First time Sump building questions

I am building out a sump for my new reef ready tank and I have a few questions. Background: 90G two holes in the bottom of the tank and it has the black column with the “Teeth” to keep the fish out of it. I have read a few articles online including http://www.melevsreef.com which is a helpful site.


I am taking a 35 Gallon tank and adding the baffles myself. The drain from the display tank will be in the first compartment, the second compartment will be the refugium and the last section will hold the return pump.


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[*]Is it bad to have a sump that you can only get in the stand from the back? I am worried if I have issues I would need to drain the tank to move the stand from the wall to get the sump out.
[*]My skimmer says to be in water from 8.5 to 9 inches of water, if I have the room under my main tank and the height of the sump tank is 16 inches can I put in a 11 inch baffle in the first section and put the skimmer up on a 2 inch platform to maximize the amount of water in my sump and refugium?
[*]How can I tell how height to fill up my main tank water above the “teeth” in my overflow so as to not overflow my sump?
[*]In my main tank the drain pipe extends up and down, how do I determine how high it should be? Will the answer to number 3 determine this answer?
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Thanx for the assistance.

 

I know how to raise the skimmer aussie I was wondering if it was a good idea to do that to maximize the water volume in the sump.

I thought it would be important to be able to get the sump in from the front, guess I will need to hunt for a 20 Gallon.

 

Thank you Bud! I was not familiar with the loc-line until you mentioned it and I googled it. I have a single loc-line, does the whole loc-line need to be under water? The highest point of the loc-line will be the lowest the water will siphon back into the sump?

You bring up a good point on the pressure of the overflow box. I will keep it as high as possible. My drain pipe goes up from the holes on the bottom of the tank and then has an inverted "U" with a as a small nipple on the top I thought it was to break the siphon I am thinking that will need to be the highest point and will be just under my overflow teeth. Sound correct?

 

I am finding that for the layout of the sump I want I will not be able to get the size tank I want in the stand from the front. so I may build the sump drain the main tank pull it out from the wall and put the sump in the back and then refill the tank. A lot of work but if I want the sump a certain way any tank that fits in the front will be too small. bummer!

Lots to learn about sumps and I am not finding a lot on the internet.

 

I looked closely at the stand prior to filling the tank and it is glued together pretty well around the center. As I mentioned in #1 above I am able to get the 35G in from the back but I do like the idea of being able to get it in and out from the front, especially it being my first sump I expect changes.

My Skimmer says it should be in water 8 to 9.5 inches high so I am leery about 12 inch high tanks. I need 12 inches long for the skimmer, I want 12ish inches for my refugium and I need 6 inches for my return (3 sections). So, that is a 30 inch tank, I am hoping I can squeeze a 20 gallon long in there from the front and the overflow, if power goes out, will not cause issues. With a 20L at 8.5 high for the skimmer that would leave 30x12x3 = 4.6 gallons of water. With the equation you listed above I would be ok.

Do I need to worry about the water in the overflow area all draining down in addition to the water that is in the main area that is above the teeth? I will have to measure that area calculate the water volume and add that to my equation above.

If the 20L does not fit that is when I need to rethink things and possibly go away from the refugium or have the return pump external.

So I am out seeking a 20L tank to see if it will fit, as well as researching the value of a refugium.

Does my logic sound correct?

 

This post has been very helpful thanx everyone for your assistance.

Next question: my return pump has a hose barb on it and you are suppose to use a clamp to hold the hose on or at least I have always used a clamp when I put hoses on those but it will be under water and the only clamp I have found such as is one that is on your car I believe will rust. Do they have plastic clamps or will I be able to get a zip tie tight enough for holding the hose on?

I have searched the internet for several pictures and you can not see what is used or the return pumps have PVC coming out of them, do I have to go the PVC route?

 

I was not sure those plastic hose clamps were strong enough but I will give them a try. I suppose the worse case is it will disconnect but that would be just like as if the pump stopped and I should be ok if I plan my water level correctly.

 

ok I am almost there. I am buying the baffles tomorrow. For a 20 tall tank that is 12 inches wide I measure exactly 11 & 13/16ths glass so I assume 11 3/4 will work and the silicone will pick up the slack. I would hate to have to buy new glass because I bought it too narrow.

Also, I read (here I think) that pods like to hide out in crush coral more so than sand and I intend on getting some pods. So, if I had a choice of what to put in refugium of just LR, Sand or crushed coral with the LR should I go with the crushed coral? Would I have a hard time keeping that clean?