building a sump, what do i need to put in it?
 

i am looking at getting a sump, or building one. i have a 50 gallon tank that is not drilled. i was going to use a pvc over flow. below the tank there is not much room i might be able to put a 24 x 12" foot print but it will be tight. i have extra 20's and 10's or a 15 tall or a regular 15 that i could put under there. what would be best?

what about baffles and where should i put them how many do i need and what do i put into the compartments? i would like to put my skimmer in there and heater i would also like to have a place to put cheato. what else do i need? what are all of those baffles for?


it is a reef tank, i have a coralife 65 skimmer to put in there. and i dont have a pump yet. what size of pump should i be looking for?

sump
 

use the largest tank you can place under your tank-your footprint for your skimmer is about 5x5-so at least 6 inches of your sump will be used up-he baffles are to disperse air bubbles-usually i inch apart in an over ,under,over configuration.you will also need a return area- also good for topping up your water-the rest you can use for your refugeum.mine is laid out as bioballs-skimmer area(dry skimmer-reserve for water)refugeum,8 " space for extra pump water return for skimmer+heater,baffles and then return-using a 45 gallon tanki.in reality there is no proper or improper way to build your sump

pump
 

figure out your height,length of return ,elbows etc before getting your pump-there's a formula in the reef aquarium volume 3 on page 111-hell you might as well read all of chapter 3.the rest of the book helps as well

Attachment 6048

i was going to do this design. i found one of my tanks that is 23" wide. so that would work good.

the pic is for a 36"

i was going to make the skimmer area 8" the return 6" and the fuge 7"

sump
 

put your skimmer at the fuge with the water in ,your fuge at the return with no water out,your baffles,then your return where you were going to put your skimmer with the same sizes-that way you will get everything flowing one way with a larger refugium