protein skimmer question

swcc said:
ryan, that skimmer your looking at is junk in comparison to those mentioned above...don't waste your money... the problem with that sump is the chamber dimensions will work against you in being able to get a really good skimmer for your tank... stick with the skimmer choices I mentioned above and the 10 gal homemade sump. The volume of the sump is not at all important, it is what you put in that sump that is what is important. IME, 10 gal sump and a reef octo nwb-150 or nwb-110 are perfect and you cannot go wrong with this setup. Either skimmer will keep organics low and thus the tank will maintain low phosphate and nitrate with little (say 10-20% on average monthly)water changes.
Click to expand...

Ok thanks for the advice and help saving money! I'll do the 10 gal sump since its the cheapest, an the most effective route. What should I do to the sump? How should it be made? I understand the baffles for staging an making sections. Though will I have enough space. Let's say for a Berlin setup or even an refuge? Should I try to make 1" bubble traps/spaces between the baffles, also how many sections will I have room for? Is there a DIY 10 gal guide with instructions along with pictures?
Thanks again for the outstanding reply's & help.
Ryan
 
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Im about to order a Hydor smartwave controller, along with two controllable hydor koralia's. I've been told these our outstanding system/powerheads for a reef system. So im about to order them any thoughts?

36 bow front reef, will be 46 after sump build.
Thanks everyone for everything.
Ryan
 
RyanMizzell said:
Ok thanks for the advice and help saving money! I'll do the 10 gal sump since its the cheapest, an the most effective route. What should I do to the sump? How should it be made? I understand the baffles for staging an making sections. Though will I have enough space. Let's say for a Berlin setup or even an refuge? Should I try to make 1" bubble traps/spaces between the baffles, also how many sections will I have room for? Is there a DIY 10 gal guide with instructions along with pictures?
Thanks again for the outstanding reply's & help.
Ryan
Click to expand...

till you get the skimmer, do not do anything to the sump. Now if you decide to get one of the reef octos above, you can have glass cut to 7" height. Berlin setup, do not bother with a fuge. Simply do a single glass partition. No need to get complicated at all. You have a small tank so your not going to be running a ton of flow through the sump.
 
swcc said:
till you get the skimmer, do not do anything to the sump. Now if you decide to get one of the reef octos above, you can have glass cut to 7" height. Berlin setup, do not bother with a fuge. Simply do a single glass partition. No need to get complicated at all. You have a small tank so your not going to be running a ton of flow through the sump.
Click to expand...

Thanks so much, partition as meaning use the 7" baffle, to divide the tank in half? For example looking overtop the 10gal sump looking down. What about return pump and size? Is there a way to add socks to the overflow side of the sump, or would I have to construct something? It would hold the sock(s), and the overflow would drain into a bulkhead near the sock? Should I installed a waste gate valve on the overflow drain tube? What size tubing should I go for I was thinking 3/4" overflow tubing size. Does the return tubing need to match etc. What do I do with my job filter? Is it ok to put my heater in the sump? Last thing I promise how long does the skimmer run constantly right, unless I'm dosing my take etc.

Sorry for all the questions thanks for everything!
Ryan
 
RyanMizzell said:
Thanks so much, partition as meaning use the 7" baffle, to divide the tank in half? For example looking overtop the 10gal sump looking down. What about return pump and size? Is there a way to add socks to the overflow side of the sump, or would I have to construct something? It would hold the sock(s), and the overflow would drain into a bulkhead near the sock? Should I installed a waste gate valve on the overflow drain tube? What size tubing should I go for I was thinking 3/4" overflow tubing size. Does the return tubing need to match etc. What do I do with my job filter? Is it ok to put my heater in the sump? Last thing I promise how long does the skimmer run constantly right, unless I'm dosing my take etc.

Sorry for all the questions thanks for everything!
Ryan
Click to expand...

yes, the partition(which is called a baffle) should be 7" high from the bottom of the sump if you choose to get one of the reef octo NWB skimmers. This height is 7" because those skimmers works best in around 6.5 to 7.5 inches of sump water. should you get some other skimmer, you want this baffle to be where the recommended sump water level is for that particular skimmer(if you got a small cone skimmer that needs to be run in say 9" of water, have the glass baffle cut to 9")... The baffle will make the sump into two parts... one side the skimmer goes and the other the return pump goes. The skimmer side will also be the side you drain your water from the overflow into. Yes you can use a filter sock.. companies make filter sock holders(google 'filter sock holder')... I myself bought a 'topfin' siphon for water changes for my tank... reason I mention this is the top fin siphon (you can get at, say, petsmart) comes with a nice little clip for the end of the hose to be clipped onto the drain container... this clip is perfect for holding a filter sock and is what I use... it was free with my siphon..so... why not...
when you buy the overflow box it will have the outlet sized appropriately and that is the size piping/flex tubing you will use(same goes for the return pump).
For your size tank(and running the 'oversized' skimmer) you want to move about 150-250 gph through the sump.. get an overflow box in that range of flow.
Now return pump... lots of choices... I like sicce syncra pumps(quiet and efficient) and the 1.5 or should be the right size. Nice thing about the syncra is the flow can be adjusted on it for less flow if needed without plumbing in a ball valve... if you choose another pump without an adjustment, you want to have a ball valve after the pump going to the display so you can adjust flow. Do not valve the drain... the return pump controls the flow through the overflow and sump.
the HOB filter can be taken off line after the sump has been setup and running for about a month... You can put carbon in the sump as well as the heater as long as it will fit. If your HOB has a bacterial element (ceramic or biowheel or bioballs) you want to remove this in portions over a couple weeks time so as to not shock the system by removing too much bacteria element the tank depends on.

yes, run the skimmer 24/7. Some like to turn off their skimmer when they feed their fish... I don't bother... now if you feed corals (phyto/coral frenzy etc,) you will want to shut the skimmer off for a few hours when doing that.
 
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swcc said:
yes, the partition(which is called a baffle) should be 7" high from the bottom of the sump if you choose to get one of the reef octo NWB skimmers. This height is 7" because those skimmers works best in around 6.5 to 7.5 inches of sump water. should you get some other skimmer, you want this baffle to be where the recommended sump water level is for that particular skimmer(if you got a small cone skimmer that needs to be run in say 9" of water, have the glass baffle cut to 9")... The baffle will make the sump into two parts... one side the skimmer goes and the other the return pump goes. The skimmer side will also be the side you drain your water from the overflow into. Yes you can use a filter sock.. companies make filter sock holders(google 'filter sock holder')... I myself bought a 'topfin' siphon for water changes for my tank... reason I mention this is the top fin siphon (you can get at, say, petsmart) comes with a nice little clip for the end of the hose to be clipped onto the drain container... this clip is perfect for holding a filter sock and is what I use... it was free with my siphon..so... why not...
when you buy the overflow box it will have the outlet sized appropriately and that is the size piping/flex tubing you will use(same goes for the return pump).
For your size tank(and running the 'oversized' skimmer) you want to move about 150-250 gph through the sump.. get an overflow box in that range of flow.
Now return pump... lots of choices... I like sicce syncra pumps(quiet and efficient) and the 1.5 or should be the right size. Nice thing about the syncra is the flow can be adjusted on it for less flow if needed without plumbing in a ball valve... if you choose another pump without an adjustment, you want to have a ball valve after the pump going to the display so you can adjust flow. Do not valve the drain... the return pump controls the flow through the overflow and sump.
the HOB filter can be taken off line after the sump has been setup and running for about a month... You can put carbon in the sump as well as the heater as long as it will fit. If your HOB has a bacterial element (ceramic or biowheel or bioballs) you want to remove this in portions over a couple weeks time so as to not shock the system by removing too much bacteria element the tank depends on.

yes, run the skimmer 24/7. Some like to turn off their skimmer when they feed their fish... I don't bother... now if you feed corals (phyto/coral frenzy etc,) you will want to shut the skimmer off for a few hours when doing that.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the help. I'll be ordering stuff soon. What's a good overflow box to look into for my size tank and flow? Also the clip from the siphon, I'll clip it to the sump slide the sock through the hole & drop the overflow drain tube into the sock? Think im going with reef octo nwb 150 or 110, and the controllable return pump. This way I dont need to add a ball valve into the return plumbing. And scrap the bio wheel through out the setup month, when everythings running/fine tuning like the sump/skimmer etc?
 
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This is the skimmer i`ll be ordering.
http://www.marinedepot.com/ps_ViewItem.aspx?idproduct=CV5111&idCartRow=38494107&isKit=0&child=CV5111

This is the overflow box i`ll be ordering.
http://www.marinedepot.com/External_Boxes-CPR-CR1511-FIOFEB-CR1511-vi.html

And lastly this will be the return pump i`m ordering.
http://www.marinedepot.com/Up_to_500_GPH-Sicce_USA-XJ1131-FIWPSBUF-XJ1131-vi.html

Thanks for all the help the skimmer gives me a +8 gallon bump also!
And the return pump looks very nice, i`ll be able to adjust it. The overflow box is 3/4 bulkhead & the return pump is 3/8. So it`s smaller but the pump is rated at 185gph & its adjustable! So thanks to you problem solved lol.

Everything seems to be in proper GPH flow for the sump, etc.
Thanks for everything.
Ryan
 
That pump will not hold up that overflow box. I would get a Eshoop brand or a nano Lifereef brand overflow box Skimmer looks though.
 
RyanMizzell said:
This is the skimmer i`ll be ordering.
http://www.marinedepot.com/ps_ViewItem.aspx?idproduct=CV5111&idCartRow=38494107&isKit=0&child=CV5111

This is the overflow box i`ll be ordering.
http://www.marinedepot.com/External_Boxes-CPR-CR1511-FIOFEB-CR1511-vi.html

And lastly this will be the return pump i`m ordering.
http://www.marinedepot.com/Up_to_500_GPH-Sicce_USA-XJ1131-FIWPSBUF-XJ1131-vi.html

Thanks for all the help the skimmer gives me a +8 gallon bump also!
And the return pump looks very nice, i`ll be able to adjust it. The overflow box is 3/4 bulkhead & the return pump is 3/8. So it`s smaller but the pump is rated at 185gph & its adjustable! So thanks to you problem solved lol.

Everything seems to be in proper GPH flow for the sump, etc.
Thanks for everything.
Ryan
Click to expand...

get the syncra 2.0 pump( I said 1.5 before and that was my mistake. with head loss it will match up well to the overflow box. also I would choose the NWB 150 (the #6 one). it is only 20 dollars more than the smaller 110 but twice the skimmer and your tank will run it fine with as little a just a couple small fish and some coral. NWB skimmers are overrated by the mfg... that is a great skimmer for 35 to 90 gal tanks.
 
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swcc said:
get the syncra 2.0 pump( I said 1.5 before and that was my mistake. with head loss it will match up well to the overflow box. also I would choose the NWB 150 (the #6 one). it is only 20 dollars more than the smaller 110 but twice the skimmer and your tank will run it fine with as little a just a couple small fish and some coral. NWB skimmers are overrated by the mfg... that is a great skimmer for 35 to 90 gal tanks.
Click to expand...

Thanks, I'll change the skimmer size get the 2.0 return pump, and my problems are solved thanks to your help. So the overflow box I posted a link to, is fine for my Berlin/sump setup? And another question, with all the flow inside the sump etc, does this effect my display tanks rated gph flow? I'm about to order a Hydor smartwave controller along with two hydor controllable powerheads.

Would this be a better overflow box?
http://www.marinedepot.com/External_Boxes-CPR-CR1511-FIOFEB-CR1511-vi.html
Thanks SWCC. For all the help with everything.
Ryan
 
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Hey I don't have much info I'm in your shoes right now. I went with life reef. I did a lot of research ands that what they say is the best.
 
I've researched I've made my decisions. It takes awhile to read and research this stuff!
Thanks though, it bumped the thread up some lol.

again,
Thanks
Ryan
 
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