Sump compartments - what do you wish you had?

#1
I'm in the process of designing my sump and am wondering what people wish they had compartments for.

This is my plan so far-
Filter socks
Turf scrubber
Chaeto
Skimmer/heaters
Biomedia
Return pump

Not sure if I will implement it all but want the compartments available so I don't have to modify.

What else would you install?
 

Irishman

Tang
M.A.S.C Club Member
#2
The only think I'm not able to fit in mine is a filter sock and turf scrubber but I'm pretty happy with mine ATM. I have skimmer, refuge and return compartments. My media reactor when I need it goes in the fuge area and sometimes I put a filter between the baffles to help.
 

CRW Reef

Blue Whale
M.A.S.C Club Member
ex-officio
#3
Pending on how much room you have , I like having a section for a frag rack but I have a terrible zoa addiction so... Maybe you don't need one :)
 
#4
CRW Reef;637820 said:
Pending on how much room you have , I like having a section for a frag rack but I have a terrible zoa addiction so... Maybe you don't need one :)
I thought about a place for a frag rack but not sure I'll have the space and it would require another light.

I'll consider it though.
 

tomtom2245

Angel Fish
M.A.S.C Club Member
#7
DJBM3;637832 said:
I wish I had more room!
+1, when I did my first sump I tried to have compartments for everything but all that ended up doing was making it really hard to take stuff in and out and made it hard to clean the sump as well.
 

aquarius

Blenny
M.A.S.C Club Member
#8
I like the idea of a turf scrubber may implement that into the next acrylic sump I build. I put in 3 4" filter socks in the sump I'm running now and it's kinda meh. I personally found the socks to be more hassle than they were worth and no longer run them, I do however move about 4k gph through my sump so it stays clean and keeps particles in suspension so my skimmer can remove them. I designed my sump so that all the drains dump into one end overflowing into the filter socks then through into the skimmer chamber and finally into the return pump chamber. From the return chamber water is pumped back to the display and to a 25 gallon refugium on the other end of the sump that overflows back into the pump chamber. A lot of reefers argue that sump turnover only needs to be 3-4x water volume or no more than your skimmer can handle per hour assuming that if you match the sump flow rate with the skimmer flow rate all of the water passing through gets skimmed. Years ago when I followed this train of thought my sump stayed dirty, now with high flow in the display and high flow through the sump I find that everything stays cleaner which means less maintenance for me and clear water even without the use of filter socks. My skimmer pulls some thick nasty gunk out this way too, it's been so thick you could mold it like clay. hth
 
#9
aquarius;637934 said:
I like the idea of a turf scrubber may implement that into the next acrylic sump I build. I put in 3 4" filter socks in the sump I'm running now and it's kinda meh. I personally found the socks to be more hassle than they were worth and no longer run them, I do however move about 4k gph through my sump so it stays clean and keeps particles in suspension so my skimmer can remove them. I designed my sump so that all the drains dump into one end overflowing into the filter socks then through into the skimmer chamber and finally into the return pump chamber. From the return chamber water is pumped back to the display and to a 25 gallon refugium on the other end of the sump that overflows back into the pump chamber. A lot of reefers argue that sump turnover only needs to be 3-4x water volume or no more than your skimmer can handle per hour assuming that if you match the sump flow rate with the skimmer flow rate all of the water passing through gets skimmed. Years ago when I followed this train of thought my sump stayed dirty, now with high flow in the display and high flow through the sump I find that everything stays cleaner which means less maintenance for me and clear water even without the use of filter socks. My skimmer pulls some thick nasty gunk out this way too, it's been so thick you could mold it like clay. hth
Thanks for the detailed response. I do find filter socks annoying. I hate to have to clean them every few days. The pump I'm planning on using is going to be high flow so if that is the case maybe I won't need them.
 
#10
tomtom2245;637908 said:
+1, when I did my first sump I tried to have compartments for everything but all that ended up doing was making it really hard to take stuff in and out and made it hard to clean the sump as well.
So you prefer one large compartment instead of the different sections?
 

aquarius

Blenny
M.A.S.C Club Member
#12
I wouldn't do one compartment but I have found the movable adjustable baffles are very handy and easy to do with either glass or acrylic and some epdm weatherstripping
 
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