Sump Design

[ozzyboo]

I have a rough idea of how I want my sump to be laid out,This sump and the eheim 2078e will be filtering a 250

But I am not sure what to put in the 18" section in grey.I have thought about more bio media but with the 28l in there plus another 8L in my 2078e I think I probably have enough bio media.I also considered a DSB but not really sure if that is a good idea or maybe a refugium for plants but as the main tank will be planted not really sure what benefit one will be.
So I would welcome opinions on the above also any other advice,changes you would make to the overall layout.

 

[watercrawl]

Kind of confused by your design. I, with my outstanding Paint skills, drew in the path the water will take with your baffle arrangement. You show egg crate & filter floss about the first bio chamber but the water won't pass over that with the baffle arrangement you have designed.

Also, with a filter sock, you won't need the filter floss as the filter sock will be finer than the floss unless you get micron felt in place of the floss. The floss should come before either a filter sock or micron felt.

For the center chamber, put your heater in there. That's all I currently have in mine.

 

[brookers]

all your bio media is submerged, why dont you raise it out of the water in a trickle tower. the oxygen around the media will increase its effiency many times over a submerged set up. you could then put a piece of condensation tray on top with holes drilled in it for even distribution of water over your media, then a layer of floss on top of that .

heres a pic of mine.

 

[ozzyboo]

Kind of confused by your design. I, with my outstanding Paint skills, drew in the path the water will take with your baffle arrangement. You show egg crate & filter floss about the first bio chamber but the water won't pass over that with the baffle arrangement you have designed.

Also, with a filter sock, you won't need the filter floss as the filter sock will be finer than the floss unless you get micron felt in place of the floss. The floss should come before either a filter sock or micron felt.

For the center chamber, put your heater in there. That's all I currently have in mine.

The only reason the filter floss and eggcrate are above the first bio chamber is in case the filter sock becomes blocked and overflows as seems to happen sometimes. I just dont want to contaminate my bio media with a load of gunk,I suppose it is a belt and braces approach just in case.
I intend to put two heaters in the sump,but wanted opinons on if there was something that I could put in the spare 18" that I have that would inhance my filtration in any way.Also the sump will have an auto water changer built into it.

all your bio media is submerged, why dont you raise it out of the water in a trickle tower. the oxygen around the media will increase its effiency many times over a submerged set up. you could then put a piece of condensation tray on top with holes drilled in it for even distribution of water over your media, then a layer of floss on top of that .

I did consider using a wet and dry trickle type system but I have been adviced by she who must be obeyed that there must be no water noise from the sump LOL.
Also I am intending to use seachem matrix,eheim substrate or pumice gravle for the bio media all seem to work fine fully submerged and I expect there to be plenty of oxygenation in the sump,But it may be something to consideras I have the extra space,could maybe move the bio along and build some sort of trickle tower,food for thought.

 

[jcardona1]

Looks like a good setup! And good choice on submerged ceramic media. Much better than exposed traditional media.

 

[brookers]

^ what !!!

 

[the-obstacle]

I like the idea of the refugium - I have a bunch of fry trying like crazy to grow out in my community tank but they ultimately get eaten as soon as the mother leaves them for a bit or the other fish get really hungry and fight her for them - it'd be great to have a place to grow out the fry while keeping them in the 'same tank' as it were. Actually - I've just decided to update my sump design

 

[Crispy]

how bout a couple sponge filters? they come in very handy for seeding new tanks and power outages.

 

[earthstudent]

^ what !!!

My thoughts exactly.

 

[watercrawl]

The only reason the filter floss and eggcrate are above the first bio chamber is in case the filter sock becomes blocked and overflows as seems to happen sometimes. I just dont want to contaminate my bio media with a load of gunk,I suppose it is a belt and braces approach just in case.
I intend to put two heaters in the sump,but wanted opinons on if there was something that I could put in the spare 18" that I have that would inhance my filtration in any way.Also the sump will have an auto water changer built into it.

Ahh, gotcha!!

Another thing I'd add is to not take any of the baffles all the way to top of the sump for the same basic reason. You don't want water to ever overflow the sump if there is blockage. With a baffle that goes to the top, that is a ,albeit a very slim, possibility.

Also, I would remove the first baffle of the last series of baffles. The way you have it drawn now, the water will enter through the top. I'm going to make an assumption as outlined below that you want the water to leave the second bio chamber from the top. If that assumption is correct, the water will flow across the top of the middle 18" chamber and the water in the bottom will become kind of stagnant as it will flow from top to top. If you remove that first baffle in the last series, and seal the last baffle of the second bio chamber to the bottom, the water will flow from the top of the last/second bio chamber to the bottom of the first open baffle that creates the return pump chamber. This should be illustrated well enough in my revised picture of your sump, but I'm confusing myself writing this. Hope it makes sense.

Lastly, and I didn't catch this the first time, I reattached your picture again. The last baffle for the second bio chamber has to be sealed to the bottom of the tank otherwise the water will not flow through it as I originally drew the water path. The water will flow to the bottom of the first bio chamber and the laterally out the bottom of the second chamber without passing over the media. Water will take the path of least resistance.

Oh, wait, one more thing. Make the last baffle in the pump return chamber be just as tall as it needs to be for the return pump's minimum water depth. That way, you run the least risk of running that chamber dry.