Help with Overflow, Bulkheads, etc.

[AcuraCl1]

I am ordering my new aquarium tomorrow.

For my sump, I am going to have left side skimmer, middle return, and right side refuge.

Instead of having my drain line from overflow split to skimmer and refuge. Would I be better off just having 2 overlows, one in each corner of the tank, and one drain line going to the skimmer and the other drain line to the refuge.

And what size should the holes be in the overflow. I am sure I will have to let them know tomorrow also.

I am going to go with a 120 or a 150g aquarium. Most likely a 120g. Its going to be eurobraced. And the sump will most likely be a 30 gallon sump. Will this be enough.

Since I am still looking for a skimmer, what is the best specs for the sump as far as size for sections of the sump.

 

[james3370]

i think it would be better to t the return w/ a ball valve to slow the flow thru the refugium section. you want it slow thru there so the water has plenty of cantact time w/ the sandbed, live rock &/or cheato so plenty of nutrients are added to go back to the tank

are you doing internal or external overflow?? if external, i'd say you can't go wrong w/ the glass-holes.com overflow kit. includes the overflow box, glass drill bit, bulkhead, & street elbow drilled w/ anti-siphon hose.

i'd say either the 700gph or 1500gph. contact them & see which they'd recommend for your size tank....they have excellent customer service

as far as the sump, i'd think a 30 would be too small for that size tank. best scenario is the refugium section should be 15-20% of the tank volume, then depending on the skimmer you get it's & it's pump are probably gonna need at least 12" & then you need probably at least 10% of the tank volume for the return pump (depending on how powerful it is).....not to mention, you need to leave unused area for whatever drainage there would be in the event of a return pump failure/power outage or else you're gonna have a flood. i'd say you would be best served w/ a 75 or bigger for the sump tank

check out the bermuda aquatics line of skimmers. they are suppose to be very good & have a small footprint
http://www.bermudaaquatics.com/bpshobby.htm

 

[AcuraCl1]

Thanks, the overflow will be internal. The max I want to go on sump is 40g as it is going under my stand.

 

[james3370]

i think a single overflow will be sufficient....corner or center-mounted is a matter of personal preference.

if i was doing one, i'd do it center...that way you can run everything thru the bottom & put a return on each side of the overflow box to get better coverage for the whole tank

go as big as you can on the sump tank...you'll be glad you did down the road

 

[NeveSSL]

If I were you, I would have two of their 700GPH overflows and have the plumbing be redundant in case one side clogs up, the water can just flow to the other side. But I don't think its a huge, huge deal. Its what I did to feel a little better about my plumbing.

I did my sump split like yours (except refuge on left, skimmer on right) and I made the refugium as deep as possible while making the skimmer side a good depth that would work with my planned skimmer.

Definitely get the largest sump you can. As far as the size of the sections, I would personally give your refugium priority in space and make sure that the others can "fit". In other words, make sure your return pump can fit in the return section and your skimmer can fit in the skimmer section and make sure you have enough room to get them out if you need to do some maintenance on more than just a basic skimmer cleaning.

As far as flow through your sump, my understanding is that more flow is actually better. I believe Anthony Calfo was talking about this in the remote deep sandbed extravaganza and said that more flow allows more nutrients to get to the bacteria for it to consume. Same thing with chaeto. The more flow, the more it can "grab" so to speak. But I could be wrong in that... I'll have to see if I can find where I read that.

Brandon

 

[DMBillies]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14355333#post14355333 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by NeveSSL

As far as flow through your sump, my understanding is that more flow is actually better. I believe Anthony Calfo was talking about this in the remote deep sandbed extravaganza and said that more flow allows more nutrients to get to the bacteria for it to consume. Same thing with chaeto. The more flow, the more it can "grab" so to speak. But I could be wrong in that... I'll have to see if I can find where I read that.

The biggest issue with increasing flow is fighting the microbubbles it inevitably produces. This is why you should definitely plan a good bubble trap no matter how much flow you run.

I'm not sure about the DSB thing, but I have heard from a lot of places that plenty of flow through a cheato ball is the way to go. It prevents it from getting clogged with detritus and circulates water through the entire mass. I've never been able to accomplish this given the flow restrictions I have had already built into my set-ups (I buy just about everything used) and/or the amount of space.

However, flow through your sump is a different thing than setting up a real refugium. A refugium is mostly established to help grow food for your tank via 'pods and other critters. Sure, cheato can be part of that, but there are probably other algaes that are better suited and less likely to trap detritus. For the most part, the stuff you would want to grow in a fuge is not going to be partial to really high flow.

 

[james3370]

i plan on putting a small pump (like a mini-jet 404) in my refugium & attach it to a piece of pvc that has holes drilled in it. i'll place that horizontially near the top of the chamber to act as a spraybar to keep the cheato tumbling. this also keeps all sides of it exposed to the light so it grows better

 

[NeveSSL]

What Brian said makes more sense and thats a good idea on the powerhead, James.

Brandon

 

[james3370]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14357643#post14357643 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by NeveSSL
What Brian said makes more sense and thats a good idea on the powerhead, James.

Brandon

wish i could take credit, but it was a DIY thread i saw:
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1345419

 

[AcuraCl1]

Thanks, I am going to go with the 2 overflows, and a 40g sump. Is it best to go with 1" bulkheads or bigger.

 

[NeveSSL]

Sweet man. Keep us updated!

Brandon