SW sump with skimmer and no baffles

[PYRU]

I'm setting up a sump with a skimmer which will have a required water level of around 8. A lot of sw folks recommend baffles.

I know my skimmer will stay at the correct level so am I missing something? Why the hard stance on a baffle? I just want to throw my socks in, skimmer, heater, maybe some chaeto, call it a day

 

[duanes]

I never use baffle in sumps if I can help it, they tend to produce dead spots and (for me) add difficulty to doing maintenance.

 

[Oughtsix]

A single baffle 8" tall will keep the water right at 8" reguardless of evaporation and refills. Or you could use a 12" baffle and put your skimmer on a 4" tall block if you want to run higher than a 8" water level in the sump. I think two baffles the first 12" tall set at the bottom of the tank then a second 12" baffle set 1" up off the bottom of the tank 1" away from the first baffle with filter sponge between them would make for a quieter sump.


I have never used a skimmer... but from your comments I would conclude that skimmers are sensative to water level and small fluctuations in water levels might throw off their efficiency???????


I do agree with you in preferring to keep a sump as simple as possible... but it should still be designed with what ever complexity is needed to make the operation and maintenance of the sump as easy as possible.

 

[PYRU]

I never use baffle in sumps if I can help it, they tend to produce dead spots and (for me) add difficulty to doing maintenance.

Aside from the water level deal do you see anything that would require a baffle to use a skimmer? Majority of saltwater sumps are insanely compartmentalized for no apparent reason from what I'm seeing

I might run a bio pellet reactor on down the road but that's it.

 

[duanes]

With my DIY protein skimmers, more than water level, it seemed to be fluctuation in water flow that most effected their performance. If the mechanical pre filtration media became at all gunked amp, nd restricted strength of flow, this would impede fractionation. I ran two types, counter-current (using venturi tubes) and the free fall, cascade type allowing gravity to be the primary fractionation force. I found the later to be less sensitive to outside forces like water level, although constricted flow was no less a detriment than with the counter current method.
Cascade type


countercurrent model below

venturi I used in the counter current version

 

[duanes]

above was the diagram (found in Aquarium Fish Mag, by Stephen Meyer) for the counter current model.
The Cascade type fractionation plans were found on Koiphen.com, under the title Phoam Phractionator

 

[TheWolfman]

From the research that I’ve done on setting up a saltwater sump the baffles are to keep the micro bubbles that the skimmer produces away from the return pump and out of the display tank.

 

[DThompson]

From the research that I’ve done on setting up a saltwater sump the baffles are to keep the micro bubbles that the skimmer produces away from the return pump and out of the display tank.

Yep, it's to keep micro bubbles out of the display tank + keep the water level at a constant height for the skimmer. Put the ATO in the last baffle where the return pump is, that's where you'll see the evaporation rate from the tank. You don't want the skimmer water level changing or you'll always be adjusting the skimmer because of to much/not enough water.

When I used to run saltwater tanks, I usually divided the sump into 3 sections with baffles. First section was filter socks + Skimmer, 2nd section was refugium or quarantine section, I liked to use this for growing a snail colony or other small inverts, 3rd section was the return pump + ATO. Between each section was a baffle that also had filter floss or some sort of sponge filter that I would clean every once and a while as well.

 

[jaws7777]

From the research that I’ve done on setting up a saltwater sump the baffles are to keep the micro bubbles that the skimmer produces away from the return pump and out of the display tank.

I always wondered by this. Whats the big deal with air bubbles being in the tank ?

A single baffle 8" tall will keep the water right at 8" reguardless of evaporation and refills. Or you could use a 12" baffle and put your skimmer on a 4" tall block if you want to run higher than a 8" water level in the sump. I think two baffles the first 12" tall set at the bottom of the tank then a second 12" baffle set 1" up off the bottom of the tank 1" away from the first baffle with filter sponge between them would make for a quieter sump.


I have never used a skimmer... but from your comments I would conclude that skimmers are sensative to water level and small fluctuations in water levels might throw off their efficiency???????


I do agree with you in preferring to keep a sump as simple as possible... but it should still be designed with what ever complexity is needed to make the operation and maintenance of the sump as easy as possible.

Would one of those auto top off things help with the evaporation? I think they operate with a flow switch.

 

[Oughtsix]

Would one of those auto top off things help with the evaporation? I think they operate with a flow switch.

An auto top off valve, or float valve, is meant to keep the water level in your sump constant. They work exactly the same as the float valve in your toilet.

Are you putting together a salt water tank? I would guess you would use an appropriate fresh water supply with the auto top off to help maintain a constant salinity as well as water level. Water evaporates... salt doesn't.