How does my sump design look? NOW WITH WATER!

[bitts]

wahoo for the wet test.

 

as to the skimmer I'l probable do an ev when I get me 75 up. comparable would be precision marine bullet.

[ajmckay]

OMG!!! What's this!? Do I see bulkheads!?!? AND WATER?????????!!!!!!!!!!!

 

 

Of course the skimmer is just plugged in to satisfy my own excitement (this is just plain tap water), but I've got the water level right at 10.5" and it's working great so far!

 

I had to grind out the hole for the bulkhead a little more to get the 1.5" to fit (I didn't use a hole saw, but rather a little diamond disc on the Dremel). I just left some of the dust and left over silicone chunks in the water so I could see them flow through the sump easier... There's definitely a flow pattern, but that tiny pump hardly moves the water...

[bitts]

don't you just love it when a plan come's together.

[glazer]

First time I've looked in on this thread... was trying to take it all in but, okay, may attention span isn't up to par right now. Seems there is more than one sump build going on and by different people. Alright, now that I cleared up my confusion for you.....

 

What is the purpose of the bulkhead in the dividing wall? Is there parts missing/not installed yet?

 

Steve

[ajmckay]

Sorry, but the thread is probably a little on the confusing side... I actually changed sump designs a few times.

 

As for the random bulkhead, I just stuck it there for my test yesterday (I was excited).

 

Today I stopped by the store on the way home and picked up some PVC to complete the overflow, behold the pictures:

 

The top of the pipe is at 10.5". There's no noise with a 2" drop.

The first baffle in the skimmer section bubble trap (picture 2 - closest to the skimmer) is 10.5" as well, but the water level is at 11" with the pipe installed. So the pipe causes roughly a 1/2" rise in water level. Tomorrow I'll take the pipe out and cut it down 1/2" to hopefully achieve a 10.5" water level in the skimmer and display chambers.

[bitts]

heeheehee!!!!!!!!!!

 

lookin good

[ajmckay]

Is exciting, no?

 

I was annoyed that I couldn't find a threaded 90 degree street elbow at lowes... So I had to buy a threaded male adapter then use a slip 90... Not a huge deal I know but with the length of the bulkhead plus the adapter the whole apparatus nearly touches the back wall of the tank!

 

I'll probably keep looking at some different stores before I glue these together at all. I was also thinking tonight that it would be cool to have a system to easily adjust the water level within an inch or so... So I can lower the water level while I'm out of town for example to give some extra room for spill over just in-case.

[bitts]

mmm...

your right that does sound good. think think think...

[bitts]

you could maybe minimize evap with a stockman on the pvc into the return chamber.

[ajmckay]

bitts... That's a really good idea.

 

I thought of putting some sort of box around it, but a large diameter pipe would work just as well.

 

With the low flow of the quiet one pump I was using there wasn't any splashing or anything. Still, to place a pipe over it would help reduce evap. as you mentioned. I wonder now how I can incorporate that into my moving waterline... Hmmm.

[bitts]

the best idea i've come up with is something like the twisty pipe thing from a skimmer thats used to set the water line. but still it would put a lot of torque on the glass. bulkhead into a tee with the twisty setting the water line for the fuge. maybe a union to disconnect it, set it, reconnect it.

[pyronus]

I dont really want to start my own sump thread since this one is here already, I hope you don't mind. I am building a pretty traditional AGA sump, the design is tried and true here. What I'm wondering is if you think you gain any more bubble trap performance from building it this way:

 

[bitts]

short answer is no.

i give more after dinner.

[bitts]

by having the entrance to the baffles lower. there is a higher likely hood to have bubbles move into & through the baffles. with the entrance higher the bubbles build more upward inertia to move against the flow. hopefully keeping them from making it through the baffles.

 

one good point is that surface scum will stay in the skimmer chamber. but the drain should be feed to the skimmer removing this before it accumulates anyway.

 

either way should work but the higher entrance would be my pick.

 

one more thing

the flow into the fuge being directed straight down could be problematic. redirect it with some loc-line maybe.

[ajmckay]

+1 to having the bubble trap start high.

 

I actually contemplated this a lot... In the end it was an easy decision because since I wanted to have a sand bed I need to have it start/end high, but originally it wasn't like that so I had more options (see first post).

 

My reasons for not doing it at the bottom were:

1) Skimmer output was at the bottom. I didn't want to risk that so many bubbles go through.

2) Return pump at the bottom. Just in-case bubbles got through the trap I didn't want my pump spazing out when bubbles hit the impeller creating noise. With the baffle exit at the top the bubbles would literally have to float down to get to the pump since there wouldn't be any more flow to carry them.

 

The only thing I can thing of that would maybe be cause for putting them at the bottom is because the water level in the exit chamber is significantly lower than at the entrance. Of course in this case you could also just make the final baffle lower (my first baffle is 10.5" high, the second one is also, and the third is only 10" high in-case I want to lower the water level in that chamber some I won't have a waterfall.

 

Good luck with whatever you decide to do.

[bitts]

AJ any thoughts on the water line.

[ajmckay]

Well... I've thought up 3 or 4 different designs, but they all have something about them which doesn't seem right (like putting too much stress on the bulkhead)... The one I favor is probably the simplest, working just like raising or lowering a folding table or something. Here's a crappy, yet effective paint rendering.

 

Note that only 1 hole is drilled into the inside pipe, and 3-4 holes on the outside pipe. The outside pipe will be held in place by a nylon bolt, thumb screw style, which you can remove, adjust the height, and then tighten back down. This design is hinging on my being able to find an outer pipe with an inside diameter almost exactly the same size as the outer diameter of the 1-1/2" PVC inner pipe (maybe a little larger and I can use an o-ring to seal it up). I'll have to do some testing at the depot, though I'm thinking I may have to go straight to the plumbing supply store...

 

[pyronus]

Just drill out a coupling. Then sand the inside with a drum sanding wheel until it moves as smoothly as you need it to.

[ajmckay]

Can I get a coupling long enough though? To keep it so that all the holes stay covered it'll need to be between 3 and 4 inches... I'll pick one up for testing purposes for sure and it would be easy enough to sand down the inside to make it move smoother.

[bitts]

up

[cruiZe]

totally awesome. honestly, i didn't think it would pan out nearly this nicely. very unique design, but so effective !! I like the long display fuge area.

[ajmckay]

Hey thanks Cruize!

 

Yeah it looks awesome. I'm totally psyched to get this thing up and running. I started sanding the stand this week... LOTS of sanding as my skills aren't really that good in woodworking.

 

The good news is that I just need to finish that and then I'll be ready to hook it all up. The wet test went perfectly though.

[kgoldy]

AJ- How's this thing lookin a year later?

[Fish Lou]

Two Years?