First SW Tank - Sump Questions

[Connor540]

Been lurking here for a while, reading as much as I can while setting up my first tank. I've had success with a couple of freshwater community setups but never tried salt. Finally got to a point where I feel like I need specific advice.

The last $1/gallon sale I bought a 55 gallon and a 20 long. I would have preferred a 75 gallon but couldn't get the store to bend on that. I understand the limitations of this tank so I'd rather not hash that out any further

I've drilled the tank with a Glass Holes 700gph overflow and 3/4" return kit.

I've built the frame for the stand based on the standard design I saw everywhere online. The top of the frame is 30" high.

The only other equipment I have so far would be the 2 Hydor Koralia 1150 powerheads I got on clearance.

I'm trying to figure out the bottom half of the setup now. I haven't done anything with the 20 long yet as far as baffles, it's just an empty tank right now. I'm looking at the Reef Octopus 110 and 150 in-sump protein skimmers but have no idea what I should be considering for a return pump. Any recommendations for this setup?

(Thanks for all the info so far from the old threads, this forum is super helpful)

 

[SFish]

Are you going to use PVC or hose? You want 5x for your flow through the sump. Do you plan to run anything else off the return pump? As far as ac pumps Eheim or Syncra is good. I don't really know DC pumps that well. You generally over size the return line to reduce friction so say the pump has a 3/4" output then you would want to go with 1" PVC.

Play with the calculator

http://www.reefcentral.com/index.php/head-loss-calculator

 

[Connor540]

I think PVC. Gives a cleaner look I feel. I'm not currently planning anything else but wouldn't mind a little future proofing. Thanks for the link.


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[SFish]

You will have to take 90's and 45's into account then. They both add friction and will slow the pump down. If you can use 45's because they add less friction. DC pumps are controllable where as AC pumps are not. AC pumps seem to be used a bit more then DC. With an AC pump you bleed the speed off with some PVC and a gate valve like this

 

[hkgar]

Although I don't spend much time reading threads about DC pumps, from what I have seen they tend to have a considerable shorter life cycle than the AC pumps most of us use.

I have mostly used Danner (Mag pumps) and a Sicce (now Syncra) with excellent results. I currently have an Iwaki 100 external (two years).

 

[SFish]

So your going to want to look up the info on the pump you choose. Lets says it's 4' to the top of the tank. We need a pump that has a higher max head pressure then 4'.



So we know we would have to use the 1250 pump. We can then look at the performance curve to see what kind of flow we will have at that height.



So this pump is about 198gph at 4'. This starts to give us an idea of the type of pump we want to buy. Of course pipe size and fittings reduce reduce the speed even more.

 

[SFish]

If you want to run other things off your return pump then you will want to over size your pump. You will want to make a manifold. Something like this.

 

[Connor540]

I don't think I wanna jump right in to that kind of setup. If I can buy a slightly oversized pump that will allow for that in the future that would be fine though.


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[SFish]

All it is is a pipe with T's and valves. Say you want to run 3 other things then you would have 3 T's and valves. Nothing to be intimidated by. U can always worry about it later or add it later if you need to. Depends if you want to run reactors and other things.

 

[Connor540]

The plumbing doesn't seem bad, just don't know about the extra equipment hooked to it. I'm sure it's something I'll consider down the road.


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[SFish]

Say for example you want to use carbon. You can put it in a mesh bag and add it to the sump. There is also another way that is more efficient. You can run the carbon in a reactor.



There are two options one buy a small pump to run the reactor or two run it off your return pump. That's where a manifold comes in.

 

[SFish]

There are several ways of dealing with algae. You could run GFO in a reactor you could use an ATS ect. With both of those options you would need to add a pump or run them off the return. If you are running 3 or 4 things then that's a lot of extra pumps. Hope this kinda gives you the idea as to why someone would use a manifold. As far as the equipment you will figure it out in time. There are a lot of different ways to do things. There really is no right or wrong just what works for you.

 

[Connor540]

Thanks, definitely helps to know my options while looking.