65 gal Sump for a 220gal Discus tank

[figueirasantos]

Hi all... I'm in the project to execution phase...

Tank journal here: http://forum.simplydiscus.com/showthread.php?125828-220-gal-Tank-with-Sump

Stand in place, tank ordered and planning the sump.

The tank will have Discus, few to no plants. The idea is to have something I can go away for 2 weeks or so eventually. Accordingly, I'll probably not use socks or fine pads. My route is to somewhat mimic what I have inside my canisters: 1 - mech rings, 2-sponge, 3 bio media... with the help of a small refugium. BTW, I will have a separated refugium.


So far, i came with two Sump options... first two pics of the simple one:

Water comes down in the leftmost chamber, goes to second section from bottom to top (so that bigger particles will be siphoned from the bottom), down to the third section which will house heater, pump to refugium, them a bubble trap and the return section.
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Then I'm wondering something more complex...

The water will get into the first small section on the back of the leftmost part of the sump... It goes down to the second section where it should flow from bottom to top through mech rings (so bigger particles are siphoned regularly from the bottom). From this second section water falls into the third section in a sponge or bio balls that can stay emerged (sort of wet-dry). Then water flows up through a pair of baffles into the 4th section moving from top to bottom and then through the bubble trap to the return section.


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I will thank any comments, suggestions, criticism....

[figueirasantos]

Hey... nobody willing to provide me their 2cents on the sump... I'm about to start cutting the glass and would like to have more confidence in the design.

[100fuegos]

From my own experience I would tell you that the less complicated the better. You only need poret foam for mechanical and biological filtration. And that it is.

[LostSouth]

You really don't need all the baffles to eliminate bubbles. This is more of an issue with saltwater tanks. Not sure what you are doing for heaters, but be sure to leave chambers large enough for the length of the heaters.

I designed mine with filter socks. My tank is a bit smaller, but there are a couple of ebay sellers that make the dividers. I've done it with the glass before. It was a lot cleaner with the kits off ebay. I'm sure they would be happy to make dividers specific to your tank.

[figueirasantos]

Thank you all.

Thanks for the input... Liked the idea of the Poret. Will import three sheets to Brazil (shipping and import taxes will kill me).

No i plan to go with 1 5" 10ppi, then a 4" 20ppi followed by a 3" 30ppi.

I will try to stick to the chamber flow from bottom to the top (maybe is a bias acquired from my Eheim Classic Canister) but sounds like a good idea to siphon debris from the bottom when doing maintenance.

I will update the sketchup design and post an updated one!

As for the microbubles, yes they are more of an issue in a reef tank. But have read that discus don't like then either.