Time to build a sump!!

I am T-2 weeks (hopefully) from the birth of my first reef tank!! I am very excited - even started having reefing dreams.

It is now time to build/design the sump and plumbing under my tank.
I attached a sketch of my plans to date.
I have a 40g tank that I'll use for my sump (36"L x 18"W x 16"H)

I have an ATB 840 v1.5 skimmer. Victor says to put it in 6.25" inches of water since I have the large pinwheel in it. This is why I plan to elevate the skimmer in that section (not sure how yet) so that I can have 10" high baffles to raise the water level in the sump.

The bubble trap baffles are separated by 1" and the middle one is 1.5" off the bottom.

I have an Eheim 1262 pump for the return which I T off to feed the fuge and T off again to return water back to the return section to control flow to the tank.
In the return section I will also put 2 250W submersible heaters as well as my float valves for an ATO system.

I am not completely sold on needing a fuge but I figure I have the space to put it in now so I might as well. I think it will be empty at least at first. Also, if I have a fuge do I need baffles to make a bubble trap to bring the water to the return section?

The tank is all glass and I plan on using 0.236" plexiglass from Home Depot and DAP Household Adhesive Sealant 100% Silicone.

Side thought: Do I need a filter sock or some type of mechanical filter?

Thanks for the advice and comments!

 

Your plan looks decent enough but heres a suggestion..

If you plan on keeping macro's in your fuge you should tee off the drain from the tank instead of the return. This way your chaeto, calupera, whatever you put in there gets more nutrients than if you flow skimmed water to them.

You can control the flow into the fuge area by moving the valve in your drawing to the side of the tee to fuge I mentioned.


I know how exciting it is to get the ball rolling and you can literally taste the salt already. I love seeing that much passion for the hobby but take this advice as well...
Research everything extensively and be patient once you have it up and cycling. Impatience with SW will break you mentally and in your wallet. The faster you make it go the harder the crash will be.

 

Did a little redesign.
Made the gap between baffles 1.5" and 1.5" above the tank bottom for the middle baffle. I also lowered the height of the Skimmer section from 10" to 8" and put the skimmer on a 1.5" stand. This will put the ATB840 in 6.5" of water and cause it to sit 24.5" high which gives me 1.5" of space in my stand. The fuge will now get its water directly from the over flow with a ball valve to control the amount.

Do people waterproof under their tank and sump? Anyone put neoprene under their sump?
Any ideas on how to attach a filter sock?
Any need for a bubble trap after my fuge?

Also it was recommend to me to use glass instead of acrylic for the baffles. Any thoughts?

Thanks for the advice/insights!

 

Silicone does not stick to acrylic. You can make it work for sump baffles but it will just take more silicone. Silicone will stick to glass, however, so it may be easier to put together with glass.

 

I was going to sugest 1.5" for your baffles which you already changed.

Split your drain which is good.

I don't have any bubble traps from my fuge. You are just trying to stop any errant micro bubbles from the skimmer.

There is no need to return water from your pupp. Just throttle the pump out put. There is absolutely nothing wrong with throttleing a pump, gravity does it continuously.

Recircing water just uses more power for no reason. The only good reason would be so your pump never rund dry.... but your pump should never run dry... so it is not needed.

There are filter sock holders available.... and yes, use glass. Too many have problems with acrylic and glass. Just do it right the first time and be done.