txaggies07 December 11, 2007 Share December 11, 2007 29g Sump/Refugium Any comments? Top Down View (Bottom Right is Fuge) 3D 3D Spiffy Piping With Water 3D with Water Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FishWife December 11, 2007 Share December 11, 2007 What pretty pictures! We are redesigning our sump as we move to a bigger tank. The BIGGEST problem with our sump in the current setup was microbubbles. It seems to be a tradeoff between rate of flow thru the sump and microbubble busting. SO, for this reason, I might lower the drop from your bubble trap to the return pump. That big of a drop adds bubbles just at the last minute, defeating the purpose of the bubble trap, in our experience. Also, consider adding a bubble tower to the first return (front left corner)? Here's a picture of one: Melev's Reef site: DIY projects/sumps Just our experience. HTH! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
txaggies07 December 11, 2007 Author Share December 11, 2007 What pretty pictures! We are redesigning our sump as we move to a bigger tank. The BIGGEST problem with our sump in the current setup was microbubbles. It seems to be a tradeoff between rate of flow thru the sump and microbubble busting. SO, for this reason, I might lower the drop from your bubble trap to the return pump. That big of a drop adds bubbles just at the last minute, defeating the purpose of the bubble trap, in our experience. Also, consider adding a bubble tower to the first return (front left corner)? Here's a picture of one: Melev's Reef site: DIY projects/sumps Just our experience. HTH! Grav mentioned the same thing about the bubbles in an email to me. He said what would work well is to use under-over-under instead of over-under-over on the baffles. The water level in that last compartment should be the only thing that fluctuates. I will have it controlled by my ATO, but it has a range of a couple inches. I put the water level a little low in the picture so that you could see it was indeed different. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dhogan December 13, 2007 Share December 13, 2007 (edited) Grav mentioned the same thing about the bubbles in an email to me. He said what would work well is to use under-over-under instead of over-under-over on the baffles. The water level in that last compartment should be the only thing that fluctuates. I will have it controlled by my ATO, but it has a range of a couple inches. I put the water level a little low in the picture so that you could see it was indeed different. Your water level is definitely an issue. I did a basic 3 compartment setup, from L to R. With my drain, skimmer, filtersock in the first. An over under, over, refuge, an over and then the return. My water never goes below the over in the last compartment due to my ATO system, so I never get microbubbles. But if it were to go low (like in your picture, and like when I played around during setup) microbubbles will be an issue. IF you are confident in your ATO to always maintain a high level then I wouldn't worry about it, otherwise you may want to take gravs advice and switch to an over, under. Edited December 13, 2007 by dhogan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
txaggies07 December 13, 2007 Author Share December 13, 2007 Your water level is definitely an issue. I did a basic 3 compartment setup, from L to R. With my drain, skimmer, filtersock in the first. An over under, over, refuge, an over and then the return. My water never goes below the over in the last compartment due to my ATO system, so I never get microbubbles. But if it were to go low (like in your picture, and like when I played around during setup) microbubbles will be an issue. IF you are confident in your ATO to always maintain a high level then I wouldn't worry about it, otherwise you may want to take gravs advice and switch to an over, under. I am going with Grav. I am pretty sure he is going to help me build it too Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flowerseller December 13, 2007 Share December 13, 2007 If you do go under over under, depending on the amount of flow and the water height, due to water speed up, you could draw bubbles in while forcing it to go back under. Many do over under over and keep the level of the return pump area, the last over, close to or at the same height for this reason. Depending upon spacing, you can also create a smaller water addition amount from the ATO. Water flowing in smaller areas speeds up and becomes more turbulent than of same amount in a larger area. Looks like a very nice idea and you might consider spacing the baffles further apart to slow the "flow" down. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jason the filter freak December 13, 2007 Share December 13, 2007 I like the sketchup design, question. It seems awefully tall, what kind of over all height are you looking at and whats the purpose for it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
txaggies07 December 14, 2007 Author Share December 14, 2007 I like the sketchup design, question. It seems awefully tall, what kind of over all height are you looking at and whats the purpose for it? It is 18" tall and it is for maximization of water. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
six-line December 14, 2007 Share December 14, 2007 What size tank are you going to use this for? Your design is similar to on I used on my 29 gallon, except my fuge ran the entire length of the sump. It worked really well, still have in the basement if you Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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