I'm baffled

[dbacksrat]

Yes its true. I finally got around to baffling my sump yesterday, and I can't believe it was that easy. I went to my local Ace Hardware, and happened to work with the assistant manager's good buddy. He hooked me up with four pieces of glass for free.
I used a tube and a half of silicone, so now I am waiting twenty four more hours before I can fill that beast up.
The first three pieces of glass are in the bubble trap configuration, with a center compartment to serve as a refugium, separated by that last piece of glass.
In other news, I found some nice white dead rock (base rock) at my LFS the day after Christmas, so I snagged twenty pounds @ $1.95/lb. My tank only needs about ten or so more pounds of live rock, then we're set. I also picked up a pretty little blue damsel (the ones with the orangish-yellow belly) for $4.95
Later on, at a different LFS, I bought a sixline wrasse for the third time. He is sitting in quarantine right now, and I just discovered a nice little patch of fungus on his head. No big deal, but I was back at that LFS yesterday and dropped a good amount of money on a tank raised Bangaii Cardinal who is sitting in quarantine with him. Ugh.
That's where I'm at.

 

[Panther28]

How about some pics of the baffles. I am also in the processing of setting up a 15G sump. It will help me out with the placement of the baffles

 

[dbacksrat]

I regret not taking any pictures, and I couldn't dig up any decent ones on the internet. Pretty much what I did was starting from the left side of the sump, a pane of glass sits on the bottom, then an inch to its right one hangs from the top, then an inch over another sits off the bottom. Eight inches further is another baffle which sits on the bottom aquarium pane too. Hope this helps, and if not, I'm sure someone else can clarify it.

 

[dbacksrat]

The RED section is where the water from the display drains into the sump and where I plan on keeping my skimmer. Each black line represents a pane of glass. The GREEN section is the refugium, and the BLUE section is where my return pump is housed. Hope that helps.

 

[Panther28]

Thanks. It helps alot. You can't imagine how it helps. I have one more question. Do I have to do it from left to right or I can have it the other way around. Like where you have red having the return and the blue having the drain. Have you tried the sump? Is it able to stop micro bubbles? What do you have or are going to have in the refugium?

 

[Lorna]

you can have it either........just depends on your individual set up.

Nice snag on the fish......hope the 6 line is okay.....I have two tank raised bangaiis that are approaching mature size.......2" and I am keeping my fingers crossed that they are male/female......they don't fight and hang out together so here's hoping......

 

[dbacksrat]

The Cardinal is pretty good sized, probably 1.5" minimum.

I filled the sump today, and to my dismay, I didn't seal the third pane of glass enough because it had a small leak. It seems like nothing to worry about, but I'll keep an eye on it.

 

[dbacksrat]

Another update: The last section that houses my return pump is not being fed enough water. My pump is sucking up too much air, and ironically, is pushing out bubbles into my display. I'm going to add some sand to my refugium section and hope that the added volume will help. I've also adjusted the ball valve on the return line to reduce the pump's output. We'll see if this solves it.
Also, I checked on my sixline wrasse today (wasn't home all day yesterday), and his wig of fungus is gone. I'm still gonna keep him isolated just to make sure everything is good.
When I added the base rock two weeks ago, I lost a lot of flow. The main dead spot is in the very front and center of my tank, and now I am dealing with a beautiful field of cyanobacteria. I guess I'm going to have to invest in a pair of smaller powerheads (MJ1200s).
Lastly, my pair of short spined purple urchins made very quick work of a field of turf algae on my rocks. They also munched on nearly 90% of the coralline on my biggest rock and a premium piece of LR. It may be time to kick them over to my buddy. I will do so if they move to my other premium piece with 100% purple coralline coverage.

 

[Panther28]

I am also having the exact problem as you are having. My return pump is also a little too strong for the overflow. I also had a leak in the first baffle. Well I am going to setup a valve on the pump to see if it will help with the return. How did it go for you??

 

[dbacksrat]

It turns out I needed to top of my tank just a bit. Back in December I invested in a DIY auto topoff kit, wired it all up, but have yet to mount it in my sump. With school starting next week, who knows when I'll get around to it.