Call_Me_Jae Posted December 14, 2022 Share Posted December 14, 2022 am I missing anything with my sump plan? i feel like there is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
half-astronaut Posted December 15, 2022 Share Posted December 15, 2022 More or less. There’s endless variations on the basic layout, some with refugiums and various reactors, but it’s basically in->filtration/skim->return. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LastMile Posted December 15, 2022 Share Posted December 15, 2022 Just keep in mind that bubble trap will set your water level in the skimmer area. I’ve always had a trap on the drain side too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
islandVib3s Posted December 15, 2022 Share Posted December 15, 2022 I think it's preferred to have the return on the shortest route back into display,but I don't think it'll be a problem. Are you going to use a heater? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
obrien.david.j Posted December 15, 2022 Share Posted December 15, 2022 One subtle detail to highlight. The water chamber your return pump is in, is the only place water evaporation shows up. The smaller you make this box, the more important your ATO (auto-top off) system is. My personal preference is to make this chamber as large as possible. Think of the scenario where you scoop a gallon of water out of your tank, in order to bag up a fish or coral and transport them somewhere. Do you have enough water in the return pump chamber so the level can drop - but pump doesn't run dry? (Of course, you'll put a gallon of freshly made salt water back in.) Same scenario, but you syphon out 5 gallons of tank water to do a water change. Does that chamber have an extra 5 gallons so you can leave the return pump running, or are you forced to turn it off. This is my preference for sump proportioning. 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Call_Me_Jae Posted December 16, 2022 Author Share Posted December 16, 2022 9 hours ago, islandVib3s said: I think it's preferred to have the return on the shortest route back into display,but I don't think it'll be a problem. Are you going to use a heater? Yes, itll most likely be in the middle chamber Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Call_Me_Jae Posted December 16, 2022 Author Share Posted December 16, 2022 9 hours ago, obrien.david.j said: One subtle detail to highlight. The water chamber your return pump is in, is the only place water evaporation shows up. The smaller you make this box, the more important your ATO (auto-top off) system is. My personal preference is to make this chamber as large as possible. Think of the scenario where you scoop a gallon of water out of your tank, in order to bag up a fish or coral and transport them somewhere. Do you have enough water in the return pump chamber so the level can drop - but pump doesn't run dry? (Of course, you'll put a gallon of freshly made salt water back in.) Same scenario, but you syphon out 5 gallons of tank water to do a water change. Does that chamber have an extra 5 gallons so you can leave the return pump running, or are you forced to turn it off. This is my preference for sump proportioning. That's Really good info. ill make sure to test that when i set it up. the current tank i got is a 65g with a 20g sump. also do you have an ATO reccomendation? ive only used a cheap one i found on amazon and it failed on my 40breeder Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
obrien.david.j Posted December 16, 2022 Share Posted December 16, 2022 25 minutes ago, Call_Me_Jae said: That's Really good info. ill make sure to test that when i set it up. the current tank i got is a 65g with a 20g sump. also do you have an ATO reccomendation? ive only used a cheap one i found on amazon and it failed on my 40breeder I'm an Apex user. My ATO is the full setup. I've heard others talk about Tunze being a good stand alone ATO. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blue Z Reef Posted December 19, 2022 Share Posted December 19, 2022 Also, not sure where you are at with planning/equipment/etc, but I would highly recommend an emergency drain for your setup. Not only is it way safer for your house, but you can also make one drain full siphon and this quiet. Depending on your tank, it could be as easy as a second hole drilled and a little extra plumbing. Sump layout looks fine to me, pretty standard and you can’t get too fancy with only a 20 gal size layout. I too use apex for my ATO but most everyone prefers Tunze for stand alone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TaylorW Posted December 21, 2022 Share Posted December 21, 2022 (edited) Go to Autotopoff.com, I’ve bought three auto top offs from them over the years and still have them all working perfectly and they’re the cheapest out there that I’m aware of. I buy the double float switch that has a backup float for a fail safe with a mounting bracket and add on a fountain pump, total everything you need for like $50. You can build your own which is cool, like if you have a nano tank. The guy that owns the company is super helpful too and immediately responds with any questions Edited December 21, 2022 by TaylorW Added picture Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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