DIY 20g Long Sump Design Help

[Tokeisch]

Ok. Some advice here. Creating a model of my sump I wanna build. Check out pics and give me some input about it.

...the input will run into a silencer into the chamber then overflow into the 4 inch sock, through the bubble killer into the large skimmer area and then through another bubble killer to a return area.

This is my first crack at making my own sump. All the interior will be 1/4 inch glass with the top pieces acrylic.

I was considering just a intake flow to sock then to small sump area and a minimal return area. The rest would be a ATO container. Still coming up with more ideas.

Thanks for your inputs. All will be considered.

 

[redfishbluefish]

Only need one bubble trap right before the return section. No need to remove bubbles going into that center section.

 

[Tokeisch]

Hmmm... Ok. Great point! Thanks

 

[Idoc]

If you get rid of that first bubble trap, you can then move the opening to the skimmer section to the bottom of the tank rather than the cutout you have in the middle of that pain of glass (cardboard). I would imagine having it where you have it will cause all kinds of stuff to collect around the bottom of the filter sock...possibly. Also, I would create a bigger "safety overflow" to go over the pain of glass into the skimmer section just in case...the way it is now is difficult to see if you have this safety cutout or whether it is only about 1/2" lower than the top of the tank. If there is a big problem, water is going to have a hard time only going over that small top cutout and may overflow your sump.

But, since space is really limited, you might want to consider an open sump design with only one set of baffles as a bubble trap before the return...the intake and filter sock design takes up a lot of space rather than having a single hang on the side filter sock holder with a drain line running into it. I'm back and forth trying to make up my mind on my buildout of a 40g breeder sump! My design is basically similar to a Trigger sump design...kind of like yours. I've already made a few changes to the design...cutting the refugium down to 6" width, increasing return area to 8" width, making the second baffles before the return only 1" apart...which then gives me a larger skimmer section for additional equipment I might want to add later! I really only want a small refugium to help with some nutrient export with chaeto growth but mainly want to be able to grow copepods for later!

 

[Va_Reef]

In my opinion, I'd try to fit two socks, one is gonna get dirty pretty quickly.

What are you doing in the middle section? You could in theory "box" off the skimmer and use the rest of the area to grow chaeto.

I've drawn up a couple ideas for a 40b sump, not sure which id use.

I am aware they aren't beautiful lol