Please help me design this sump.....

[we4wieners]

Its a 30g sump that I have used for my reef for a couple of years. I cleaned it up and now want to utilize it as a sump for a 100g freshwater tank. I am transferring my fresh 65g into the 90g. I have a Rena XP4 runnning with a load of media that I can move into the sump. Not sure where to put stuff....pot scrubbers? By the way, the skimmer is just for sizing. Its junk! Also the tank can be sun around so the baffles are at the other end. The drain from the display tank is on the left. So, the flow will be from left to right.

 

[we4wieners]

just a lil help.

 

[Gill Blue]

the way I'm looking at it, it's not a good design. it's made to run water over the top of the baffles which won't force any water through the media.
even if you wanted to do a wet/dry you'd need to be able to lower the level of the baffles to keep the media out of the water. or raise some up.
how was it run before?
water into the skimmer section, live rock or algae in the next, through the bubble trap (not supposed to need them in freshwater sumps), then out?
if it was me, I'd probably pull out the baffles and start over. at the very least I'd spin it around and move the first baffle up an inch from the bottom. but I'm a sump newbie and haven't even built the sump I designed yet (soon) , probably best not to listen to me.

 

[creativityasaweapon]

If you don't want to pull all the baffles out, just pull the one on the far right and raise it a bit so water can flow under that, then one smaller one the height of your pump to keep the water level up. You would put your scrubbies in the center, and have a drip plate to distribute the water over them. You could build a little shelf about an inch high out of egg crate and pvc to keep the scrubbies at a decent height and you could put your heaters under that. The compartment on the left looks big enough to throw some filter socks in there, which I am a fan of.

 

[boldtogether]

That design looks like a refugium. A trickle filter needs the media suspended out of the water. I would just replace the single baffle on the right with one half that height. The media will need to sit just above the shorter weir. The space below, or next to it will be where you put the return. Freshwater sumps are very simple since there is no need for a separate chamber for the skimmer. Now if it is going to have media that is submerged, like Matrix or some such sintered glass bio-media, than the design is fine. I would fill the first chamber on the right with mechanical, like filter floss or whatever, use the middle chamber for bio and keep the return pump where it is in the third chamber. You could also put bio in the first chamber on the right as long as you had mechanical above it. The mechanical needs to be suspended above the water as it doesnt work well submerged.

 

[creativityasaweapon]

Sorry if I was confusing, my advice was if the return was all the way to the right.

 

[we4wieners]

That design looks like a refugium. A trickle filter needs the media suspended out of the water. I would just replace the single baffle on the right with one half that height. The media will need to sit just above the shorter weir. The space below, or next to it will be where you put the return. Freshwater sumps are very simple since there is no need for a separate chamber for the skimmer. Now if it is going to have media that is submerged, like Matrix or some such sintered glass bio-media, than the design is fine. I would fill the first chamber on the right with mechanical, like filter floss or whatever, use the middle chamber for bio and keep the return pump where it is in the third chamber. You could also put bio in the first chamber on the right as long as you had mechanical above it. The mechanical needs to be suspended above the water as it doesnt work well submerged.

I used the sump in reverse with the baffles on the right. Should I simply start a wet dry? Id like to use the sump however I cant find any sample pics. I can remove any of the glass baffles in necessary.

 

[Gill Blue]

I cant find any sample pics.

try the diy filter section. there's dozens. mine is on the first page with at least 7 other peoples and there are 1496 post total. plenty to look through.

 

[we4wieners]

try the diy filter section. there's dozens. mine is on the first page with at least 7 other peoples and there are 1496 post total. plenty to look through.

Thank you!