I will be upgrading from my 90 gallon to 180 gallon. My 90 gallon used a wet/dry with bio-balls. For my 180 I want to stay away from bio-balls. I will have 250 pounds of live rock in the main display tank that will be my biological filtration with a 1 inch sand bed for asthetics. I have seen pictures of tanks that have 100's of pounds of live rock in the main display and also have live rock (rubble) in their sumps. Do I need to also add liverock to my sump and if so for what purpose?
Biological Filtration?
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rustybucket145
New member
Liverock in your sump would act as a refugium of sorts. It would be beneficial to your tank and it's inhabitants. Is it 100% necessary? No, but I would recommend it.
Aquarist007
New member
all the live rock does not need to be in your tank. You can split it between the tank and the sump and or refugium--its still in the water column.
If you are going to add it to the sump then you should use baffles to slow down the flow over it to give the bacteria time to work.
If you are going to add it to the sump then you should use baffles to slow down the flow over it to give the bacteria time to work.
I will be having a refugium that's built in the back of the sump. In their I will 2-3 inches of sand and will be growing chaeto and with that comes pods. I guess my question really is, can I successfully run my tank with no bio-balls and have all my live rock in my main display and none in my sump?
Aquarist007
New member
absolutely yes--and there is no maintenance to the live rock like you have to do to the bioballs(take them out and scrub off the collecting nitrates.
Aquarist007
New member
you can all your rock in your display--but when you need space eventually for fish that mature in size then you can move some to the sump at that time and it will continue to do the job.
Consider sump, refugium , tank all the same water column--so the live rock(bacteria) can be doing their job anywhere
I would suggest a little rock rubble in that refug--hiding spaces for some inverts that live in and around the substrate.
Thanks for the response capn_hylinur.
I am going to try and plumb a 25 gallon tank to my sump because my current built-in refugium that is in the back of my sump is only 6 gallons. I read the article "Reefkeeping 101 â€"œ Sumps!" by Marc Levenson and he recommends a refugium that is at least 10% of the display tank volume. My lfs said it would fine to go with a 6 gallon refugium for my 180 gallon tank but I think it's best if I add an additional 25 gallon refugium.
I am going to try and plumb a 25 gallon tank to my sump because my current built-in refugium that is in the back of my sump is only 6 gallons. I read the article "Reefkeeping 101 â€"œ Sumps!" by Marc Levenson and he recommends a refugium that is at least 10% of the display tank volume. My lfs said it would fine to go with a 6 gallon refugium for my 180 gallon tank but I think it's best if I add an additional 25 gallon refugium.
Aquarist007
New member
near the bottom of this thread is some pictures of my fug and sump set up--I posted them too much so I will give you the link:
http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1287763
the refug is a 30 gal plastic tote--i kept the lid on it and cut a whole in it. this gives side support to the refug when filled
