Display, frag, sump, fuge all in 1 setup

dannieboiz

dannieboiz

Active member
I'm getting ready to swap setup again. New display is 48x24x26 starfire.

I'm thinking of making a sump, fuge, frag all in 1 setup. At the same time. I need to make room for the skimmer calcium reactor and the C02 bottle all under the cabinet. Assuming I have a 48x24sq to play with.

A 55g tak 48x15x18 divided into sections.... perhaps a 24x15x18 section can be used for the frags? 20x15x18 used for a fuge and the 4x15x18 chamber remaining can be used for any plumbing required for the return as well as the skimmer?

My skimmer is going to be external. Do able u think?
 
Why do you need the frag section for?? Are you going to frag stuff to sell??
Skimmer section --- Fuge/Frag section --- Return section : That's what I would do..

Are you sure you can put the 55G tank under the stand you have right now? If this the 55G tank that I'm keeping then I believe it's 48.5-49" long.
 
I did a thread on converting a tank into a sump/fuge int he DIY forum and posted a link here a couple of months back. It might be of some use to you. :)
 
I have a small version of a similar thing.

I have a 20L divided into 4 sections.

1) Display, SPS, clowns zoa and GSP
2) Display, Mantis
3) 'fuge
4) heater/skimmer (no skimmer yet) section.

I use an AC20 (AC Mini) to move the water from the #1 display into the number 4 compartment. Then it goes under a baffle into the #3 compartment which has cheato and LR rubble in it. From there I have an overflow into the mantis section which has a small PH in it and overflows back into compartment #1. In compartment #1 I have 2 AC 201 power heads.

The tank is in an east facing window so it gets tons of natural light plus 220W of PC 25% actinic and 75% 10,000K

Here is a picture of the partitions:

partitions.jpg
 
thanks. As you can tell I'm not terribly good at silicone but I'm really happy with how it came out. It's a little too much light for my mantis so he just stays in his rock most of the time.
 
man I hate some of you guys for being so skilled. :lol:


Elite, Ii'm not planning to frag to sell. But I like to collect a bunch of little frags. I spent hundreds of dollars on frags alone but they keep on disappearing with some of the big fishes and the stupid hermits in my tank. I don't want to glue them down yet since i'm not sure how they'll grow out once they grow bigger. I want them to become mini colony before they go in the display.

I have a spare 175w metal halide that I told u about this morning which I plan on mounting under the stand. then I can grow any kind of macro I want and let the SPS leech off of some of the lights.

I have not measure the inside of my stand yet, but if it can fit that starfire tank on top, I'm sure it'll fit a 55 on the bottom. I just got home, haven't had the change to measure yet but I'll let you know as soon as I get comfy.



My stand total hieght is 36" but I think my internal height is probably 30" only.
 
IMHO: If you have a starfire tank I'd drill it and use a sump. You are paying a serious premium for such a clear and beautiful window on the sea, you want to maximize how much you can see through that expensive glass. The frags and 'fuge will be just as happy in the 55 inside the cabinet.
 
ok, the internam length is 48 5/8" and width is 24 5/8"... it's just a crazy idea that's all. If it doesn't work, I'll just use my sump and fuge that I have now. No biggy.
 
Your 55G tank dimensions are 48.5"x13.5"x21.5" .. Just make something simple like my sump. It should work better than my sump because because I remove the center brace already.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7784035#post7784035 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by dantodd
IMHO: If you have a starfire tank I'd drill it and use a sump. You are paying a serious premium for such a clear and beautiful window on the sea, you want to maximize how much you can see through that expensive glass. The frags and 'fuge will be just as happy in the 55 inside the cabinet.
Click to expand...

Geeze... I'm such a putz.. I read the title and thought you were chopping up your starfire display the way I did with my 20L. I think it's a great idea to create a fuge/frag/sump out of a 55 as long as you can actually get it under the cabinet.


I would set it up something like this....

Drain and skimmer in center of tank. 'fuge on one side with a black acrylic divider. Then just Tee your drain to let you feed the correct amount of water into the 'fuge.

The rest of the drain drops straight into the center compartment with the skimmer. All of the water runs through the frag compartment into a return compartment on the far end of the tank. This will maximize the flow-through for the frag area and the black acrylic between the drain and refugium will allow you to block most of the light out if you decide to reverse light the 'fuge.

To manage the water levels I would cut the baffle between the 'fuge and center about 1/2" from the top and the baffle from the central area into the frag/sump area about 1 - 1 1/4" from the top. This will ensure that the fuge always flows into the center and then into the frag area and not the other way around. At the far end of the frag area I would use an elevated baffle with about 1 1/2" of open area at the bottom to allow the frag area to act as an evaporation area so you don't get too much water level change in the return area. This sould also let the microbubbles dissipate before getting to the return. If you don't want bubbles in the frag area just add more baffles between the frag area and the skimmer to trap the bubbles. over-under-over with 1" between each baffle should be plenty.
 
another issue came to mind, I don't think 1200gph on the return is going to be able to give the frag section enough flow for SPS. Putting a small pump in there may cause the dirty bottom to stirr.

What I can do is have a long and narrow frag tank sitting right in front of the sump. Water draining from the display with a T one goes down to the sump and the other goes straight into the frag tank. Then use bulkheads and some PVC to join the 2 tanks elavating the frag tank above the sump and let gravity do it's thing.

If the sump is 48.5"x13.5"x21.5", I can sneak a 9x24x16 tank right in front of it. Throw a small maxijet in @ one corner and call it a day.

here's a quick sketch of what I mean



Then however the sump is design is going to be extremely simple.

With that said, I wonder how much heat would be added with the 175w MH mounted under the stand. I will probably have to do reverse photosynthesis which could be both good and bad. It'll help heat up the tank during the winter months, but then my chiller would end up working 24/7

48.5"x13.5"x21.5"
 
Why don't you make something like this? keep it's simple.

sumpkr0.jpg


Don't put any sand in the in frag/fuge section. Maybe a little bit of LR. Install an eggcrate for your frag and a small powerhead to give it flow.

With a 48" long tank, you don't have to worry about the microbubble getting in the display.

your stand has an open back. Install a good size fan to keep the heat down.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7786023#post7786023 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by dannieboiz
another issue came to mind, I don't think 1200gph on the return is going to be able to give the frag section enough flow for SPS. Putting a small pump in there may cause the dirty bottom to stirr.
Click to expand...

If you use a filter sock I don't think a dirty bottom will be an issue. I am sure you'll want to have a PH in the frag section.

What I can do is have a long and narrow frag tank sitting right in front of the sump. Water draining from the display with a T one goes down to the sump and the other goes straight into the frag tank. Then use bulkheads and some PVC to join the 2 tanks elavating the frag tank above the sump and let gravity do it's thing.

If the sump is 48.5"x13.5"x21.5", I can sneak a 9x24x16 tank right in front of it. Throw a small maxijet in @ one corner and call it a day.
Click to expand...

Seems a bit like defeating your purpose. I assumed you wanted to use a standard 55 to help save money, adding a small custom tank like that could cost more than the 55.

With that said, I wonder how much heat would be added with the 175w MH mounted under the stand. I will probably have to do reverse photosynthesis which could be both good and bad. It'll help heat up the tank during the winter months, but then my chiller would end up working 24/7
Click to expand...

There you do thinking again. I was only thinking about reverse lighting the 'fuge area for O2 and PH reasons but There's no reason you can't reverse light the whole thing. I suspect that the heat of a single 175 over that much water can be managed with ventilation and a fan pretty easily.

Let me put together a little sketch, I'll add it in a bit.
 
dantodd I would pull down the top of the return box. In the future should you decide to add a sand bed or a deeper sand bed then you might regret counting on the baffle. If you make it a half inch lower then the top of the outside you can feel safe. Just my opinion. Looks like an awesome idea however. I may have to copy some of your ideas for my new sump. :-)

Jon
 
Well, I put the underflow in there so that it would trap out any little bubbles that survived and it also lets the whole SPS area drop with evaporation so that you don't end up running the return dry if you don't top off for a few days.

I don't imagine that he would want to put a sand bed in the main area of the tank because there would be a 20L on legs inside the larger area that would have a sand bed.
 
I was not implying he should remove the "underflow" or baffle; I simply was saying the way the set up is now if there was one thing that fell in the way it would not overflow into the return, but attempt to overflow into the drain inlet and then all over his home. There is no reason why he couldn't pull down the two interior sides of the return by 1 cm or half an inch. Would not take him any more time, thought, or materials and would just be an additional safe guard. I do not know about you, but when I am pumping salt water in my house I take all precautions to make sure I don't pump it away from my animals and onto the floor. I have read enough horror stories online.
 
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