Hi, first draft of my sump design for a 78" x 30" x 30" tank, sump is 55" x 15" x 18" wide, limited by stand hieght/depth. Any thoughts or critiques welcome.
Freshwater sump advice
- Thread starter Farmerjones
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I would just have the floss foam in the second chamber (after the first crash chamber). Then I'd load the fourth chamber with biomedia and have just some floss foam on top to catch debris from the refugium. I might expand that fourth chamber to hold more biomedia, and the fifth chamber instead be much smaller and basically empty. What that fifth chamber is for would just be to place chemical media if/when needed, otherwise left empty.
I personally think you have several totally superfluous partitions in there.
The third one from the left...it's 4 inches tall...serves no function that I can see.
Partitions 5 and 6...the pair that separates the two biomedia compartments...what exactly is the point of that? Removing those two would create one large compartment that would work equally well.
Finally, at the far right there are three partitions separating the biochamber from the pump chamber. What does the third one accomplish? The first two maintain the water level in the biochamber and refugium...the third seems to do nothing.
IMHO, the fewer partitions, the better. Unnecessary partitions simply take up space, create difficult-to-clean narrow passages and generally get in the way.
The third one from the left...it's 4 inches tall...serves no function that I can see.
Partitions 5 and 6...the pair that separates the two biomedia compartments...what exactly is the point of that? Removing those two would create one large compartment that would work equally well.
Finally, at the far right there are three partitions separating the biochamber from the pump chamber. What does the third one accomplish? The first two maintain the water level in the biochamber and refugium...the third seems to do nothing.
IMHO, the fewer partitions, the better. Unnecessary partitions simply take up space, create difficult-to-clean narrow passages and generally get in the way.
Hi, small third from left is to retain substrate for plants in refugium, I prefer water flow thru filter foam/ media to always be downward in direction, partition 5/6 maintain downward flow and I feel 2 smaller Chambers ensures better flow thru all media than 1 big chamber. Last 3 are to maintain water level and to switch flow into return section to bottom thus cutting down on splashing and therefore noise, wife is very against any noise.
Ah! I stand corrected; a gravel dam...never even considered that! Good idea!
I would still prefer the single large biochamber, but if you prefer the flow through two small ones I doubt it matters much one way or the other. Just more partitions...
I also hadn't considered the noise aspect of the last trio of partitions; one of the benefits of being deaf as a post, as well as having a dedicated fishroom that is kept as wife-nonfriendly as possible.
But...will this configuration actually reduce noise? The water will still overflow and fall to the level in the pump chamber either way. Will the third partition do anything?We need another partition fan who has tried this already to chime in here.
That is a very good point on the last 2 partitions! If removed them and allowed flow from bio media straight into return section would I still get a decent level in there? Might have out thought myself on that one 
That is a very good point on the last 2 partitions! If removed them and allowed flow from bio media straight into return section would I still get a decent level in there? Might have out thought myself on that one
If you removed the last two, the level in the pump chamber would be the same as the level in the second biochamber; you could probably have a part-time wet-dry thing going on there.
You would also find that the water level drop due to evaporation would be much slower in that large chamber, which gives you more leeway before the pump runs dry. But if you removed just the final partition, I don't think you will be affecting anything, including noise....but again, I'm not qualified to comment on the noise aspect. Hoping someone else can comment.
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Thanks this is exactly why I posted it, so many knowledgeable people out there, great to have this resource for help 