sump advise

[Matt850]

I am in the process of adding a sump to my current 36g tank. I have a 10g already and its the only one I have that will fit in the ridiculously small stand I made for my tank(only 12" or so deep on the body but it fits the 36g). I tend to overdo things and I believe this is one of those cases but can it be overdone too much? I plan on dividing the 10g into two chambers with a Pro Clear aquatics MPS 150 (has a slight crack that may/may not be affecting the performance but it pulls a good bit of junk when I test it in my 24g so I think it should be fine) and the second chamber will hold the return(mag 9.5) and a nice sized chunk of cheato, and possibly even a small DSB.

The questions:
Will the skimmer skim too much if I plan on setting up some sps in the DT? Is there such a thing as too much?
Is the flow that will be going through the sump to much to have any sort of a DSB in the return area?
If not, could i make a DSB in the 10g that would be worth having?

Thanks for any advise!

Matt

 

[Fish_wiz2]

1. No, but there is such thing as overskimming though i doubt that will have any difference on your tank.
2. na, especially will the baffles the flow is really only going to be strong at the top (gotta friend running 2500 through his sump with a DSB no probs)
3. (recommendation) try to get a larger tank or even better 2 (one for the sump and one for the refugium (really efficient method)
Hope that helps Wiz

 

[Matt850]

Thanks, it does help a lot. Can't get another tank as my lease won't allow it (limit is 50g which is fine since I am on the 3rd floor)... will be fixing this come August. I just want to get a good system going now so that when I get my 180 here in a few months I will be able to set it up with a good foundation of corals and fish.

 

[Fish_wiz2]

Nice on the 180! but yeah the 10 should be fine i just love big, my next tank will have a sump of equal volume or more (just so much easier and stable). Wiz

 

[Matt850]

Thats actually the whole point of me adding this sump... volume... I had a spike in nitrates from a mystery source. All of my fish are alive, we don't use any air freshener sprays... i don't know what it could be but one week it was 5-10ppm MAX and currently (even after all that I have done) it is well above 40ppm.

The fish seem to be doing fine, I thought the added volume, added skimmer, added cheato, and the use of Bio Digest would kick this in the bud while also allowing me to keep it low enough to start on some sps (I am very interested in millis, stags and montis).

 

[reefscape15]

The only thing i read in your setup is having your return pump in with a ball of chaeto. I would think the algae would end up clogging your pump, but i don't even have a sump so i'm just guessing here

 

[Toddrtrex]

Couple of things, A Mag 9 is going to be too much flow through a 10 gallon sump, most likely will have micro bubble issues. ANd what overflow are you using? (( have to make sure it doesn't overwhelm it ))

What skimmer are you going to use? (( wondering about size ))

For a 10 gallon sump I don't think a DSB will do much good, and wonder if there will be enough room to have enough chaeto to make any difference.

I have a 10 gallon sump for my 30 cube, just have a skimmer in there, and return pump -- an OR2500.

Here is a picture of it, ,

 

[Matt850]

First, thanks for the responses. My return pump is a Mag 9.5 which is around 950gph base and down to 400 or so at the height it has to travel. A mag 9 would indeed be incredibly too much flow, i agree! My skimmer is set so that it takes up minimal space and I have a box made for my pump to sit out of the way of the cheato. It leaves a good bit of space and I even considered using those tank divider things they sell at the pet store, allows for slow but keeps things apart. I have done a little more looking into a DSB and I think that it will be a bit hard to incorporate into my sump as it is.

It is only a 36 gallon tank, I hope I can fit enough cheato in the sump to be worth it.