diy sump question

[gquimby1]

I'm sure most of us have seen "The King of DIY"'s videos. He did one on a trick tower sump where he used a three drawer holder, some pot scrubbies and some poly fill. I was wondering if you could do this for a reef sump or if it would cause problems?

Basically top level would be where the water cam in and it would go into a drawer with poly fill for mechanical.

After that it would drop down into another drawer, probably with a marine bio slab or something like that and then finally it would drop into a drawer with live rock and then go out into the sump where it would meat a protein skimmer and then go back up.

How does that sound? Basically I'm wondering if this would offer the same problem as running bio wheels which I hear is a big no no. Even though I saw my lfs running a giant biowheel in their sump and that's all they had.

Pointers? Comments? Concerns?

Thanks

 

[OldReefGuy]

IMO,
Bio wheels (like all mechnical filtration) aren't a big no-no.
Bad husbandry is a big no-no.
Your proposed system will work, however, bad husbandry will not be good.

 

[Tooboot]

Is comes down to proper maintenance. Anything that can trap deitrus can cause issues if not we'll maintained (replaced, cleaned...) my question is why would you want this if you have a sump and protein skimmer, if you want to add some filters could you not do this in your sump

 

[gquimby1]

Good question. I didn't really think about that. I have a 29g right now and here in a few weeks I'm going to get my 90g up and running and I'm very insecure as to how I set up a sump so I just don't know what I'm doing. I suppose I'm trying to dot my I's and cross my T's just to play it safe. But I would appreciate your insight if you think that's unnecessary

 

[Tooboot]

I'm new to this but have been reading up intensely for the past year as I stocked various pieces and components.
It just seems like a hassle in retrospect to the return.what do you have or will have as a sump for the 90? I suggest something large enough to have different sections, like for the skimmer, a fuge, return pump as a starting point. Mine has 3 baffles separating their skimmer and my fuge, I has some puriGen stuffed in there for a bit, and now some nitrate and phosphate removing pads (changed weekly). I don't plan on continuing with the filters, way to costly, I would prefer them tank manage itself with regular water changes, a skimmer and a fuge.

 

[Tooboot]

In their end, ask yourself if you want to change filters very regularly, clean bio balls, and just about anything else you put in there. I think your suggestions as material are fine, but question the method. I've had polyfilters in between the baffles in their past, and would love to through in a slab, but would just add it directly to them sump