Newest sump design...

[Conner]

In both drawings the flaw would be that as water fills from the bottom of the second chamber it will push you filters up and out unless you weigh it down. You would need to create a chamber between the 1 & 2 chamber allowing the water to flow downward through the media. This would also act as a bypass when the media gets clogged it would flow over the first chamber and be filtered by the next set of media.

Not necessarily. I will be cutting the media slightly larger than the chamber, so it should be a snug fit. I may also silicone in some supports to help hold them down.

Adding another chamber will require adding another divider, which I don't want to do. It also takes up unnecessary space. It will work fine this way, I'm pretty sure.

 

[fox3]

The pump well appears to be large enough to overflow the display in the event of blockage of your drain. Not likely to happen but something that needs to be considered.

Consider sizing the pump well volume to only hold the volume of your display from its normal operating level to its rim. This way the pump runs dry before floor gets wet.

Mebbe having the baffle in the pump well go to the bottom of the sump might accomplish this with this design.

 

[Conner]

The pump well appears to be large enough to overflow the display in the event of blockage of your drain. Not likely to happen but something that needs to be considered.

Consider sizing the pump well volume to only hold the volume of your display from its normal operating level to its rim. This way the pump runs dry before floor gets wet.

Mebbe having the baffle in the pump well go to the bottom of the sump might accomplish this with this design.

There are dual drains, so the likelihood of both of them clogging is very remote. I've got two tanks right now with dual overflows, and I've never even had one of them clog in over 2 years of running.

I do see what you're saying though. I may go with the second design I posted, which would decrease the are that the pump could empty in case of a blockage.

 

[The1and only]

I would put a 50 micro filter sock first then just do one tray of filter floss and a lot of bio. I love my 100 micron filter socks on my sump the dirtier they get the more they catch. It takes me all of 2 minuets to switch them out.

 

[Conner]

I would put a 50 micro filter sock first then just do one tray of filter floss and a lot of bio. I love my 100 micron filter socks on my sump the dirtier they get the more they catch. It takes me all of 2 minuets to switch them out.

I use a 100 micron filter sock right now as my primary mechanical filtration, and I hate it. I have to change it out every 48 hours, or its overflowing (which makes it completely useless).

I'm looking for media that won't clog so fast, so that I can go at least a week between cleanings. Whats the point in going to all this trouble to design a sump if I have to change media every other day?

I wouldn't mind using filters socks later in the filtration (if I could figure out how), but I won't ever use them as the first step of a filter again. Too much hassle, no matter how well they filter.

 

[fox3]

There are dual drains, so the likelihood of both of them clogging is very remote.

I agree not likely that it would happen. Just saying it might be something to consider. I hate having to add for evaporation between WC's so I have my pump well sized very close to the overflow limit also.

 

[poly-nomial]

I'm gonna ask a silly question. How and what holds the baffles in mid water?

 

[redtailshark1]

the first one.
To solve the fatal flaw you could use egg crate on top that is hinged or clamped somehow.

 

[skylineiz]

just another question, as i am concidering doing a similar design in the near future,
say your pump does 5000L p/h, can your water flow throw all the chambers quick enough, not to starve the pump? obviously with alot of filter floss, etc it will slow the rate down quite some bit, or is it fine, as long as the water is pouring in fast enough from the weir.

hopefuly that makes sence,

nice design btw, personaly i would go Mass filter floss at the start, and mass bio at the end, I would use a 4ft tank in as my sump and leave a 1ft space to have other fish, (convict breeders and perpermints etc) just before it gets pumped out, do you think your design would satisfy that requirement?

Note: Id put mesh over the dividers to make sure fish dont go into other sections.

 

[Conner]

just another question, as i am concidering doing a similar design in the near future,
say your pump does 5000L p/h, can your water flow throw all the chambers quick enough, not to starve the pump? obviously with alot of filter floss, etc it will slow the rate down quite some bit, or is it fine, as long as the water is pouring in fast enough from the weir.

hopefuly that makes sence,

nice design btw, personaly i would go Mass filter floss at the start, and mass bio at the end, I would use a 4ft tank in as my sump and leave a 1ft space to have other fish, (convict breeders and perpermints etc) just before it gets pumped out, do you think your design would satisfy that requirement?

Note: Id put mesh over the dividers to make sure fish dont go into other sections.

As long as you leave enough room between the dividers, they can handle the flow just fine. And as for media slowing it down, you want to use fine enough media to efficiently filter the media, but not so fine (or rather, don't let it get so clogged) that it restricts water flow. That can be a kind of balancing act to figure out sometimes.

You can definitely install a "refugium" or growout area for feeders in the sump, many people have done this. I actually thought about making a 4 foot tank and doing this myself, but decided I didn't want to. Its just easier for me to keep my convict breeders in another tank.