Building 30 Gallon Sump Tonight - Thoughts on my plan?

Well, I have a bit of a reprieve from work this weekend, so I've decided to get back to work on my 55 gallon build and the sump seems to be a good place to start back.

This 30 gallon tank has been staring at me for weeks now, begging me to just sump it, so I'm going to. I already have the glass, silicone and (willing) time to get er' done, so I just wanted to see if there were any thoughts on how I plan to do the sump. Here's a quick plan of what I have planned:



Let me know if I seem to be missing anything, or if something is horribly out of whack. I plan to use a coralife skimmer (4.25"x5.5"x20.75") in the "Skim" portion and a Mag Drive pump (6 3/8"x 3 1/8"x4 5/8") either a 9.5 or 12 for my return, let me know what you think about the pump as well (is it enough turn over or should I shoot for over 20x turnover?)

I look forward to your comments on this, and thank you TONS in advance.

Cheers.

 

I personally would have it FUGE/Return/Skimmer, just because you want water directly form your dt to your fuge, instead of from the skimmer area to fuge, but with this you will have to split your intake from overflow

 

I thought seriously about doing just that, but I don't think that would work with the BeAn. Do you?

 

I agree. Also by doing it this way, you can have low flow through the fuge, which is beneficial, and still keep the flow high through the skimmer section.

 

Today I Learned....

Well, last night I learned not to ever, ever force glass...

Luckily there wasn't any damage to the aquarium, but I can't say the same about the glass pane (it's also scary to have it shatter in your hand). Will have to wait for another order of glass as three of the panes were 1/8" off. 1/8' doesn't sound like too much, but it's a lot in fitting terms.

Good news is, I've had a learning experience. Bad news is, I should get the glass right as work picks back up... Crud.

 

trade the 1.5" for 1", use that extra space for the return section and move it in the order: fuge|return|skimmer. Seems to work out well in that order so you don't skim out the fuge nutrients and limit flow to each section. Just my 2 cents, and be careful, glass cuts go DEEP trust me.

 

I would also make your return section just a tad bit bigger. 5" is not a lot of water, and this is where all your evaporation will show. You would be surprised how much evaporates on a warm summer day.

 

Good point, and I hadn't considered this... Once the new glass arrives, I'll definately revisit the amount of room in the return.

 

Yeah, glass does cut deep, I've got a thumb that's still a bit "Wonky" from something similar, which is why I must have yelled like an 8 year old girl when it shattered and my hand flew through kung-fu style

Thanks for the suggestion on the 1" space as opposed to the 1.5". I was wondering if that was really needed or not, figured I'd put it in there just in case.