u mike

the only sizes i found for this skimmer are 9.5 x 7.5 x 20.5
that is why i made the first section 8"



Looks good. Is your first skimmer baffle at the right height for your skimmer?

in the middle section where the bubble chamber is the 2 tall sections are both 11" tall, the height of the tank is 12" tall.




I could be mistaken, but the baffle on the bubble trap closest to the return section looks way too tall. It appears to go almost to the top of the tank when it should be the same height as the baffle closest to the skimmer section. Again, I could be missing something but maybe i'm just not seeing it.

I went the the picture that can be found on the DIY section of a 20 long tank as a sump. that has the last section with the eggcrate that way.
I want to get this right because when it gets in the cabinet it will be hard to get out.
thanks to all respones keep them coming, because i have plenty of time to fix what is wrong,i have to wait for another skimmer or a new cone it was broke when it came today.






I agree with the baffle issue. You might need to pull it and have it cut. Also, you may want to increase the height of the refugium section so that this is the highest baffle in the tank. That way, when you feed the fuge from your return, the water will spill over into the center return section and not have water going back and forth. That way you can properly control the turnover in the fuge.



I think that sumps are the kinda thing that you have to sort out through trial and error. My sump is on it's 2nd or 3rd configuration and I still want to change the bubble trap.

How are you planning to feed the refugium? Are you just going to let the water settle in between the center and left sections? If so, then that baffle is okay. If you are planning on T'ing off the return pump, then the wall of the refugium will need to be higher than the right side wall of the return section. My sump is fed on the right side from the drain pipe and flows to the center section just in case the pic isn't clear.

I have my refugium fed using a ball valve connected to the return pump. That way I can adjust the flow to what ever I want. I am of the opinion that lower flow in the refugium allows cleaner water to return to the system. The more contact time between the same volume of water and the cheato allows more nitrates in the water to be used. I'm no expert and I very well could be wrong, but that's my thinking.

What ever you do, the right side wall of the center return section needs to come down so the water can spill over from the left side skimmer section. You don't want water to fall very far because it will be noisy and produce bubbles. You only want like 1" max.

what I'am thinking about now is cutting down the last section of bubble trap going into refuigm to 8".
that will give me 8" 11" 8' 8" plus eggcrate. hopefully this last section with eggcrate will keep all snails in the refuigm.

just switch the last baffle from the skimmer section with the fuge baffle and all will be good. other wise your whole skimmer section is going to fill with water not allowing your skimmer to work.

thanks sounds good to me.

I just came back from hardware store they cut the last section down to 8" so now i have this.

8" 11" (still one inch off bottom) 8" 8" with eggcrate.
let me know what you think.