Sump Design Help!

[nguyenz]

Looks like there is no pre filter for the water before it goes to the bio balls. Maybe you can have the filter fiber materials in first chamber then bioballs in other cambers.

Maybe you can drill lots of small holes throughout the separation walls (top, middle and bottom) to get the water to distribute throughout the tank. I think this would be a simple and cheap solution without major sump redesign and fabrication.

 

[Donny417]

Thanks for the comments. If anyone has some design ideas, like where I should add dividers, please let me know.

I'll start work on it this next weekend when I have some more ideas. Thanks for the advise.

 

[r0adk1ll88]

Hope this isn't too late, but couldn't he just raise the first wall to above the water line? The flow would then come from the top out of the bottom and continue up and down until the sump well. I haven't built one and am just starting my research but that seems like a good flow pattern.

 

[CHOMPERS]

Are you sure you have this drawing right ? The way you have it the first three sections do nothing as the water just flows over the top and not through anything.

It is strange that you accuse other people of not knowing the first thing of what they are talking about when in reality, you are the person that doesn't.

It is a classic saltwater sump. They are designed like that for a reason.

 

[CHOMPERS]

Discard the sand. A DSB in a freshwater tank is a bad idea. They work in marine environments because it is a different bacteria. In freshwater there is a high probability of the anaerobic bacteria producing lethal amounts of hydrogen sulfide. It gets stored up in the sand, and when it is finally released it gets released in large volumes.

You could sell the pump and fuge, and then use the money to buy a tank to make a wet/dry and a submersible pump.

If the sump is glass with glass baffles, they are pretty easy to remove with a razor blade. You could redesign the sump to any configuration. Or you could add baffles for an easy conversion to a wet sump.

 

[nguyenz]

Hey you think this will work. check out the picture. But you have to get some sheets of glass or acrylic and modify it. I think this will work what you guys think.

 

[CHOMPERS]

Looks like a winner.

 

[small_fry]

out of curiosity, why not just reverse the sump. i.e. change the outlet to the inlet and vice versa. shouldnt that work?

 

[r0adk1ll88]

out of curiosity, why not just reverse the sump. i.e. change the outlet to the inlet and vice versa. shouldnt that work?

The dead spots would still be present at the final chambers of the sump.

 

[CHOMPERS]

out of curiosity, why not just reverse the sump. i.e. change the outlet to the inlet and vice versa. shouldnt that work?

I had considered it, but the pump that came with the system is an external pump. To make it work, he would have to buy another pump which would tick off the wife. It would also require the addition of one or two more baffles to make it work well, so he may as well stay with the external pump.