McDonald Simplified Sump Q

Hello.

I was looking at this thread and thinking this is the way I might go with my sump build.

http://www.3reef.com/photos/showphoto.php?photo=6968


The reason I was looking at this design is for the following reason;
1. I have a height limit due to stand height and sump is going underneath.
2. Im using a Reaf Octo NW200 skimmer that runs in 9" water for optimum operation.
3. I wanted a bigger fuge area (depth) but limited due to the 9" of water in the skimmer area (see above 2.)

Few Questions before I start cutting glass.

Q1. How is it that the level in this sump design doesnt just fill up to the level of chamber no.1? Is it because there is less water running into that chamber (because of dirverting valve) so it will never be able to overflow into chamber no.1 and no.2 enough to raise the level?

Please help.

 

Actually you need a valve in all three lines.
1 to regulate flow into chamber one
2 if flow thru chamber two is more than pump can handle
3 the hieght can be set by increasing the height of the lower panel that divides 2 & 3

 

That looks like a great setup!!! I loved designing our sump too!!!
I would make one small suggestion - consider dumping your ATO water into the skimmer/heater section of your sump. Sometimes at then ends of their cycles, those pumps can kick out some microbubbles and you would not want these to get picked up by your return pump and sent into your DT.
other than that it looks great!!!!;D;D

 

Glad you like the design.... I am "McDonald".

1) The baffle height sets the water level in sections 1 and 3.
2) The total water volume in your system determines the water level in section 2.... has nothing to do with pump speed... and your ATO float valve HAS to go in sction 2. To try to expalin.... The overflow in your tank keeps the tank water level constant. The baffles keep section 1 and section 3 constant. Section 2 is the only place the water level can vary for evaporation. Thus that is where the ATO float valve has to be.

Now, if you add more water to the system... the level of Section 2 will go up. Eventually, of course, it will get higher than section 1 and 3. For example, when you turn your pump off there is a small amount of back flow from your plumbing back into the sump. THe water level in section 2 jumps up quickly. It may overflow into section 3... but when you turn the pump back on, it goes straight back down and section 3 goes to its normal level. Thus, I turn my pump on first, wait a few minutes and then turn the skimmer back on.

ATO water can be dumped in skimmer section if your water is separate from your valve, but float valve has to be in pump section.

Don't need valves on all three, but you can if you like. You want slow flow into fuge and everything else into skimmer. THese valves really are just flow diverters; they don't effect water levels at all.

Pump size doesn't matter either because it is a zero sum game. The pump is just circulating the water. You don't want too big a pump though because the water velocity will "overpower" the bubble trap and carry bubbles through the trap... As a rule of thumb, no more than about 10 times your total water volume.

Hope that helped. Hit me with questions. I am still using that design and it works great.

Mark