It has been a long time since my last post to this blog. My handwritten journal is current.
Well, to start, about three weeks ago I seriously began considering the possibility of adding a sump. Seeing the different sumps on the "The Reeftank" and various plumbing design really made me interested. At first, I was thinking about buying a sump already made. That would have costed about $200.00. The money was not the real issue, but the amount of people who told me that I could build one myself for a whole lot less. The thought of doing a DIY project was scary because I know that I don't know jack sh*&^ about tools or building anything. That type of thinking quickly changed once I began asking questions. I got so much help and advice. Step by step walkthroughs. After all the discussion I finally bought a 20H tank for the sump. The LFS employee referred me to a local spot that cuts glass. I then proceeded to get my glass cut for the baffles. I ordered an overflow box because this tank is not pre-drilled. I also bought a return pump as well.
Lifeguard Quietone 3000 pump
Hurricane Filter/Overflow box
Coralife 65 Superskimmer
Here is the completed sump
I had a hard time trying to get the siphon going in the overflow box. I followed the manufacturer's directions to the letter. It's funny how it never mentioned having both internal and external boxes filled with water and U-tube submersed on both ends. The guys on this forum told me that part. I got the overflow to work. I had to cut back the rate that my return was sending water back a little. Here is the sump in operation
I must say that I felt really proud of my self for doing this.
I didn't feel that my skimmer was working properly as an "in-sump" skimmer now. I know that I normally don't have problems out of it. It seemed like I could not get the foam action. I check tubing for
salt creep and cleaned skimmer and everything. After going to various websites that sold skimmers, I came across a site at
www.proteinskimmer.com The one thing that stood out was this tip about how skimmer sometimes under perform if the salinity is low. I started thinking how I only added plain top off water to the sump. I changed that water out and added my premade, sitting around for a couple days at room temperature seawater to the sump. Within minutes I noticed a big difference in my skimmer's performance. Now its making foam.
Overall, I love having this sump. It is so cool. I can do my waterchanges there and add my two part calcium. I am already thinking about bigger sumps and skimmers with all kinds crazy plumbing. I know my wife is probably sick and tired of me after this weekend. It has been sump 24/7 for days. I've finally calmed down. I think the scariest thing was the first night and worrying about that overflow and sump flooding. I have already figured that part out. I have my return nozzle positioned in a way that if the return pump gets cut off, the nozzle won't take in more that 1.5 seconds worth of water. I have it very close to the water line. I turned off the return plenty of times and I am comfortable with how much back drain hits the sump. No flooding possible. Overflow drain is pretty quiet. It is actually more quiet than when I had the HOB filter and skimmer. My computer is louder than the tank. I need to wipe out the internal fan.
