Sump/Fuge

Hey guys, im going to be upgrading my sump but im a novice to this and all so I would like input about my idea and a few question that I have. The main goal is to have a fuge to grow plenty of pods with the intent of buying mandarin. For this reason the fuge will hold 21 gals, the center section is my return running with 7 gal and the other end will be for my skimmer and inlet for DT, this will run at about 6.5 gal. Questions are, 1. The center baffle on the bubble trap, is there a need to run this all the way to the top, good idea or bad idea. 2. When the DT drains, will it fill both the skimmer and return sections at the same level? 3. Would I be better off making the other 2 baffles higher so the sump runs with more water? Im planning on making a stand for the skimmer to run a the proper depth anyways. 4. Last for now is the baffle for the fuge, do I need to cut teeth into it to hold the macro back or will drilling holes for it drain work just as well. or should I take option C and put a bulkhead in with a pipe to drain the fuge.

Sorry about the long post and hope you can make out the sketch in the pics.

 

Neither one of your pictures are legible. Try using the "macro" setting on your camera. I cannot read any of your writing.

 

The writing is not that important, its just little notes and stuff to my self.

 

Cant read the dims either.

Its impossible to tell what part of your sump will be what.

I would suggest increasing the quality of the data presented if you would like some serious help.

 

I would like to but Im not sure how, I might be able to scan the pics in,

 

That would work - or try using the "macro" on your camera/cameraphone.

Also - you can use a rudimentary drawing program like "Paint" to diagrammatically represent what you are envisioning.

 

This may or may not be what you are thinking of but I like this idea and will probably be copying it. Very simple yet effective.

http://www.3reef.com/forums/refugium/fuge-some-mods-102006.html

 

Sorry about the last pictures, I hope these are better for you to see. Left section will be fuge, center is return, and right is the drain from the DT. The bubble trap will be 1"

 

You will likely need to bring the overall level of the water in the sump down in the fuge. At 18" there is very little room for the "overflow" head of water that will discharge into the sump when the return pump is off. Seems like you already have a sump - you can use this existing one to gauge the volume of your overflow. If you only have a few gallons - then you can leave the baffles of the fuge up high at 18" - just do some calculating before you cut!!!

Next thing I would make the baffles of your bubble trap the same height for the two outside pieces - again this will be decided by the overflow volume. If you only have a little bit - then i'd be tempted to increase the volume of the sump and go with a 12-14" depth. You can always build a simple stand for your skimmer so that it's at the correct height. Having the higher water height will also decrease the likelihood of microbubbles getting into the return pump section of the sump. Also - if you bring the level of the return chamber closer to the fuge level - you will have less bubbles from the overflow of the fuge baffle. And yes, I would use eggcrate or some other restriction method to prevent chaeto from going back in to the DT.

Hope this helps some.

 

Also - if you increased your skimmer section to 7" you could easily fit a NWB-110 by reef octo and it is rated for 100 gallons. I personally own this skimmer on my 30 Cube and LOVE it. Quiet - affordable - performer.