Sump remodel

[jrlg]

I bought a tank, stand and sump recently and I want something different out of the sump, I want a refugium, it is made with glass and the baffles are glued in already but the design does not work for a refugium at all.... here is the current set up.

to scale with every square equals 2 inches square the tank is a 200 gallon 84.5x24x25.5 and he wanted a swim tank I want a reef so this sump doesn't give me much to work with.

here is my idea


this is rough and mostly to scale, I have an idea for skimmer and pumps, and I will have 9 gallons extra in the sump on protein skimmer and pump side, the refugium side will have 4 gallons as well. I also plan on a ATO with 10 gallon tank reservoir. my heaters have room in the sump and any reactor will be mounted outside of sump.
Is this over reaching for what I have or should I just have an external refugium and use all the empty space for redundancy on the current set up?

 

[pluikens]

I like the new plan. I'm a fan of refugiums, especially in-sump where all of the water has to pass through them. Would you consider another baffle immediately after your skimmer so the water has to go under first before going over onto the shelf? I've never used a shelf and all bubbles probably get trapped in the mechanical filtration there, I just like the idea of under-over-under baffles between the skimmer and return pumps. As for the bio media/plates, what do you think about making some baffles the plates can fit in so the water has to pass through them? If they're just laying low on the bottom in the refugium, I don't know if you'd get as much flow through them as you could. Maybe you could move the drawn baffles and put them between the over and under baffles immediately following the refugium?

 

[jrlg]

As for the bio media/plates, what do you think about making some baffles the plates can fit in so the water has to pass through them? If they're just laying low on the bottom in the refugium, I don't know if you'd get as much flow through them as you could. Maybe you could move the drawn baffles and put them between the over and under baffles immediately following the refugium?

this is why I posted on here, I like the idea of the bio media between the baffles, maybe I can make the refugium a inch shorter and make the baffles 1.5 inches apart. as for the baffle between the skimmer and return the shelf was gonna be for carbon bags so would I need another baffle if the bags are laying across the whole shelf.

 

[pluikens]

Looking at it again, I think you should be ok with the baffles you have there for catching bubbles. I drew in some water on your drawing. What I circled in red should be your final bubble trap baffle as the surface water is going to stop there until it goes through the carbon and under that baffle.

 

[jrlg]

so this is the new plans not to scale done on paint, I will have two bubble traps so I have more space for bio media stones upright and the baffle to the far right will be higher than the water level so I can drill into the baffle for the extra shut off valve so its not drilled into the tank its self (don't know if tempered)

@pluikens thank you for the input

 

[pluikens]

Looks great! For the under baffles after the refugium section and skimmer section, will the baffles go down to about 1.5 inches from the bottom? I'm not sure if that's related to the drawing not to scale it if you were actually going to stop the so high. Also the under baffles only have to go a little higher than the next water level. Like your first under baffle, it only needs to go a little higher than the 8 inch water level that the skimmer is at.

 

[jrlg]

yes the under baffles will be only 1.5 from the bottom its a very bad not to scale drawing, and I will make the baffles shorter

 

[siggy]

14" is tight for a skimmer and might limit you down the road seeing that this will be for a 200 gallon system, I was limited on skimmers when shopped. Maybe shop skimmers and foot prints for a 200g sys.

Thats is going to be a dandy any way you go

 

[jsker]

I bought a tank, stand and sump recently and I want something different out of the sump, I want a refugium, it is made with glass and the baffles are glued in already but the design does not work for a refugium at all.... here is the current set up.

to scale with every square equals 2 inches square the tank is a 200 gallon 84.5x24x25.5 and he wanted a swim tank I want a reef so this sump doesn't give me much to work with.

here is my idea


this is rough and mostly to scale, I have an idea for skimmer and pumps, and I will have 9 gallons extra in the sump on protein skimmer and pump side, the refugium side will have 4 gallons as well. I also plan on a ATO with 10 gallon tank reservoir. my heaters have room in the sump and any reactor will be mounted outside of sump.
Is this over reaching for what I have or should I just have an external refugium and use all the empty space for redundancy on the current set up?

I would suggest cutting the first 12" baffle down to 8" or the whole side will be at 12"

 

[jrlg]

14" is tight for a skimmer and might limit you down the road seeing that this will be for a 200 gallon system, I was limited on skimmers when shopped. Maybe shop skimmers and foot prints for a 200g sys.

320DC
Protein Skimmer
Air intake: 600-1,200 L/h

Consumption: 14-28 watts

Controller: Included

Dimensions: 9.1“ x 8.3” x 21.3”

Stocking Level:
Light bio-load: up to 320 gallons
Medium bio-load: up to 240 gallons
Heavy bio-load: up to 160 gallons



OR -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

540DC
Protein Skimmer
Air intake: 900-1,800 L/h

Consumption: 13-35 watts

Controller: Included

Dimensions: 9.9“ x 11” x 22”

Stocking Level:
Light bio-load: up to 540 gallons
Medium bio-load: up to 405 gallons
Heavy bio-load: up to 270 gallons



Item #: SIM1007

I will have 12 x 14 to work with, defiantly going for a model with internal pump

 

[jrlg]

I would suggest cutting the first 12" baffle down to 8" or the whole side will be at 12"

the left compartment will be the refugium, I was planning on the refugium being a 24x12x12 compartment.

 

[siggy]

I will have 12 x 14 to work with, defiantly going for a model with internal pump

Agreed 24 x 14 will make a nice one. I was looking at those skimmers But went with a Reef octopus 150ss for the pump and control. I only mentioned it because I shopped the next step up from the entry model and recall a over 14" on the foot print for 200 gallon. Good luck

Hey My LFS told me while looking for a skimmer " If its Big like elephant It POOPS like Elephant" go for the larger one if you can.




Reef Octopus
REGAL 200INT 8" INTERNAL PROTEIN SKIMMER (VARIOS)
BRS Recommended for tanks up to:

• Heavy Bioload (Most Common) - 175 Gallons
• Medium Bioload - 250 Gallons
• Light Bioload - 400 gallons

Reef Octopus In Sump 10" Protein Skimmer from Reef Octopus - with a controllable VarioS DC pumps to process more or less water, depending on your setup.

• Footprint - 14.6" x 9.8″
• Height - 23.4″
• Recommended Water Height: 7"-8.5"

 

[jrlg]

Newest design right here, I will be making it after I buy the pumps and skimmer so I can make sure they fit, I want to do the triton method and the refugium will have a 12x12x24.5 volume so only 15 gallons, can I make that work or will I struggle with the system, the sump came with the tank custom made and I am changing the baffles to this, the total volume of it is 45 gallons.

 

[jrlg]

with any remodel you got to break down to build here's my progress

googled how to remove silicone, went with the razor blade and cutting method don't want to heat the silicone that will not be removed on the bottom its slow but no scratches on the glass, and not going the cheap route I have ordered the new glass buffers to be cut to spec so I have some time

 

[jrlg]

If installing baffles was only this easy, got the old baffles cleaned out and drew up the new plan on the side, I still wonder if this leaves enough for the refugium, I was lusty for a refugium with my last tank so this project is what I wanted and enjoy doing, a custom design to my desires, I even bought 3/16 glass for the new baffles and they are on the way. the only thing I don't like is the width of the tank, only 12 inches, a little narrow.

chambered right to left, probably the way I will install
return chamber =10"
media chamber =2"
bubble trap 1.5" (for bio media) 1.0" =2.5" total
protein skimmer =14"
bubble trap 1.5" (for bio media) 1.0" =2.5" total
refugium =26"
the baffles account for =1 .31"

I will not be setting up until I buy the return pumps and skimmer so I will least know the original equipment will fit

 

[jrlg]

so looking for experience here, I custom ordered the baffles for the tank and got 3/16 in thickness instead of 1/4, will that work or will I be sorry I install them down the road, (I know there is only a difference of 1/16 inch just want to know what the rest think)

 

[jrlg]

So with any remodel plans change, I was looking at the premade sumps and noticed there was only one bubble trap before the return section. So this new design gets me closer to 2o gallons for the refugium. The biggest change are the baffles between the refugium and the protein skimmer there are just two, one 12 inches tall and a second baffle will have a 8 inch gap from the bottom to keep the splash down into the skimmer and also to act as a wall to mount a screen to prevent any critters from crawling over. Here is the drawing not to scale

 

[siggy]

This is what I learned from my mod to Triton style sump....
I get a lot of Chaeto in the skimmer section after I prune the stuff and It clogs the skimmers needle wheel so I have to break down and clean the skimmer. I plan on adding a course sponge holder to prevent that. ....I also am going to reinstall a sock holder and going to use those cups with filter floss. Too much detritus in the sump and having Phosphate problems, with the 10x turnover its turbulent flow thew the sump is just a mess.
Hope you can use some of this...following along

 

[jrlg]

I was wondering about the chaeto, making a mess, but to be honest Triton is the method I would like to set up for but I don't know if I can get 10x flow. And if I can't I will be happy with a large refugium anyways, (I still would like a mud/sand bed) but if I get the 10x flow with the Herbie over flow that I am plumbing with 1.5 inch drains with 3/4 returns. Then Triton it is. For redundancy I plan on running 2 DC motors with 3200gph each. Note I know 10x flow will make it hard for a sand bed so I will probably just lay down bio media squares

 

[Chef Tommy]

Your baffles look similar to my Triton sump. I have your first 2 baffles switched around to keep my cheato away from the overflow. The second set just has an upflow into return section, I was worried the flow would push out media bags but they are okay.

I could not tell from your design but use smoked glass in the refugium to cut out light from skimmer section.

Really enjoy sump builds!! Thanks for Sharing!