new to the large tank fourm

[rydr119]

Ok so I am starting the upgrade of my 65 to a custom 183. So far I have the lighting, 20k Radium 400w with a blue wave ballast. The dimensions are 42"x42"x24". I am having a friend who does carpentry build the stand and canopy which so far could hold like 5 elephants. I am building the sump/ fuge my self. I built the sump/fuge on my 65 and it works great so I am going to go with the same design on a larger scale. I just got the new protein skimmer for my birthday, it's the Euro-Reef RS250. I am planning on having 2 dart pumps 1 for intake and outflow through the sump and the other for the closed loop.

Some questions
-Is a 40 breeder a large enough sump/fuge?
-What size UV sterilizer should I go with?
-Would leveling feet on the stand be a good idea?

Any other comments or suggestions are very welcomed.
Thanks Gina

 

[Discustopia]

Re: new to the large tank fourm

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12262250#post12262250 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by rydr119
I am planning on having 2 dart pumps 1 for intake and outflow through the sump and the other for the closed loop.

Some questions
-Is a 40 breeder a large enough sump/fuge?
-What size UV sterilizer should I go with?
-Would leveling feet on the stand be a good idea?

Any other comments or suggestions are very welcomed.
Thanks Gina

I have a very similarly sized setup, just long instead of square....
My observations:
- I'm using a 55G 5ft long sump and theres not alot of room. Just to handle the overflow capacity of the tank I have to make sure it's never more than 2/3 full. It has space for some extra live rock and that's it. I don't like refugiums next to my skimmer anyways - too much algae build up so I have a 30G as my refugium.
- I'm also running two Dart pumps. The valves on these are HUGE so make sure you have all your plumbing planned out before gluing anything permanent! I had mine totally done on paper and still I had to redo 3 lines completely different than I had planned because of space restrictions.

 

[rydr119]

Discutpoia How do you have your fuge and sump plumbed together? I would love to see a pic or something for a good reference.