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45 cube upgrade?


B16acrx1988

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B16acrx1988

Well I just bought a 45 gallon cube used to upgrade to from my 20 high. It's bottom drilled with two returns and one over flow all 1 1/2", and came with a 20 gallon sump without any baffles. The person I bought It from just used a filter sock. It has mag 24 pump which I think I'm going to get rid of I think it's going to be to much.
I'm wondering what type of return pump I should get?
If I should get some glass cut and put baffles in the sump?
What skimmer would you suggest?
What filter sock are you guys running 100 micron?

Also when I swap the tanks over to the new tank I plan on taking most of the sand over and adding another 20-30lbs of sand and not adding any more bioload until my new rock has time to seed.

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It's bottom drilled with two returns and one over flow all 1 1/2"

Are the returns 1 1/2" too? I suppose that you could use bushings to make them smaller.

 

... came with a 20 gallon sump without any baffles.

A 20L or 20H? Baffles aren't completely necessary with an ATO, but usually at least one is used to maintain a constant water level for your skimmer.

 

It has mag 24 pump which I think I'm going to get rid of I think it's going to be to much. I'm wondering what type of return pump I should get?

It depends on how much flow you want going through your sump. Remember the return pump determines flow through the sump (and can power reactors), while power heads (along with the return flow) determines flow in the display.

 

If I should get some glass cut and put baffles in the sump?

I'd install a baffle to maintain the water level for your skimmer.

 

What skimmer would you suggest?

You might check out what others have used in a similar sized tank.

 

What filter sock are you guys running 100 micron?

I think 200 microns is pretty common

 

Also when I swap the tanks over to the new tank I plan on taking most of the sand over and adding another 20-30lbs of sand and not adding any more bioload until my new rock has time to seed.

You might have better luck not transferring the sand bed.

 

You mention new rock. Have you fully cured (cycled) this new rock?

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B16acrx1988

The returns are 1 1/2" also that have the little double output heads.

It is a 20h sump, and a single baffle does sound smart to keep the level the same in one portion for my ato. It came with a home made ato but I am thinking of getting an aquasmart ato.

It is dead coral and rock from when the tank crashed from the previous owner that I have sitting in fresh water. The rock has been dry for 18 months so I'm not worried about hitchhikers. I plan on just adding some with my existing rock from my running tank and not increasing any bio-load for a month. I planned on taking some of the sand bed because the sand has only been used since december when I started my 20 high to help seed the 30-40lbs of new sand I ad.

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Spiderguardnano

As in freshwater do you mean ro or rodi water?

 

 

To seed your new sand bed all you really need is about a cup of your old sand for the new sand.

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B16acrx1988

As in freshwater do you mean ro or rodi water?

 

 

To seed your new sand bed all you really need is about a cup of your old sand for the new sand.

Just tap water right now the tank crashed and dried out so was just mainly trying to get all the salt and nastiness off, probably bleach, then ro/di bath for a few days. I really don't plan on using too much of this rock it a lot of branch pieces.

Alright, I'll just use a cup or so of the old sand, and buy all new sand.

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This is what I'd do for the old rock:

  • Put it in a container of saltwater and a powerhead for circulation
  • Watch ammonia levels over the next week
  • Add Dr.Tim's One & Only bacteria
  • If you can't detect ammonia, dose Dr.Tim's Ammonium to get the ammonia level up to 1ppm
  • When ammonia drops below 0.25ppm, dose ammonium to get ammonia back up to 1ppm
  • Let ammonia become undetectable before using this rock in your display tank

Also test for phosphate which can bind to the rock and leach back into water that has a lower phosphate level. You need a low range phosphate test kit for this (note: API's phosphate kit is a high range kit which is goes up in 0.25ppm increments and is unsuitable for your needs). The target level of phosphate for your tank should be around 0.02 or 0.03ppm; so if this old rock is leaching phosphate to levels higher than this, you will need new rock, or treat this rock prior to use, or utilize a phosphate export method (like GFO) in your sump.

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