Question about baffle heigt...

I wil be starting my 20g long tomorow. My question is: If I make my first baffle at 10" what should the height of my next baffle be? I know it has to be lower, but how low? Do I drop a full inch or a half inch and so on? I will be setting the 20g long to have, in from DT, bubble trap, fuge, and return chamber (in that order).

 

It's hard to say without a closer look at the set-up.

You need enough space in there for water to flow out of the tank in the event of a power failure. The amount of water that is going to backflow depends on a couple of variables unique to each tank. How far into the DT your return line goes and it's ability to break syphon, through drilling a hole just below the water line, is the biggest factor.

If you have the siphon break hole in your return plumbing you should be fine only dropping the second baffle down a half inch. You should also consider your return section before you decide. The high you make your second baffle, the less room your fuge will have to hold backflow water during a power outage. To compensate for this you will need to keep the return section water level lower to make room for the backflow. This means you will have to top off more often to keep your pump from running dry, and there will be more chance of your pump running dry.

It's all a balancing act.

 

Thanks for the replie. I do have the hole drilled in my return for the siphon break. I think I can get away with the half inch drop.

My second question: The bubble trap consists of three baffles, two overs and one under. My first baffle is an over the second is the under and the third is another over. How far off the bottom should I place my under?

 

I believe it's generally 1"

 

I would also say 1". Here is a drawing of my sump. Dimensions are not included but it is almost to scale. So you can estimate.



If I were to do it differently....from the right to the left....the first baffle would stay the same, second baffle will be about an inch from the bottom, 3rd baffle I would make it a little higher because I want my refugium to be taller and I would I a taller return chamber so I could slack a little more on topoffs. Same for the 4th....it would be the same size as the 3rd baffle. Currently all of my baffles are the exact same size, the 2nd one is just placed all the way to the top.

 

Thanks mattheuw. That is the what exactly I am setting up.

 

Biggest thing is to make sure your equipment fits into the chambers. If you plan on upgrading skimmers, return pumps, etc, account for the extra room per chamber. I did not. I measured my current skimmer and return and did not think about upgrading.

 

Just a suggestion, I would put the bubble trap at the end where the water flows into the return chamber, the idea is to keep the bubbles out of the display tank and the way its setup now you could be creating bubbles depending on the water levels.