micielo719
New member
Hey guys, new to the whole Reef thing and was wondering if there are any West Palm people in here?? Would be cool to get some advice and info from the locals.. Thanks
Anyone up in West Palm area..
- Thread starter micielo719
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micielo719
New member
Ok here goes...
Hey guys, Ok so I am brand new to the Reef world and have been doing a ton of reading on many different things. I am done with building the frame to my stand and will be skinning it soon. I just did a 40B sump. I liked the idea of having my return in the middle with my skimmer off to the left and fuge off to right. I was planning on putting Chaeto in the fuge with live rock rubble. T'ng off my return and dumping it into the fuge section. As the pics show. I also planned on putting in a couple reactors (GFO and Carbon) but I am learning (bare with me) that the reactor for Phos will reverse the effect of the Chaeto thus killing it. Since I do not have my tank up and running yet I am trying to figure everything out. My question are the following:
1. Should I leave the fuge section alone and just put Chaeto/rock rubble in and let it reduce phosphate on its own?
2. Should I skip the fuge all together and place 2 reactors after the skimmer (was thinking of the Nextreef MR1) 1 for GFO and 1 for Carbon and nip Phos from the beginning and add my ATO at the end next to the return?? Kingtriton1's idea which honestly sounds like the best considering I was running out of room and had no place for my ATO..
3. Do you see a problem with my fuge section not having a baffle so when water drains back into the return will excess bubbles form?? If so, do you recommend placing baffles like I did my skimmer side thus making the fuge section smaller.
I'm sure there will be differences of opinions but Please feel free to comment on the sump and or any ideas that you think will be beneficial for me from the get go. I have realized that in this hobby nothing moves quickly and patience is key so with that being said I would like to make sure I attack this in the best possible way.
Attached are pics of my sump and the plumbing I would like to do..
Basically I don't want to have to get reactors if the Chaeto will do the same thing.
Thank you guys as always for your info and help.
BTW, thank you KINGTRITON1 for your help, pics and info thru this.
I am looking at doing basically a coral reef and not many fish..
Hey guys, Ok so I am brand new to the Reef world and have been doing a ton of reading on many different things. I am done with building the frame to my stand and will be skinning it soon. I just did a 40B sump. I liked the idea of having my return in the middle with my skimmer off to the left and fuge off to right. I was planning on putting Chaeto in the fuge with live rock rubble. T'ng off my return and dumping it into the fuge section. As the pics show. I also planned on putting in a couple reactors (GFO and Carbon) but I am learning (bare with me) that the reactor for Phos will reverse the effect of the Chaeto thus killing it. Since I do not have my tank up and running yet I am trying to figure everything out. My question are the following:
1. Should I leave the fuge section alone and just put Chaeto/rock rubble in and let it reduce phosphate on its own?
2. Should I skip the fuge all together and place 2 reactors after the skimmer (was thinking of the Nextreef MR1) 1 for GFO and 1 for Carbon and nip Phos from the beginning and add my ATO at the end next to the return?? Kingtriton1's idea which honestly sounds like the best considering I was running out of room and had no place for my ATO..
3. Do you see a problem with my fuge section not having a baffle so when water drains back into the return will excess bubbles form?? If so, do you recommend placing baffles like I did my skimmer side thus making the fuge section smaller.
I'm sure there will be differences of opinions but Please feel free to comment on the sump and or any ideas that you think will be beneficial for me from the get go. I have realized that in this hobby nothing moves quickly and patience is key so with that being said I would like to make sure I attack this in the best possible way.
Attached are pics of my sump and the plumbing I would like to do..
Basically I don't want to have to get reactors if the Chaeto will do the same thing.
Thank you guys as always for your info and help.
BTW, thank you KINGTRITON1 for your help, pics and info thru this.
I am looking at doing basically a coral reef and not many fish..
Attachments
micielo719
New member
rovster
New member
I did the exact same set-up you should check out my build thread.
I ended up getting rid of my chaeto because it died on me because my tank was running ULNS and it wilted away. But for a while, it was doing a great job and I had all kinds of bugs in there.
As far as reactors, I think a carbon reactor is not really needed. I run my carbon passively in a bag. It is not "high tech" but does the job. I do have a GFO reactor and I would definitely recommend at least having one on standby.
Another piece of advice is make sure you have a beefy return and put valves on both the return and fuge so you can regulate the flow to your liking. You don't really need that additional baffle, but you can add one. I get very few bubbles coming off the fuge baffle, since the flow through there is not crazy.
I ended up getting rid of my chaeto because it died on me because my tank was running ULNS and it wilted away. But for a while, it was doing a great job and I had all kinds of bugs in there.
As far as reactors, I think a carbon reactor is not really needed. I run my carbon passively in a bag. It is not "high tech" but does the job. I do have a GFO reactor and I would definitely recommend at least having one on standby.
Another piece of advice is make sure you have a beefy return and put valves on both the return and fuge so you can regulate the flow to your liking. You don't really need that additional baffle, but you can add one. I get very few bubbles coming off the fuge baffle, since the flow through there is not crazy.
micielo719
New member
120g
micielo719
New member
I have a Eheim 1262 return and I have purchased a gate valve just like the one in te picture and would have it T'd off the return to be able to adjust the flow.
rovster
New member
That is the pump I had origionally. Never tried it but after some research I decided to go bigger. It will probably be OK, especially if you don't plan on running anything else off it. My pump runs my fuge, GFO and potentially a carbon reactor that I never set up, but I feel if I was running another reactor, I may not have enough juice. Its a WB 5000 FWIW.
micielo719
New member
Thanks for the info.. I will check out your build thread.. Do you think I should add one last baffle at end of the fuge section for my ATO?? or should I try to stick one of these reservoirs under my stand ?? http://advancedacrylics.com/collections/auto-top-off/products/copy-of-10-gal-black-ato-1
rovster
New member
Absolutely not. For one, you will will kill your sump volume. The other thing is it will be WAY to small to be useful. You are better off building something.
What I did is I shoved my sump as far into the corner as possible, then built an acrylic container as big as possible to occupy the remaining space. You could also have something made that sits next to the tank. For a tank that size you'll want about 10 gallons capacity. Mine is 12 gallons and I have to refill it weekly.
What I did is I shoved my sump as far into the corner as possible, then built an acrylic container as big as possible to occupy the remaining space. You could also have something made that sits next to the tank. For a tank that size you'll want about 10 gallons capacity. Mine is 12 gallons and I have to refill it weekly.
micielo719
New member
Gotcha.. so something like this http://advancedacrylics.com/collections/auto-top-off/products/copy-of-10-gal-black-ato-1
Deep Reef
Active member
I have the same tank. Been running an ehiem on it for a year and it is not enough pump. Measured the flow and had about 600gph through tank. When I pulled the line for the chaeto there was not enough and the chaeto was almost stagnant. I have the same sump set up and had to move the pump to the end and put chaeto in the middle. I am currently looking to replace the pump with a jebao 12000 in order to get it all working as originally planned.
Deep Reef
Active member
I would also recommend doing a herbie type overflow. I used the two 3/4" lines as the returns to sump, the two 1" lines as the emergency overflows and I ran two 3/4" supplies over the top for the supply to tank. It took a little adjusting but now it is very quiet. I used gate valves on the 3/4" return lines. No valves anywhere else.
micielo719
New member
Thanks Deep Reef..
Deep Reef
Active member
Tried to send some pics but email kicked back. here is the link to my build it might help.
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2332486
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2332486
micielo719
New member
thanks for the link... I'm reading it over as I type!! LOL.. Gotta try and get with you a se have the same set-up and love how the stand and canopy came out!
