DIY Sump

Okay so I am starting to build my sump.

I am using a 20 breeder



And I have acrylic baffles that I cut out thanks to Jeff




All baffles are held in by tape so design is not set in stone just quite yet. I am open to suggestions

So, you will have the skimmer before the refugium?

yes but I might change it

That's how my sump is setup but I would change it if I had to do it over again.

I like it better with the skimmer first. Then your skimmer wont pull out your pods.

I agree. I have mine setup with skimmer first, then the pump in the middle, with the refugium on the far right. The pump tubing then "t's" off into the refugium which also overflows back into the pump in the middle section. I feel this gives me the best opportunity to make use of my refugium. If my refugium was in the middle, the flow of the water would be extremely fast and make it not as useful as water that is dropping in and flowing out at the same rate, not the 500 gph rate that is pushing my water back into my tank.

But I am definitely not a sump expert. I was reading up on em and was confused for a good 3 weeks trying to figure out what people were talking about with baffles and bubbles and return pumps and check valves.