Sump questions

[gquimby1]

Some questions about a sump I'll be doing...

1.) can my sump be as basic as I want it? I looked at the one my local petco has setup on their 90 g reef and it's basically a tote with a bio wheel, a piece of live rock and that's it. Obviously I'd put a skimmer, heater and filtration in there but does it need to be real fancy?

2.) Kind of in line with the first one, can I put sand in my sump? And if I do is there anything specific I need to do to keep my sand and return pump from getting together?

3.) I've seen sumps get real extravagant and people will even put fish in theirs (i wont be doing that. I think that's silly) but do i need crabs or snails or anything living in my sump other than some macro algae? Already have an LED light mounted underneath to keep that stuff alive.

Thanks guys

 

[gquimby1]

Also can I use play sand in a new tank and seed it with living sand or sand from my current tank? It's cheaper and much more available to me

 

[lg2725]

I can answer the question about the sand as I just finished my cycle a few ago and did a lot of research before I started. The strong consensus about play sand is that it contains some/sometimes a lot of silicone so it not advised.

 

[thegrun]

1. The sump can be very basic, but you do need a baffle between the skimmer and the return pump, preferably a series of baffles to act as a bubble trap to prevent bubbles from the skimmer getting sucked into the return pump and then being pushed into your display tank.
2. Yes you can put sand in the sump, but unless you go with at least 4" of sand for a deep sand bed all the sand will do is trap detritus and make the sump more difficult to clean. I prefer bare bottom sumps/refugiums.
3. A small clean up crew is a good idea, but not absolutely necessary. If you plan on keeping macro algae you will want a second baffle to make three sections in the sump. The third section will be your refugium with the macro algae. If you don't keep the algae in its own section it will get sucked into your pumps.
4. Play sand is often high in silicates which will feed algae and diatoms, not a good idea, although as mentioned previously I don't like sand in my sump at all.

 

[scooter31707]

I wouldn't recommend the play sand due to the silicates like mentioned above. Also I have a basic sump also, heater, return pump, skimmer, and filter sock (sometimes) and that's it.

 

[Capsle]

A sump is what you want it to be, it needs a minimum of 2 chambers. 1 for the skimmer section and 1 for the return pump. The rest is up to you and what you want to do with it. It can be a simple or as complex as you want it.

I personally dont have any CUC in my sump but did find one of my snails in there the other day. I let him be for a few days and he cleaned up whatever little algae there was and then put him back in my DT.

As for play sand, I did orgianally start off with it in my DT but swapped it out for Aragonite before I started my cycle as the play sand never really settles (even after 7 days). Also I really do prefer the Araganoite sand look as apposed to the play sand.

As for having it in your sump, its really your choice.

 

[Keelo]

Like others have mentioned it can be as simple or complex as you want I would go with the standard sump setup first chamber is skimmer, second chamber is a Refugium, third camber is the return pump. Don't use any play sand it feeds algae later on.


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[Sk8r]

Play sand no.
The basic rule in this hobby is---we all want cheap and effective. If it worked, we'd use it if it were cheap, but---alas, be it miracle meds, short cuts to cycle, cheaper tanks or whatever, stick to the track of the herd. There's no alternate way to make it work---we've looked.

One thing about a sump, however, imho, the fewer baffles the better. One to break the violence of the inflow; and an over-under pair to keep stray fish and moss out of the pump chamber, maybe a nook for the heater, but that's it. Many chambers---more trouble when you need to fit in a new piece of equipment. Or clean it. If you have a habit of using filter socks (I rarely do) you may not need baffle #1.