New 37g .. 10g Sump

Im limited with space underneath my 37g.. I opted for a 10g sump. (Running no sump right now with a HOB skimmer) Would this sump design work? It will have no fuge.. Mainly for the extra water volume and equipment.. Ill be utilizing a eshopps r300 overflow box (rated at 300gph) my return pump will be a mag 5 or 7 pushing water back to the tank at approximately 4ft.. In the return section I will be running a JBJ ato system as well.. for a skimmer a reef octo nwb110.. did I miss anything? Oh and the baffles will be made from acrylic from lowes.. What type of silicone would be best? thanks!

eshopps pf300* sorry

I would think the mag 5 would work with the headloss. A mag 7 would over power the overflow box. My return is a 712gph with 3ft of headloss and the box is rated at 600 gph and that works well for me. You might be able to fit a ball of cheato in your sump, doesnt have to be anything fancy just a place for it between the skimmer and the bubble trap. A cheap clip on light with a twisty (cfl) bulb would do the trick. Even without that it looks like a good design. Dont forget to mark your max water level for the sump with the power off and make a hole in the return line just below the water level in the DT. (helps break siphon faster with powerloss)

If my water level is about 8'' from the bottom... do my baffles have to be 8 inches as well?.. or smaller to overflow?

emily120289 said:

If my water level is about 8'' from the bottom... do my baffles have to be 8 inches as well?.. or smaller to overflow?

Click to expand...

Your short baffles will determine water depth in the first chamber as you have it drawn.. it you put a ball valve in your piping between the pump and the tank you will find it both allows you to have some control of the flow and allows you to isolate the pump from the tank. I use it to turn off that pipe while I do water changes. I also have a big ball valve in my main overflow pipe for the same reason.

Is there room in your sump for a third chamber at the left end with overflow and skimmer, and then put some live rock rubble and cheato in the middle chamber with the cheap clip on light and screwy bulb?

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think it works to use acrylic baffles in a glass tank. I believe the adhesive/silicone doesn't work for both.
I am running a ten gallon sump under my sixty cube because of the size of the stand. I wish I had had something custom made.... Anyway, I have no baffles. I have some chaeto in a breeder basket with a light over it, a heater, the skimmer, the return pump and a bunch of LR rubble in there. Sumps can be done lots of ways. :)

> gluing both glass and acrylic with silicone..... unless I've missed something...

Sure...Why not.. it doesn't have to hold water.. we only the need acrylic baffles to stay put. ...right? But.... I'd absolutely let it cure for several days dry. My skimmer is in an annex I built of acrylic glued to my sump and it is glued together with super glue jell and sealed with aquarium silicone and is doing fine. I ran a bead of silicone in the inside corners as a safety.

+1 Poksal. It won't necessarily make a water tight seal, but it will definitely keep the baffles in place.