CodeToad Posted January 28, 2004 Share Posted January 28, 2004 I'm fixing to get some glass baffles made for my fuge/sump and before I get them cut I just want to make sure I have the right idea here. Does this look like a good design? The left side is the overflow area, the middle is the fuge, and the right with the box is the return pump. Link to comment
Pigup Posted January 28, 2004 Share Posted January 28, 2004 that's a pretty killer design if you ask me, i wish the fuge compartment would be a bit bigger. and, exactly what is the point of the left compartment? is it merely to kill bubbles and have even flow going to the fuge? might want to make it smaller if that's its purpose. good luck Link to comment
mattie Posted January 28, 2004 Share Posted January 28, 2004 well i have something to tell you that may make you change your hole set up just put one pice of acylic to seperate the pump from the rest of the fuge and drill it to allow water flow thru cause if the water level goes to low with that design the pump will run dry Link to comment
Pigup Posted January 29, 2004 Share Posted January 29, 2004 but if he keeps it hole-less, and if he sets up an autotopoff system, it would be more reactive, and the salinity changes would also be less drastic. just a thought Link to comment
CodeToad Posted January 30, 2004 Author Share Posted January 30, 2004 Thanks for the help everyone... I already have a functional auto top off system so I'm not too concerned with fluctuating too much. I will have lots of pictures when it's all said and done, thanks again guys! Link to comment
Folorin Posted February 6, 2004 Share Posted February 6, 2004 Thats actually exactly the setup I made on a 7G refugium/sump for my 18 gallon tank. The water is gravity fed from my main tank down to the sump in the left and then pumped back up to the main tank. 3 Points I discovered while doing this: 1. you obviously need some sort of flow control valve on the gravity feed down. 2. I found it better to put a float switch in the main tank which switches the pump on when the the water level drops. This means that ou dont have to ultra fine tune the input water flow to match the pump return rate. 3. Cover the end of the gravity feed pipe from the main tank to stop things entering. I had a dragonet ( I know, I know) which was doing fine until he went exploring up the pipe and I found him dead in the sump one day. In the middle compartment I have Live sand with some rock and macro algae to act as a scrubber, a couple of hermits and turbos. Seems to work. Link to comment
Folorin Posted February 6, 2004 Share Posted February 6, 2004 oh yes, not sure what what 2 peices of glass/acrylic on the left gives you. I have a compartment there and attach my prizm skimmer to it, so the water gets skimmed before passing through the macro algae compartment. Link to comment
undawahta Posted February 12, 2004 Share Posted February 12, 2004 >1. you obviously need some sort of flow > control valve on the gravity feed down. hmm. sounds dangerous. I'd avoid using any fittings, valves, etc .. in overflow tubing. the less for algae and other junk to hang onto, the better - I think that definitly increases the risk of a disaster. are you using an overflow, folorin? I think using one might solve a couple of the issues you've run across, such as equalizing the display water level. I dont know about you, but running a top-off on a display that has fluctuating levels due to no overflow and an underpowered return pump scares me ... Link to comment
SDMike Posted February 12, 2004 Share Posted February 12, 2004 I'm starting to figure this picture thing out... Y'all need to try Mihov's Image Resizer! Instantly smaller pics no matter what size they started out as... (www.mihov.com/eng/) Anyway, back to the sumpfugium. Its the same footprint as my 29gal above it: 30" x 12", but the height is only 16." Any overflow from the big tank is going to raise the water level the same amount in the sumpfugium. As it is, the baffles are 12" tall and I STILL have 4" of overflow! I don't have the light setup yet. It'll be coming soon: HD 18w PC floodlight. As you can see, there's no plumbing yet. I'm waiting for my boxes of stuff that my Dad sent from their house in VA. I HATE buying stuff I already own, so right now, the two tanks are separate. Hope this helps someone. Mike Link to comment
Folorin Posted February 13, 2004 Share Posted February 13, 2004 my return pump doesnt seem to be underpowered and I cant see how algae can block my gravity feed pipe on the valve fitting. seems to work. Only time ive had a problem is when the float switch in the main tank has jammed for some reason (e.g. a snail). This wasnt too bad as the gravity feed pipe is only about 1" below the water surface and so when that was reached, the gravity fed water to the sump shut off. The only downside is if the gravity feed shuts off, it doesnt automatically restart. Link to comment
mattie Posted February 14, 2004 Share Posted February 14, 2004 well i have to addmit it looks pretty darn good once put together Link to comment
Kingpin Posted February 14, 2004 Share Posted February 14, 2004 SD mike- that is a bad place for an unsumersable head. because when the water goes down(evap.) or up(power stops) it will expose the heater, or even worse surmerse it, for now since not connect to a tank its fin but watch out forthat problem to come. i would perfer it to be in the 1st chamber where water enters. Link to comment
SDMike Posted February 14, 2004 Share Posted February 14, 2004 Originally posted by Kingpin SD mike- that is a bad place for an unsumersable head. because when the water goes down(evap.) or up(power stops) it will expose the heater, or even worse surmerse it, for now since not connect to a tank its fin but watch out forthat problem to come. i would perfer it to be in the 1st chamber where water enters. The PH is strictly to move water around while I get things set up. There's no water entering OR leaving right now! I just got my fish stuff from my parent's in VA and have to re-glue my overflow. It broke in the move back home when I graduated college. I HATE buying things I already own... The return line is all ready to roll. 3/4" tubing and a SCWD... Should be a good thing. Got it glued up this AM! Good thought on moving the heater to the intake side. I have a BIG micron bag that needs to go in the intake side... Or, maybe I'll just move it to the other side of the baffles... Link to comment
SDMike Posted February 14, 2004 Share Posted February 14, 2004 Got some Line-loc, glue, and PVC... Now I gots a return! Mike Link to comment
aggiereefer Posted February 14, 2004 Share Posted February 14, 2004 i never thought i could get turned on by PVC pipe. very sexy lookin Link to comment
SDMike Posted February 15, 2004 Share Posted February 15, 2004 Originally posted by aggiereefer i never thought i could get turned on by PVC pipe. very sexy lookin ...I got the two arms hooked up to the SCWD and lookee here! The tubes that I cut interfere with my CPR skimmer that's on the tank now, AND the overflow that is about to go on the tank! Duh! What is they say? Proper prior planning prevents p!ss-poor performance. I think what I'm about to do is cut the 8" of 3/4" hose down to about 1.5" and keep everything in the middle of the tank till I figure it out. OR, I could go buy a pair of 90degree barbs ($2.50/ea) at the LFS and run longer hoses up from underneath everthing. I haven't decided which yet. Ideas? Mike Link to comment
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