbles anywhere you can. That way they are less likely to make it into the return section and into the return pump, which avoids seeing them in the display tank.
 
Yes, as Marc mentions, you really want to take care of those bubbles so they don't make their way back up to your display. In your sump, there the two main causes for micro-bubbles are your overflow (the water coming into your sump from the display) and the skimmer's output. Most skimmers are pretty good about not letting any bubbles out, but it still happens. For eliminating bubbles from your overflow, the column of rubble rock is one way to do it, though I didn't do that.

For my overflow, I decided to improvise a bubbletrap out of drain pipe - the kind they use for french drains, if you're familiar with those.

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The drain pipe has slots cut out on the bottom allowing water to escape, but the theory is that any bubbles will float to the top and stay there. :) I also have baffles as a second line of defense. Works pretty well.
 
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