I am currently working on a ro/di, water changing station in a large closet behind my MDT and sump. Probes, reactors, skimming, and dosing are planned to occur at the salt water tank that will be running in line with the MDT (approx 320g). The sump which is under the MDTand consists of a 55 gallon wet-dry that I am removing the bio-balls from and connecting the opposite end from the return pump chamber to a 29 gallon Rubbermaid via a 1.5 inch PVC connection. The Salt water changing tank will fill from the MDT and then return to the sump. The water changing station can be taken off line to dump the system water into the sewer line (approx 50 gallons) refilled with ro/di and then placed back online after the salt is mixed. I need advice on the following:
1) I am setting up the sump as a non display refugium and thought I would put chaeto in the rubbermaid, connected to the 1st chamber of the wet dry in which I would replace bio ball with live rock, a 5 inch DSB in the 2nd chamber-skimmer compartment (the DSB would negate the first bubble trap ie. baffles necessitating the flow of water over the first baffle in the wet dry filter). Water will then flow to the inflow pump chamber. Any reason to reverse the placement of the chaeto and the DSB?
2) As I have two returns from the MDT I was going to divert one of the returns to the water changing station and one directly to the the sump underneath the MDT because it is easier logistically. Would you have the return to the same chamber of the sump or different chambers and if so which return to which chamber?
3) Right now my bio load is low but will grow in the future as I hope to keep sps and soft corals and a few more fish. I will be dosing two part and mg. In your experience what size dosing holding containers will I need as my bioload gets higher to last for a week ie. 5 gallons, 10 gallons etc.? As I design the space I would like your thoughts so I can incorporate the size and placement of the containers. I am currently replacing between 10-14 gallons a week with ro/di due to evaporation. from my ro/di tank which is 69 gallons (the same size as my water change tank)
I know this is a long read and thank you for your time and consideration. I plan to have two display refugiums in the near future one with mangroves and one with planted macro. I will probably need advice on those at a later date
Jim
1) I am setting up the sump as a non display refugium and thought I would put chaeto in the rubbermaid, connected to the 1st chamber of the wet dry in which I would replace bio ball with live rock, a 5 inch DSB in the 2nd chamber-skimmer compartment (the DSB would negate the first bubble trap ie. baffles necessitating the flow of water over the first baffle in the wet dry filter). Water will then flow to the inflow pump chamber. Any reason to reverse the placement of the chaeto and the DSB?
2) As I have two returns from the MDT I was going to divert one of the returns to the water changing station and one directly to the the sump underneath the MDT because it is easier logistically. Would you have the return to the same chamber of the sump or different chambers and if so which return to which chamber?
3) Right now my bio load is low but will grow in the future as I hope to keep sps and soft corals and a few more fish. I will be dosing two part and mg. In your experience what size dosing holding containers will I need as my bioload gets higher to last for a week ie. 5 gallons, 10 gallons etc.? As I design the space I would like your thoughts so I can incorporate the size and placement of the containers. I am currently replacing between 10-14 gallons a week with ro/di due to evaporation. from my ro/di tank which is 69 gallons (the same size as my water change tank)
I know this is a long read and thank you for your time and consideration. I plan to have two display refugiums in the near future one with mangroves and one with planted macro. I will probably need advice on those at a later date
Jim
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