sump help

Hey all newbie here......need advice....

I just purchased my 1st reef set up and have a few ???'s about my sump/fuge:

20 gal tank for sump with 3 sections right now (should be 4 but the last baffle is broke, so I will have to replace it before I set up my tank).

water comes in from the overflow tube on left side, goes through a sock filter and UNDER the 1st baffle. Water then passes through a carbon filter/bag, then through some chaeto and OVER the next baffle into the next section which is the fuge (sand, LR, old corals, shells, etc). Water should/would then pass Under the last baffle (like I said its broke right now) and then obviously to the return and back into the DT.


Questions:

1. where is the best place for my skimmer (1st section or last section)

2. if skimmer is in the last section (which is where I think it goes best) it would have to be in the same section as the return pump....is this ok? Or should/could I put it in the 1st section outside the sock and then have the return pump in the last section by itself?

3. LFS guy said I didnt need any sand in the fuge, that the LR would be sufficient, and probably would be better without sand for future cleaning purposes and for the prevention of sand entering any pumps. The sand in there isnt 100% sand, its more of a sand and crushed coral mixture (not sure if its live or not...dont think so).
Whats best?

4. Whats best overall from what I am describing?

5. can I glue/silicone a piece of plexiglass for the last baffle instead of glass? (tank is glass)

Sorry this is sooo long, but this is my 1st reef attempt and I wanna do it right or whats gonna be best for my reef. Thanks in advance.

 

In all honesty, the last section needs to be rebuilt. The last baffle, before it goes to the return, the water should go ABOVE the baffle. This will keep all your sand and stuff from going through the return. Also, I would remove the crushed coral and replace with sand. Sand does have a lot of benefits in a fuge.
Ideally, the skimmer should be in the last section (after fuge), so all the gunk gets in the fuge and it does it's job, the skimmer cleans up the rest. Sometimes, in low nutrient systems, placing the skimmer before the fuge will starve out the fuge. That part is not critical, just the way I like to do it. But re-do that last baffle for sure, that's just going to cause headaches down the road.
Also, how exactly is the carbon in the first part? Is it just laying in a media bag in the first section? If so, there is no point in running it. Medias like carbon or GFO need to have the water flowing through them, not around them (ie a reactor). Next best solution would be to have the carbon actually inside of your filter sock. But just setting it in there will do hardly anything at all.

 

I want to just add that I bought a complete set up from a guy who just broke down his reef. I dont think he had his sump running this way, I believe he was keeping the last of his LR in there when I bought it a few days ago from him. He gave it to me this way, so I want to set it up correctly for my reef. Excuse my ignorance.

Yeah actually the last baffle is broken (so right now there really is no baffle). But I will/have to fix that. I did originally think the water went ABOVE the baffle, until I did a thorough inspection and found the void below. I dont know why the previous person had it set up this way.

now that is what i thought originally, however, my question now is, can the skimmer be in the same section as the return pump? I dont think this will work....so an idea that I have would be to make the fuge section smaller by adding another baffle, which would create another section for my skimmer, and then the return section would be the last.

the carbon IS just laying there in a media bag unfortunately. As the water passes through the sock filter it goes under the first baffle (into section 2) where it first passes through the carbon filled media bag and then the chaeto up into the fuge, etc......I will put the carbon into the sock filter during final set up.

Thanks sooo much for the help/advice

 

The problem you would have (probably) with the skimmer in the same section as the return is microbubbles. Kinda depends on the skimmer.... You can put it in there...there are ways to cut down on the bubbles...like another sock, i think its just easier to have a sep section

 

hob skimmer also i would just flip the sump and run the overflow/filter sock into the broken section and then put the return pump on the not broken side if u didnt wanna fix the baffle and make a 3"square just for the over flow(if that makes sense) because it doesnt call for a whole section ,that way u have more fuge room

 

LFS guy recommended a sock over the skimmer output/outtake as well. He also suggested I could eliminate the fuge and have the whole right section open (one large section) with the skimmer and return pump on opposite ends of the sections.

I am new to this hobby, but I do think a fuge would be more beneficial, although not needed i guess.

 

I think I understand....but wouldn't making a 3" square be "fixing" it as well So what ur saying is the initial entry of water from the DT would enter a 3"x 3" square and then into the fuge, and then to the return. (from right to left going by my pic). I would still have to get some glass cut and silicone it in place right? Sorry in advance for my ignorance:-[ Seems like this shouldn't be that difficult....i think i am over thinking this:-/