After receiving some ‘constructive criticism’ on my sump plans I decided to toss out my previous ideas. I have been searching for some better layouts and I think I found one. 
The only part I’m unsure about is baffle heights.
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Is the bottom open between the sock chamber and the skimmer chamber?
Looks good
[quote=“ricerocketms, post:2, topic:8571”]
Is the bottom open between the sock chamber and the skimmer chamber?[/quote]
Looks like glass is open down the sides of the sock holder
Yeah hard to tell from the pic. If it is, then that setup looks great.
Shouldn’t you have a opening about mid height of the wall after the skimmer going into the fuge section? That way the whole fuge area gets water flow not just the top.
Most skimmers need around 8-10 inches of water to function at peak performance.
here is the build thread for that sump and the tank it’s on, the pane after the socks it 1 3/4 off the bottom.
I’d make that fuge smaller and the return section larger, unless you are using an ATO. The return section is where evaporation affects water level. The larger this section, the more time you have before you need to top off.
I will be using an ato
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[quote=“icecool2, post:9, topic:8571”]
I’d make that fuge smaller and the return section larger, unless you are using an ATO. The return section is where evaporation affects water level. The larger this section, the more time you have before you need to top off.[/quote]
Why does everybody say this? Thats why if your using fans to cool the tank they need to blow on the water surface.The evaporation happens with the aspiration of the water splashing into the sump. Example, put a bucket of water in the corner and see how long it takes to evaporate. Take another bucket and put an airstone in it and see which needs to be filled first. Dont get me wrong you will get evaporation from all the open areas.
I only say this from experience, my sump is massve, its in my basement and my basememt is 40% humidity and the pump side of my sump is covered. Now the opposite side of my sump where all the water comes into is covered with plastic, i found that with that side of the sump covered my basement stays dry and dehumidifier doesnt run much till the summer. So if you concerned about evaporation, the solution is to cover tha area your concerned with
I read online that the ideal refugium size is 20% of the display. Leaving me with a 70ish gallon refugium in my sump. If I had the refugium filled to the top it would be 56x18x16
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No no. I’m not talking about water evaporating from that spot. I’m saying that the water level change only impacts that spot.
[quote=“icecool2, post:13, topic:8571”]
No no. I’m not talking about water evaporating from that spot. I’m saying that the water level change only impacts that spot.[/quote]
That is only true if the sump level is AT the height of the bubble trap. If you keep your level higher like I do, it needs to evaporate down to the bubble trap level, then the pump chamber will evaporate like your saying.
[quote=“JustSumGuy, post:6, topic:8571”]
Shouldn’t you have a opening about mid height of the wall after the skimmer going into the fuge section? That way the whole fuge area gets water flow not just the top.[/quote]
That was my biggest complaint as well. This leads to an unstable temperature because there isn’t much flow over the heater. See Jason’s build thread, he had this problem.
http://delreefclub.org/smf/index.php?topic=8739.150
It would be better to place the heater under the filter socks and skimmer.
Looks like this is a better layout all around. Right?
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Ya, the layouts good, I’d just move some of the baffles up/down.
That sounds reasonable
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