my sump design- appreciate input.

[BarnacleBoy]

so here is my 30 long sump for my 125 long. i have the return in the middle, and the refugium which is about 10 gallons as the last chamber. im going to tee off the return pump for the refuigum. my only concern is that i build my overflow and return chamber walls too tall, for when the return pump is turned off. does anyone know how to determine how high your baffles should be, and what do you think about the height of mine. i have dual overflows in the 125. i havent tested it out yet. not trying to find out by having water all over my floor. thanks guys!

 

[hnurge]

its a math question.
1st - determine what your running and minimum water level will be in the main tank - what you expect the water to be at when its running, and the minimum will be what it drains down to when the pumps are off. then find the difference. for example, in my tank the water drops just under 2 inches. (round to larger number)
2nd -multiply that by the length and width of the display tank. for example, my tank is 18" wide and 72" long, so 18x72x2 = 2592 - so, when my pumps are off my tank will drain 2592 cubic inches of water.
3rd - take the length and width of your sump and find out how many inches of drop you need to equal the same displacement as you got from the main tank.
MainTankDisplacement/(SumpLength x SumpWith) = SumpLevelDrop
for me this was 12x30= 360 (thats 360 cu inches per inch in the sump), 2592/360 = 7.2" - so, a 2" drop in the display = a 7.2" rise in the sump.

one note - if your fuge area is always running full, you can't include it in the area of the sump that will have rising water, so you would only use the area that the water would rise in. also, if your return lines can be adjusted, you can make adjustments - a 2" drop in the main tank may be more than your sump can hold, so adjust it to a 1.5" max drop (and know that if it gets knocked down, you risk having a flood)