another newbie attempting a 80g sw

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
yea Ive got that thread in my favorites. its awesome Ive been following it for a while. i seen your sump design looks well built, I'm going for a trickle filter its not much different is it? just putting the bio balls in the left chamber then it flows into the protein skimmer chamber then to the pump via the "over, under, over dividers to keep the bubbles away from the return pump.

how do you control the water levels in the sump? and the water levels in each chamber?
 
yeah, my freshwater tank has a trickle filter sump with bioballs...its essentially the same with the addition of a bio-ball chamber. The water level in the sump is controlled by a combination of things. The baffles in your sump will control the water levels in the different chambers, and the overflow on your tank should only allow so much water to travel into the sump (without being returned to the tank) before the siphon is broken. It sounds a lot more complicated than it actually is, there doesn't have to be any valves or anything involved, just some kind of overflow, the sump itself, and a return pump.
 
do you just install the baffles a little more that half way to the top, fill the tank then
add water to the sump till its covers the bio balls a little bit?
 
sorry if it seems I'm not understanding you, I'm trying to learn the ins and outs of sump designs. i just don't want to have a sump that doesn't function properly.
 
technically i guess that would be ok, but it seems a little counter-intuitive and it might defeat the purpose of the baffles cuz the return from the skimmer may produce bubbles (depends on how the skimmer return is plumbed). I would try to keep it sectioned off if I was you, but I guess you could try it.
 
yes thats what i was thinking. I'm just gonna add a baffle to the left of the "over under over", and house the skimmer in that.

thanks.
i warned you in your thread that i was going to be picking brains.....so to you i say bottoms up sailor

oh by the way congrats on the 600 posts!!
 
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