Random Questions?

[ReefWaters]

I'm still planning my new nano.

20 gallon long

10 gallon fuge

5.5 gallon sump

 

Here are some questions that have been bugging me.

 

Will the sump be large enough for a few days of water evaporation?

 

Will 20 lbs of live sand be too much to put in the 10 gallon fuge?

 

Where can I buy power compact end caps to be connected to an I

IceCap 660 ballast?

 

Is there a cheap reflective material I can buy at Home Depot that will work as well as store bought reflectors?

 

What brand submersible pump do you recommend?

 

These are just a few of the 1000 questions I have been trying to sort out before I spend a single penny. Any help with any of the questions will be greatly appreciated.

 

Thank you,

Ross W.

[ReefWaters]

Im planning on splitting the drainage from the show to the fuge and the sump. The fuge will drain to the sump. I know that some people dont like that b/c of plankton loss but I really want to put the fuge under the show tank.

I would like to hear some opinions on weather another 20 long, split in half (fuge/sump) would be a better set up for a nano and also some thoughts on how I would go about doing that? In other words, how should I move water from the fuge to the sump in the most efficient way?

 

RW

[Spencerx]

Originally posted by ReefWaters

that have been bugging me.

 

Is there a cheap reflective material I can buy at Home Depot that will work as well as store bought reflectors?

 

 

paint the inside of the hood white, that is the most popular way to do it...

[coralreefengr]

So do you have fresh top off water in your sump? I'm confused. My understanding is that the sump is additional salt water that flows in and out of the main display tank. Some people put their heaters here, some people dose chemicals here, etc. If water evaporates, it will increase the salinity regardless of the capacity of your sump. Now if it was a 5.5 gal top off system, I would venture to guess that yes, you would have enough capacity to last you a few days for water evaporation.

 

You can probably get away with 20# rock and 20# sand in the main tank. As for the refugium, this is out of my area since I have a sumpless, refugiumless, skimmerless nano. Same goes for a pump (I assume for one of the above mentioned functions).

 

Power compact DIY stuff can be found at hellolights.com.

[ReefWaters]

Thanks for the comments coralreefengr. The sump would have saltwater running through it. It would also house the heater and any filter media I might use. Any evaporation would cause a change in the volume of the sump only.

 

Does anyone have a better link to the DIY top off valve that I have read about? I cant seem to find it.

[FlyGTI]

I saw something once on Trading Spaces (yep, the wife's got me pretty much domesticated...) that I thought might work for a reflector for a tank. On the show, they used some sort of spray that turned into a mirror finish, and it looked really good, at least from the camera panning the room. I don't know if it's something that's cost prohibitive or not, but it'd be worth a shot.

 

Later.

[coralreefengr]

Just to be clear:

The volume of the sump will be reduced due to evaporation, therefore, the volume of the entire system will be less and would increase the salinity in your entire system...not just your sump.

 

I know that all these different systems can be a little overwhelming. I don't mean to patronize, I just want to be sure you have the whole picture. You didn't mention a *separate* top off anywhere and asked about a top off valve. I'm still not sure if you are trying to use your sump for top off which it cannot do.

[ReefWaters]

To answer coralreefengr's last question:

Im not trying to use the sump as top off. just as a place to hold the heater, etc. and provide a place for the water level to change besides the show tank. If I decide to set up a top off system, it will have a seperate container of fresh water to add to the sump when it gets too low. Let me know if you have any more questions.

 

As for the orriginal post:

The system I am planning is changing by the hour. I am simply unsure of what I really want. I will keep you posted.