Dividing your sump

[Brian]

Ok I have a 125 and a 55 sump. I would like to be able to seperate the sump into 3 sections. One for the overflow to drain into, another for the fuge, and lastly one for the return pump and skimmer. I have thought about putting the skimmer where the overflow drains but not sure yet. What is the best to use to seperate the sections? Do most just use glass cut to the right size and caulk into place? I'm just worried that stuff from my fuge will get sucked up by my return pump and create problems.

 

Thanks.

[BeltwayBandit]

As far as dividing the sump, yes it is quite common. Most people put the skimmer after the refugium section (I think). The idea being that you don't strip the nutrients out of the water before running them through the 'fuge section. As far as dividers go, I have used the thin cheap acrylic from Home Depot with success. It is much easier to work with than glass. Just cut to fit and use silicone to hold it in place.

[NightOwl]

Brian,

Here is some good info if you have not visited his site before Melev's Reef. There is tons of infomation on building anything from sumps to topdown camera boxes.

 

Hope that helps,

 

Henry

[Black Mammoth]

I like to do two sections in my sump. Water comes in to the fuge so it can constantly move the cheato around. Then the other section has my heaters, auto top off, skimmer, UV sterilizer, and return. My skimmer and UV sterilizer dumps out back to the fuge side to reduce microbubbles and to help with the flow.

[Guest JasonD]

Would you say it's better to have as large as possible return section or a small as possible return section to reduce evaporation (thus having to top off less frequently)?

 

Part of me thinks that bigger is better -- by having more volume it will take longer for the sump to get to a dangerously low level. But the other part says a larger surface area and volume means more evaporation can take place and you'll run out of water sooner.

 

I've never done this before so I have no experience to go on.

[extreme_tooth_decay]

Ok I have a 125 and a 55 sump.

Me too.

I would like to be able to seperate the sump into 3 sections.

One for the overflow to drain into, another for the fuge, and lastly one for the return pump and skimmer.

That's what I did. I used glass I bought at Lowes, they cut it for me.

Some of it has since cracked. It's very thin. If I had it to do over again,

I'd use acrylic, or 2 sheets of thin glass, or find thicker glass.

 

I think it's a good design, I haven't had any problems.

 

tim

Edited April 6, 2007 by extreme_tooth_decay

[jason the filter freak]

WHats a good long term way to glue everything in place?

[rsarvis]

I only have a few months of experience, but one of my biggest wishes is that I had a larger return section so i didn't have to worry about topping off pretty much every day. I would definitely like to rig some sort of auto-top-off at some point.

 

I think the extra marginal evaporation from having a slightly larger sump isn't that big a deal compared to the larger volume.

 

 

Would you say it's better to have as large as possible return section or a small as possible return section to reduce evaporation (thus having to top off less frequently)?

 

Part of me thinks that bigger is better -- by having more volume it will take longer for the sump to get to a dangerously low level. But the other part says a larger surface area and volume means more evaporation can take place and you'll run out of water sooner.

 

I've never done this before so I have no experience to go on.

[YBeNormal]

Definately not "as small as possible". No matter how well you watch your system, something will leak one day or you will forget to top off the tank and the return section will run dry, possibly burning out in the process. How large of an area you devote to the return depends on the size of the system and what you plan on having in your sump/refugium.

 

Checks out Melev's site for ideas and advice and visit some of the local tanks If you have time. Most people with gladly tell you what they like and don't like about their setup and what they would change if they could start over.

[bigJPDC]

WHats a good long term way to glue everything in place?

 

 

GE silicone II?