Setting up my first reef tank

[zelie_dad]

Hello, I am new to the hobby, and I'm in the process of picking out my equipment, and would like some advice/gotchas, any red flags, etc. in my proposed setup. I will list my currently chosen equipment at the end of my post.

Display Tank:
I am setting up a 40 gallon breeder. I am going to DIY my overflow and and use a bean animal drain. I am planning on keeping some fish, softies and LPS coral. I haven't decided on rock yet. A friend of mine is has a some that he isn't using. He recently went from a 75 gallon bowfront to a 20 gallon, and is keeping the LR in his sump for now. I was also thinking about dry rock or that walt smith stuff. Haven't decided yet. Also, I've found some craigslist LR. Finally I'm planning on a 1 inch sand bed.

Lights:
After doing my homework on the lights, I have decided to go with a 36" 4 light fixture. I may add some LED's for some shimmer down the line

Sump:
I am planning on using a remote sump and refuge located in my basement. I have an used shower stall that I'm planning on using as my sump and refuge location, with all plumbing and equipment in there. The shower stall is 34x34 inches, so my options are somewhat limited for space, but I've tested fitted what I have, and it will work. I have acquired, what I'm assuming is a 20 gallon acrylic sump, that needs some DIY for the baffles. Also, I'm going to use either a 10 gallon or a 20 gallon refuge, I have both tanks.

In the sump, I'm planning on dumping the 2 main lines into a filter sock, then a baffle, then the skimmer chamber where the emergency and refuge lines will drain, then a bubble trap, and finally the return pump chamber.

For the refuge, I'm not sure about how I want to set it up. I was thinking LR or marine pure block, but that is still somewhat up in the air.

Plumbing:
I am planning on using 1 inch pvc for the main and secondary both feeding into a 1.5 inch pvc to the sump. I am also planning on putting the emergency on it's own 1 inch line dumping directly to the sump. As for the return, I'm planning on 3/4 or inch with a split for the refuge, and splitting the flow in half when back at the display tank. I am going to need to push somewhere around 8 feet of head space to get back to the display with a horizontal run of approximately 15 feet. This horizontal run is for all plumbing.

Equipment List:

• Return Pump: Sicce Silence 4.0
• Skimmer: Reef Octopus 110INT Protein Skimmer
• RO/DI: BRS 4 Stage Value Plus RO/DI System
• ATO: Tunza Osmolator 3155
• Heaters: Cobolt Aquatics Neo-Therm 150 watt x2
• Lights: Corallife Lunar Aqualight 36" 4 bulb
• Powerheads: Tunze Turbelle NanoStream 6055 x2

Sorry for the long post, but I just want to make sure I'm not going in a completely wrong direction. Fire away.

 

[Mrramsey]

Horizontal runs are a no-no for a bean drain and I am not sure but that seams like a lot of head for a successful 4.0.

 

[zelie_dad]

Horizontal runs are a no-no for a bean drain and I am not sure but that seams like a lot of head for a successful 4.0.

Why are horizontal runs bad for a BA drain?

I was looking at getting one of the DC pumps like the vortex, but according the chart that is on Sicce site, it seems ok.

 

[rsain]

Setting up my first reef tank

Why are horizontal runs bad for a BA drain?

I was looking at getting one of the DC pumps like the vortex, but according the chart that is on Sicce site, it seems ok.

That is a long question to answer. But it can be found toward the beginning AND the end of the following thread:

Silent and Failsafe Overflow System
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1541946

-ryan

 

[zelie_dad]

I search that post you mentioned, and there are people who has successfully implemented a BA with a horizontal run.
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?p=23893441&highlight=horizontal#post23893441

Also, let me be clear, when I say horizontal, I really mean sloped downwards @ the standard 1/4" per foot.

Also, after reading though those posts, I going to run three separate drain lines, instead of 2 into one.

 

[Mrramsey]

I search that post you mentioned, and there are people who has successfully implemented a BA with a horizontal run.
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?p=23893441&highlight=horizontal#post23893441

Also, let me be clear, when I say horizontal, I really mean sloped downwards @ the standard 1/4" per foot.

Also, after reading though those posts, I going to run three separate drain lines, instead of 2 into one.

Yeah definitley will want 3 drain lines for sure. Some have done it and some have run into problems with horizontal runs and noise, difficulties getting the siphon to start etc. Obviously the longer the run the more chance for problems. Short runs of 1 to 2 feet would be ok.

Find the threads with long runs and read them carefully as they may have modified the system.

 

[zelie_dad]

So other than the drain, does everything else look ok?

 

[Mrramsey]

So other than the drain, does everything else look ok?

No real benefit to a fuge on such a small sump. I have a 55g sump and did a fuge as well but it is kind of pointless. There are plenty of threads in here about them. I just have a little extra rock in there.

I use filter socks occasionally but really feel my tank did better without. I designed mu sump with a chamber for the BA to drain into then it spilled over an acrylic plate that allows 2 4" socks I can drop in if I want. Makes for super simple sock changes when I do use them.

Here is my methodology for designing a safe sump. By safe I mean there is 0% chance I can flood the Display or the Sump if something failed or was clogged. If you are going to try it with those long drains this will be a critical step. Your return chamber will need to be large enough to pump enough water into the display to get the the BA siphon going. Calculate the full volume of the overflow plus the full volume of the drain lines (2 of them). Once you have that figure calculate how much actual volume you have from the top of the Weir on the overflow to the top about 1/2" below the top of the tank. Add hose two volumes together and make your return chamber hold no more than that.

Then keep the level of the sump low enough to handle the total volume of the overflow and the drains. Hope that makes sense.

 

[zelie_dad]

No real benefit to a fuge on such a small sump. I have a 55g sump and did a fuge as well but it is kind of pointless. There are plenty of threads in here about them. I just have a little extra rock in there.

I use filter socks occasionally but really feel my tank did better without. I designed mu sump with a chamber for the BA to drain into then it spilled over an acrylic plate that allows 2 4" socks I can drop in if I want. Makes for super simple sock changes when I do use them.

Here is my methodology for designing a safe sump. By safe I mean there is 0% chance I can flood the Display or the Sump if something failed or was clogged. If you are going to try it with those long drains this will be a critical step. Your return chamber will need to be large enough to pump enough water into the display to get the the BA siphon going. Calculate the full volume of the overflow plus the full volume of the drain lines (2 of them). Once you have that figure calculate how much actual volume you have from the top of the Weir on the overflow to the top about 1/2" below the top of the tank. Add hose two volumes together and make your return chamber hold no more than that.

Then keep the level of the sump low enough to handle the total volume of the overflow and the drains. Hope that makes sense.

I understand calculating the total volume of water from the overflow and two main drains, but what does the top of the weir to the half inch below the top of the tank have to be calculated?

Also wouldn't any bio filtration be better than none. That's why I was looking at the Marine Pure blocks, and just setting them in the refuge.

 

[Mrramsey]

You have to take into account the space that is left in the tank if for instance all of the drains were blocked (not likely with a BA but...) so that the DT does not overflow. So in my case my return section will run out of water before the tank would ever overflow. Your rock is your bio filtration. You could use those blocks or just put extra rock in there. I have maybe 15# of additional rock in my fuge. It just provides some extra filtration capacity but is hardly big enough to really be considered a refugium.

 

[zelie_dad]

You have to take into account the space that is left in the tank if for instance all of the drains were blocked (not likely with a BA but...) so that the DT does not overflow. So in my case my return section will run out of water before the tank would ever overflow. Your rock is your bio filtration. You could use those blocks or just put extra rock in there. I have maybe 15# of additional rock in my fuge. It just provides some extra filtration capacity but is hardly big enough to really be considered a refugium.

I see what you mean. If all three drains became blocked, the sump would run out of water and the pump would hopefully shut off, by some kind of water level sensor. Basically that space above the weir and top of tank is the safety margin. So now my question is, how would I go about getting that exact amount of water in the return section of my sump? I understand the volume calculation, but would I just have to put that same volume of water in the return section with the pump and plumbing and mark it, then adjust the drains and return to keep it at that level after all is said and done?

 

[Mrramsey]

I see what you mean. If all three drains became blocked, the sump would run out of water and the pump would hopefully shut off, by some kind of water level sensor. Basically that space above the weir and top of tank is the safety margin. So now my question is, how would I go about getting that exact amount of water in the return section of my sump? I understand the volume calculation, but would I just have to put that same volume of water in the return section with the pump and plumbing and mark it, then adjust the drains and return to keep it at that level after all is said and done?

For the most part but add a volume equal to the depth of the pump as well since it is not possible for the pump to pump all of the water out. If that makes sense.

Happy to sketch up a sump design in cad if you can provide the dimensions of your tank and sump tank.

 

[zelie_dad]

I decided to change what return pump I'm going with. I'm going with the RLSS DC6000. If I understand their chart correctly, that pump should be plenty strong enough, and tunable enough to be able to handle the head space and flow that I need.