Baffles necessary in a sump with no refugium?

My protein skimmer pump died and it's giving me motivation to just start my sump now. I currently have a refugium while will remain separate from the sump. I have a 26 gallon tank and plan to add a 10 gallon sump. I mainly want the sump for the added water volume, the ability to have an in-sump skimmer, and to hide equipment.

With that said, is it necessary to place baffles in the sump? I know they can be used to fight micro bubbles, but if I don't need to separate the refugium from the rest of the sump, can I go without them?

 

You should be able to if you aim your return water from the skimmer to the opposite side you have your return pump.

 

Should I place the skimmer on the return side or the overflow side?

 

Overflow side.

 

Okay, sounds good.

I figure if I put an elbow or limit the flow right before the water line in the sump that it would help a bit with micro bubbles and noise?

 

I don't have issues with microbubbles and my outflow pipes are unrestricted. There is some noise though, but not enough to bother me with my bad hearing. Also do not have your return running higher than 10 times the sump's volume at the head height of your system.

 

So I'm looking at max 100 GPH from a return pump, factoring in the 3 foot or so head that it has to push up?

If I get a 200 gph overflow, do I need to limit the flow in the pipes or will it be okay since only so much water can overflow as is being returned by the return pump?

 

Correct on the return. The flow through the overflow will be controlled by the available water provided by the return pump. No need to control the flow from the over flow.

One other thing; I would use one baffle between the skimmer and return to keep the water level steady in the skimmer compartment. This will allow the skimmer to work better. Variable water levels mess up the efficiency of your skimmer.

 

Cool, thanks so much for the help John.

Do you happen to have any recommendations on where to buy pieces of glass or acrylic?

 

Lowe's or Home Depot