Critique my sump design

[ChrisB]

The plexi is 1/4 "

 

[BioMan]

I have dual return/drains and run mag 9.5 & 7 and my water stays between 76 & 78 always. Thinking about power consumption I prob should scrap the 7 and put a mp10 in there,,decisions decisions.
I just built my own sump/refugium and found that keeping my return lines and skimmer as far apart as possible made a pretty clean return pump section.
Also, did you say you were gonna build this,,how do you plan on sealing those baffles your putting in. Silicone gun will never fit. where are the sponges going, if any. Where in the pic was the dual reactor? where is the intake anmd return on that?

 

[ChrisB]

I left a little space so silicone would get threw to other side and also move the baffle a little so silicone would spread. I used GE silicone 1.

 

[Bikeboss11]

Hey BioMan, sorry for the crapy drawing maybe I should have placed arrows in the picture naming everything..... The dual reactor wasn't placed in the picture because I figured that it can be placed anywhere in the stand.... My drain and return lines are about 5" away from the left and right side of the display tank. i am not sure if to run a drain line each in the skimmer and refugium section but i hope to have them both empty into a filtersock thus reducing the chance of detritus accumulating. From the middle section, if I go with just the mag 18 I would use a Y barb fitting to split the return line and feed both returns in the DT. The space between the first 3 baffles would be1.5 inches so after completely siliconing the first baffle I plan to run a bead of silicone on the aquarium glass, then press the 2nd baffle right against it and then run another bead behind that. A butter knife wound be used in the 1.5 inch spaces to paste the silicone to the baffle. It worked for many others so I figured it would work for me....

 

[lnevo]

A trick to doing silicone in tight spaces is to use some tubing and attach it to the tube of silicone. Then you can use the tube as an extension and get into a pretty tight space with a good degree of control

 

[Pazzoman]

Hey look into laguna pond pumps...im getting the 2900 gph size for $180 and consumes 130 watts...not bad especially conpared to mags

 

[Bikeboss11]

A trick to doing silicone in tight spaces is to use some tubing and attach it to the tube of silicone. Then you can use the tube as an extension and get into a pretty tight space with a good degree of control

+1 great idea

 

[saltwaterinbrooklyn]

40s make great sumps with plenty that can be done , like nottick stated those two big mags will boil your water lol look into ehiem 1200 serie of pumps pending your tank size and what you wanna do with them , they are great pumps both in and external .

 

[lnevo]

I think it was vio's but it was a while ago..

 

[Bikeboss11]

Thanks for the advice guys I was not really looking forward to spending more money on another pump but I guess I will be saving money in the long run

 

[BioMan]

Bikeboss11, I am new to this hobby less than 2 years running both a 14 &29 gal bio cube. I got a 1200 months ago, reef ready but they only kept 3 big fish in there and fake rock. I wasn't happy with the size of the sump so I took a 65 gall from my freshwater days that hurricane Sandy ended and copied a design I saw on you tube. It was a 4 or 5 hundred dollar sump I ripped off from triggersystems. The kid reviewing it had the same tank as us and the sumptfit like a glove I'll post a link in a Lil bit. I watched so many videos of sump design and builds and that was my favorite

 

[BioMan]

Plus if there's ever a power problem or pump failure I've got plenty of room for the overflow box to empty

 

[Bikeboss11]

Hey BioMan I am also kinda new to the hobby and I am a strong believer in DIY projects..... I am familiar with the trigger system and the current sump I have on my tank is also a rip off from their design lol..... My only problem with that design is the inability to raise the level of water in the refugium section due to the skimmer being placed in the first section and requiring a particular depth..... A 65 gallon tank is ideal for this set up but due to the height of my stand, the 24"H would have made it a PITA to get my skimmer in and out of the section..... Don't forget to post the link so we all can take a look

 

[BioMan]

Lucky for me the stand has doors on the side which made sliding in and out easy. My phone doesn't upload pics so I'll post a before and after late