Sump Build - Tiny Refugium

[ChrisOz]

Hey All,

Working with what I have been given here as the stand on my 65 tall (36") tank will fit this 17.5 gallon old acrylic miracle "trickle" filter perfectly. I've cut some baffles (might need one more) and have not attached them yet. Looking for opinions.

I'll keep this short, everything is labeled (minus the skimmer and filter sock) and the refugium (teeny!) ends up being about 3.6 gallons (5.5% tank volume)... but I dont really want to run something outside the stand and that's about the most room I can use.

My only concern is that the middle chamber for the return (700 gph, minus about 3.5' head and a SCWD) might be too small? It probably isnt, but something's telling me I should run it past you guys first. The tsunami ATO sensor will be in this chamber as well.

Anyways, here's a pic. I look forward to some tips and your constructive criticism. This is my first sump.



Thank You.

[uncleof6]

Yeah I would say the return section is too small. The "fuge" should be 10% of the DT volume, less than that is not going to do much for you. Easy solution, eliminate the fuge in favor of pump safety. You won't need it at the outset anyway. While the tank cycles etc., you will have time to figure out how to run a 6 or so gallon fuge on the system without it being invasive, or work on a creative sump design.

Jim

[cobra77]

your constantly going to have to add top off water, theres not much room for the water level to stay stable, unless your adding an ato

[ChrisOz]

Thanks for the quick replies fellas.

uncleof6:
What I feared. I think I may just have to eliminate the fuge altogether for now... or perforate the baffle to extend the functioning "return area" of the sump. Some nutrient export is better than no nutrient export until I can figure something more efficient/permanent out. I'm thinking I could place a well hidden powerhead-fed refugium on a lower-rack in a neighboring cabinet with the ATO reserve... gravity-fed back to the return area of the sump.

cobra77:
Not sure if you read my post...

[jcovercash]

Originally Posted by ChrisOz

cobra77:
Not sure if you read my post...

Probably not.... I have noticed a trend of just title reading, picture looking, then replying in a lot of cases. People don't bother to take the time to read a post through.



I'm with Jim though, eliminate the fuge in favor of a larger WC in pump chamber. Such a small fuge, IMO, is not beneficial enough to justify having it.

[ryancaudill]

Is there a way you could mod the skimmer for a smaller footprint and cram it into a smaller skimmer section

[ranjr]

I too have a 65g tall that I'm working on but I'm using a 20L for the sump. Are you set on using the 17.5?? How wide is it? The 20L was the best size I could find that would fit in the stand. I had to remove the center brace and drop it down from the top to even fit it in. There's definitely not much room in there.

[lilredwuck]

I also had this problem of not being able to fit a sump "big" enough for MY liking. Problem was I JUST completely redid the stand from bare wood, built a matching canopy, built my own acrylic overflow, drilled the tank, installed bulkheads, installed Metal Halides, bought a skimmer, built a fan into the back of the canopy, filled tank most of the way with RODI water, and still couldn't figure what I was going to do about a sump. I would make up my mind and change it, becuase it wasn't perfect. I could have had one custom made for me for around $200 from glasscages, which would have been 47 gallons if I remember right, or go with a 20L. Luckily, just I had put it on craigslist, and had been there a couple weeks when someone actually responded. I guess he had looked at other tanks, and wanted something quality made and not blah. LOL. Anyone he took a look and left with only the tank, canopy, stand, and a 29 gallon tank (for a sump, which wouldn't have let me get MY skimmer out if need be) It was too tall. Anyway, I have given it many of thoughts. Here are some choices that might work for you, but not me. Not going to list other materials to use, just different ways/placement of sump. Unsure if anything will work, but brainstorming is the start of many ideas and one might click for you. (I talk too much)

Options even if not good ones might be....

• Get a smaller footprint skimmer
• Run only 1 baffle(for skimmer)
• HOB refuge
• DIY HOB refuge
• Use tank that fits in stand, but hangs out back side
• Have something custom made (glass or acrylic)
• Custom make something
• Pull tank __" from wall and put sump behind stand
• don't use a sump(didn't say all were good ideas)
• Make a three layer sump(stacked)??Untested lol
• use a 55 gallon barrel in a pretty box
• Make a new stand custom to your liking(thought about it, but all that time I spent redoing already, I didn't want to do again)
• Brace unseen side of tank stand and cut side access to house bigger sump. Would allow for longer sump, but then you must make it "look pretty" somehow.
• Try using a turf scrubber, then refuge isn't needed?or is it skimmer? This I understand is a hot topic as to what it replaces.
• Make the sump below tank, put refuge above tank. Unsure about bracing, but some cool stand could be made this way. Just "add" to stand a built on/in bookshelf to one side which will house the refuge above bookshelf, which then can be fed by a pump attatched to a bulkhead from the dt then it would "gravity" feed back to tank

Hmmm that gave me an idea on something. This may take a while.....

[ryancaudill]

I think most people who build custom and use a standard glass tank face the issue of not being able to get enough gallons to their liking because of not being able to get it into the stand. For me the stand I have will only fit a 30" long tank which put me at a 29 gallon tank that was like 18" tall. This didnt work with my skimmer. After examining my stand the back brace is fairly easy to take out (looks like 4 nails). I have not done this yet but after I take it out I will be able to get in a 36" tank which buts me at a 30 gallon only an extra gallon. But the extra 6" gives me a ton more room on the floor of my sump to get everything to fit. Hopefully I dont have to cut anything to get the brace out and their isnt anything glued.

When are stand builders going to realize we all have this problem and and assemble the vertical back braces with screws and not nails (and hopefully not glue).

[ranjr]

The center brace on my stand was held in with small finishing nails. Very easy to knock it out and put back in. I did the center brace at the top because I had the tank off to drill it anyway but the front and back were the same.

[kgross]

Another thing you can do is change the layout completely. Do you skimmer section with a single solid baffle to control water depth, then do your fuge, then a very small section for your return pump, with an eggcrate or some other type of perferated baffle. Then you have a much larger fuge, plus your fuge is actually part of your return section when it comes to water volume. The algae growing in the fuge handles trapping the bubbles from the skimmer.

Kim

[ChrisOz]

Good call Kgross... along the lines of what I was thinking too.

I have a spare 8 gallon AIO setup that fits perfectly in what is now a neighboring cabinet along with my ATO reservoir (IO Bucket). Might use it as a sump... or at least use it to add some volume to the system/ fish time-out via a pair of 3/4" bulkheads and some tasteful tube hiding. Worst case, nice little QT.



*Shelf will be reinforced.

[IndianFeather]

So maybe its just the picture, or my eyes are getting tired, but are all those shelves level?

[Natermotor]

I don't think so....

[scomar31]

Originally Posted by Natermotor

I don't think so....

neither do I...