DIY Sump/Refugium Plan

 

1. I would use a filter sock instead of a sponge for water coming into the sump.  Sponges are hard to keep clean and can easily clog up with gunk. My first sump used sponges and now that I am using filter socks I woudn't go back. also don't put a sponge in the baffle leading to the refugium. It's not needed and anything that gets into the refugium at that point will be good food for the critters living in the fuge. If the sponge clogs it will also back up the flow from the first chamber.

 

2. A ball valve on the overflow/sump inlet pipe should only be used if you need to stop flow for some reason. Don't throttle back the flow from the tank. Let it run full speed into the filter sock. The sock will baffle any noise and you woun't risk your overflow backing up.

 

3. A ball valve on the return line is a great idea. Not so much for power outages but for servicing the pump and fine tuning the flow through the sump. You want to control the flow through the system after the return pump not on the supply side. In the event of a power failure you will not likely be there to shut the ball valve so water will back flow into your sump. Just make sure that your return lines are high enough that the sump can handle any water that may back flow into the sump.

 

4. You might want to put a bubble trap on the return section to prevent air from entering the return pump. Depending on how full you keep the return section this may  not be an issue but it is in this section you want to prevent bubbles in as the pump will send micro bubbles back to the display.

 

 

     I should receive my overflow kit (Eshopps PF-300 Overflow Box - Up to 75 gallons) in the next couple days and my 845gph pump shorty after, at which time I will be able to correctly set things up.

     When I get out of school today I will run home and test my sump for how much it siphons back into the sump. While setting it up it seemed to want to continue to siphon until overflowing the sump. That's why I considered a check valve.

   Again good information that I will take into consideration.

 

By keeping the returns high enough, what do you mean? Maybe shallow in the top of the tank?

 

One last thing I realise is when I temporarily set this up I have ten feet of hose going up to the tank. I'm pretty positive cutting that in half will greatly effect the way this system works.

 

To properly test the system we need everything set up as it will be working in the system. For now you can just see how water flows throught the sump. So post some pics when you get everyghing set up.

 

And yes I did mean keeping the returns up high or shallow in the tank. This way the siphon breaks fairely quickly and prevents much water from backflowing into the sump. When you get your return pump in there it will also affect how much water the sump will handle. If you have an ATO (Auto Top Off) set up to keep your water level constant you can keep the return set it so that the return chamber stays fairly low which will give you more room for water in the sump when power is shut lost or shut off.