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Retirement and forum shutdown (17 Jan 2022)
Hi,
John Howell who has managed the forum for years is getting on and wishes to retire from the role of managing it.
Over the years, he has managed the forum through good days and bad days and he has always been fair.
He has managed to bring his passion for fish keeping to the forum and keep it going for so long.
I wish to thank John for his hard work in keeping the forum going.
With John wishing to "retire" from the role of managing the forum and the forum receiving very little traffic, I think we must agree that forum has come to a natural conclusion and it's time to put it to rest.
I am proposing that the forum be made read-only from March 2022 onwards and that no new users or content be created. The website is still registered for several more years, so the content will still be accessible but no new topics or replies will be allowed.
If there is interest from the ITFS or other fish keeping clubs, we may redirect traffic to them or to a Facebook group but will not actively manage it.
I'd like to thank everyone over the years who helped with forum, posted a reply, started a new topic, ask a question and helped a newbie in fish keeping. And thank you to the sponsors who helped us along the away. Hopefully it made the hobby stronger.
I'd especially like to thank John Howell and Valerie Rousseau for all of their contributions, without them the forum would have never been has successful.
Thank you
Darragh Sherwin
Project -sump for new aquarium -- thoughts please!
25 Feb 2014 16:06 #1
by Bohrio (Alex Rodriguez)
Hey everyone
Well, after a bit of looking around I have decided to built a custom aquarium. The aquarium will be roughly 125 x 65 x 65 cm but I havent started looking at designs yet, although the final size will be more or less that. It will be done in 12 mm optiwhite glass (front and sides). The tank volume will be a bit over 500 liters.
So as I was bored I have decided to start designing the sump. I want it to have enough room for my Skimmer and other bits and bobs such as return pumps, UV, refugium and a calcium reactor (and even other stuff such as ozone).
Here is what I have done so far
The sump will be 102 cm wide, 42 cm deep and 38 cm tall, in 10 mm glass. Depth and height can change a bit, but I dont want the width to exceed 102 cm as I want to leave at least 15-20 cm between the sump and the cabinet wall. In fact, I might need to reduce it a bit as I am not sure how much space the inside of the cabinet will have) so I can fit a CO2 bottle as well as an APRX controller, wall plugs, etc.
Total effective volume (without media/equipment) is approx 85 liters.
Inlet/drain baffle
The total size will be 12 x 30 x 42 (30). Volume 15 liters (10 liters with out the drain section)
Flow rate high
In the picture below, the left side of the sump (water inlet) is not to scale and it is missing the part were the pvc tube comes in. The reason why is because I want to be able to remove/swap it depending on the circumstances. This will be the same where I have the 2 4" socks. While the tank is running I dont think I will be using any type of mechanical filtration/socks. I will only use a sponge or a filter after water changes. But I also want to leave the door open just in case I change my mind in the future.
In this baffle I will mostly put live rock. I have heard that putting small live rock right under the water drain it is a good idea as it decreases the water noise. As the water comes up and before it overflows into the second baffle I will place a small compartment (in the picture it will be where the socks are) where I can place things such as carbon etc. I haven't figure out how to do it yet, probably I will need to build some sort of acrylic box where I can place media inside that can be "hanged" from the sides.
Skimmer Section
This section will be the biggest. It will be 25 x 27.5 x 42 cm (total volume 28 liters).
It will have enough space to run a medium to big size skimmer (I have the bubble magus BM160 set in my mind) as well as enough space for a pump (UV pump) and more live rock or extra equipment. I wanted it to be quite high as I can always raise the skimmer if I need to).
Then I will point the Skimmer outlet towards the "bubble trap" section (3 ways). I still dont know if I want these three to be over - under - over or under - over - under I will need to investigate further!
The space between each bubble trap baffle will be 4 cm and the clearance will be 2.5 cm high (from the bottom to the beginning of the glass). The total height for the first baffle will be 27.5 cm, second will be 29-30 cm and the last one will be around 18 cm.
Return pump section
Size: 18 x 18 x 42 cm (total volume 13 liters).
So instead of building the refugium here I have decided to put the return section instead. The reason why is because this will allow me to increase the height of the refugium as well as to regulate the flow (I want the flow inside the refugium to be minimum).
The return section will have a main pump and a back up (in case the main pump fails). I was thinking of moving this back up pump to a different section (like the skimmer section). Just in case that the reason why it has stopped workins is due to an issue with the bubble trap clogging or the return section running out of water. I know this will mean that I will get microbubbles in the DP but this will only need to happen in case of an emergency and I can always move the pump anyway once I have realized that there is an issue there.
This section will also have enough space to fit a calcium reactor if I ever decide to go for one. I think this will also be a good place to put the probes and ATU sensor.
Refugium section
Size: 21 x 34 x 42 cm (total volume 29 liters).
Flow: low
So this will be the refugium. Mostly a deep sand bed (approx 4-6 inches) and macro algae and that's about it. The refugium will be fed by the return pump (I will place a flow valve and send a little bit of the flow going back to the tank to the refugium. I will also try to create a colony of copepods and similar critters. In this way, some of this fellas will fall into the return section and will end up in the DP providing food for some of the fish. I am not sure if this is going to work though.
In case there is an issue with the return pump I also want to have the possiblity of seding some of the drain water from the DP directly to the refugium.
I could also use a small pump to feed the refugium as well. The only important thing is that I need low flow in this section.
Fresh/RO water reservoir
Size: 12 x 37 x 42 cm (total volume 18 liters).
The last section is just for the ATU (automatic top up Unit).
It is 1 cm shorter on the left side in case I overfill it but I am not sure if it is necessary or not.
The UV filter will be initially placed between the Skimmer section and the return pump. I could send it to the refugium instead as well. I just dont one any critters in the refugium going through the UV filter.
So what do you think? how many mistakes have I made?
I know I got some of the measures wrong (among other things) so please feel free to correct me. What do you think about the sump/equipment disposition?
I have plenty of time. I wont start building the aquarium for another month so there will be plenty of time for you guys to share your ideas!
Thanks!
Well, after a bit of looking around I have decided to built a custom aquarium. The aquarium will be roughly 125 x 65 x 65 cm but I havent started looking at designs yet, although the final size will be more or less that. It will be done in 12 mm optiwhite glass (front and sides). The tank volume will be a bit over 500 liters.
So as I was bored I have decided to start designing the sump. I want it to have enough room for my Skimmer and other bits and bobs such as return pumps, UV, refugium and a calcium reactor (and even other stuff such as ozone).
Here is what I have done so far
The sump will be 102 cm wide, 42 cm deep and 38 cm tall, in 10 mm glass. Depth and height can change a bit, but I dont want the width to exceed 102 cm as I want to leave at least 15-20 cm between the sump and the cabinet wall. In fact, I might need to reduce it a bit as I am not sure how much space the inside of the cabinet will have) so I can fit a CO2 bottle as well as an APRX controller, wall plugs, etc.
Total effective volume (without media/equipment) is approx 85 liters.
Inlet/drain baffle
The total size will be 12 x 30 x 42 (30). Volume 15 liters (10 liters with out the drain section)
Flow rate high
In the picture below, the left side of the sump (water inlet) is not to scale and it is missing the part were the pvc tube comes in. The reason why is because I want to be able to remove/swap it depending on the circumstances. This will be the same where I have the 2 4" socks. While the tank is running I dont think I will be using any type of mechanical filtration/socks. I will only use a sponge or a filter after water changes. But I also want to leave the door open just in case I change my mind in the future.
In this baffle I will mostly put live rock. I have heard that putting small live rock right under the water drain it is a good idea as it decreases the water noise. As the water comes up and before it overflows into the second baffle I will place a small compartment (in the picture it will be where the socks are) where I can place things such as carbon etc. I haven't figure out how to do it yet, probably I will need to build some sort of acrylic box where I can place media inside that can be "hanged" from the sides.
Skimmer Section
This section will be the biggest. It will be 25 x 27.5 x 42 cm (total volume 28 liters).
It will have enough space to run a medium to big size skimmer (I have the bubble magus BM160 set in my mind) as well as enough space for a pump (UV pump) and more live rock or extra equipment. I wanted it to be quite high as I can always raise the skimmer if I need to).
Then I will point the Skimmer outlet towards the "bubble trap" section (3 ways). I still dont know if I want these three to be over - under - over or under - over - under I will need to investigate further!
The space between each bubble trap baffle will be 4 cm and the clearance will be 2.5 cm high (from the bottom to the beginning of the glass). The total height for the first baffle will be 27.5 cm, second will be 29-30 cm and the last one will be around 18 cm.
Return pump section
Size: 18 x 18 x 42 cm (total volume 13 liters).
So instead of building the refugium here I have decided to put the return section instead. The reason why is because this will allow me to increase the height of the refugium as well as to regulate the flow (I want the flow inside the refugium to be minimum).
The return section will have a main pump and a back up (in case the main pump fails). I was thinking of moving this back up pump to a different section (like the skimmer section). Just in case that the reason why it has stopped workins is due to an issue with the bubble trap clogging or the return section running out of water. I know this will mean that I will get microbubbles in the DP but this will only need to happen in case of an emergency and I can always move the pump anyway once I have realized that there is an issue there.
This section will also have enough space to fit a calcium reactor if I ever decide to go for one. I think this will also be a good place to put the probes and ATU sensor.
Refugium section
Size: 21 x 34 x 42 cm (total volume 29 liters).
Flow: low
So this will be the refugium. Mostly a deep sand bed (approx 4-6 inches) and macro algae and that's about it. The refugium will be fed by the return pump (I will place a flow valve and send a little bit of the flow going back to the tank to the refugium. I will also try to create a colony of copepods and similar critters. In this way, some of this fellas will fall into the return section and will end up in the DP providing food for some of the fish. I am not sure if this is going to work though.
In case there is an issue with the return pump I also want to have the possiblity of seding some of the drain water from the DP directly to the refugium.
I could also use a small pump to feed the refugium as well. The only important thing is that I need low flow in this section.
Fresh/RO water reservoir
Size: 12 x 37 x 42 cm (total volume 18 liters).
The last section is just for the ATU (automatic top up Unit).
It is 1 cm shorter on the left side in case I overfill it but I am not sure if it is necessary or not.
The UV filter will be initially placed between the Skimmer section and the return pump. I could send it to the refugium instead as well. I just dont one any critters in the refugium going through the UV filter.
So what do you think? how many mistakes have I made?
I know I got some of the measures wrong (among other things) so please feel free to correct me. What do you think about the sump/equipment disposition?
I have plenty of time. I wont start building the aquarium for another month so there will be plenty of time for you guys to share your ideas!
Thanks!
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27 Feb 2014 08:55 #2
by Bohrio (Alex Rodriguez)
Replied by Bohrio (Alex Rodriguez) on topic Project -sump for new aquarium -- thoughts please!
Ok so it is me again. After a bit of thinking I spotted a few issues with my design.
First I had to modify the baffle between the refugium and the return section. The water from the refugium would have a drop of over 14 cm and I am not sure if this would generate bubbles in the return section so I have added an extra baffle in between and shortened the RO reservoir section a bit.
I have also increase the total sump height 6 cm (44 cm) to make up for this as well as to give me a bit more room and volume.
My other main concern was the drain section. The water should come in from the tank through the top left corner (the drain section is 12 x 12cm ) and then flow to the next section, the pre-filter section, where I will put some live rock as well as either socks or some other type of mech filtration/floss, once here the water should flow into the skimmer section. But I realized that the "drain" section was not high enough, meaning that water would probably end up overflowing and not going through the "pre-filter" section. So I have increased the height to force the incoming water from the tank to flow through pre-filter section. I think I might need to increase the height even more, what do you recon?
I think this section is the one I am going to have to put most of the work.
First I had to modify the baffle between the refugium and the return section. The water from the refugium would have a drop of over 14 cm and I am not sure if this would generate bubbles in the return section so I have added an extra baffle in between and shortened the RO reservoir section a bit.
I have also increase the total sump height 6 cm (44 cm) to make up for this as well as to give me a bit more room and volume.
My other main concern was the drain section. The water should come in from the tank through the top left corner (the drain section is 12 x 12cm ) and then flow to the next section, the pre-filter section, where I will put some live rock as well as either socks or some other type of mech filtration/floss, once here the water should flow into the skimmer section. But I realized that the "drain" section was not high enough, meaning that water would probably end up overflowing and not going through the "pre-filter" section. So I have increased the height to force the incoming water from the tank to flow through pre-filter section. I think I might need to increase the height even more, what do you recon?
I think this section is the one I am going to have to put most of the work.
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