Nano Reef with remote sump/and growth update photos

[truepercs]

I was wondering if anyone has a smaller tank 45 gal or smaller with a remote sump in basement? 

I have had large tanks with remote sump  100gal +aquarium

However never a small tank .   I am seeing advantages but wondering if anyone here has a remote sump.

 

 

 

I am considering plumbing  drain and return to sump in basement to keep mess out of room.

Comments? Considerations?

 

Thanks

[nanoreeFan]

I've Thought about it too and could only think of advantages

[truepercs]

Thanks,

 

Yes... Same conclusion I am coming up with... Most likely I will run the remote sump.  I have it set up In a small room now along with a water mixing station I just put together in the basement.  Plumbing will be easy. I am hesitant as I just finished some rather nice oak wainscoting in this new family room and I will have to drill holes through it to plumb.  I want to be sure before getting the hole saw out  ;O

[mitten_reef]

48 minutes ago, truepercs said:

Thanks,

 

Yes... Same conclusion I am coming up with... Most likely I will run the remote sump.  I have it set up In a small room now along with a water mixing station I just put together in the basement.  Plumbing will be easy. I am hesitant as I just finished some rather nice oak wainscoting in this new family room and I will have to drill holes through it to plumb.  I want to be sure before getting the hole saw out  ;O

why go thru the whole process of remote sump for a nano-ish (<75 gallon) display?  most sump for tanks that size, or even larger can fit under the cabinet,  many packaged system these days come with really nice plumbing kit that all but eliminate splashing and saltcreeps (if that's the mess you're referring to), so you can try to emulate those types of design to minimize mess.     

I get the convenience of having things easily accessible for remote sump, and aesthetic of not having to have all that under the tank - but seems like a lot of work.  OR just go with a jumbo AIO like Waterbox 50+G AIOs.

 

[jservedio]

Your biggest drawbacks are going to be the added volume inside the plumbing requiring a bigger sump, the pain in the ass of maintenance if something needs replacing, and the added cost of a pump drawing more power. It seems pretty absurd when you can buy a kit off the shelf with a sump and ATO reservoir that fits easily under the stand. Plus, with a bigger sump it just means bigger water changes and more expensive when you get no extra space inside your tank.

[truepercs]

I am using equipment I already have...

Reef Savvy 45 gallon, stand with slide out sump.

I do not plan on buying new equipment...  I have a sump from a 120 gallon tank that I am not using,  

I know that as things mover forward I will want to dose 2 part, hook up my Apex...

Once you start adding things the cabinet gets filled up fast.  

 

I have my new aquascape for this aquarium sitting in the sump in the basement now with some live rock. Sump is not to much smaller than the tank.  I am  finding it nice having everything all in one place.  That is why I threw out the question.  The plumbing is not a big deal... (I just need to get the courage to drill holes in the new floor  or Oak Wainscoting I just finished for the room.)   Thanks for the feedback...  

 

 

 

 

 

[truepercs]

Well I just decided to do it, I drilled a few holes.  Making that decision was the difficult part.  I guess I will have a remote sump for this smaller tank.

So tomorrow, I plan to glue up the pieces and make the lines to the aquarium.  Clean up the mess and place it back in the corner.  No turning back  😉 

 

After that the rest of the plumbing is fairly easy,  long runs underneath in the insulated crawl space, then through a basement window that is no longer used due to it being block by the added room. 

 

In time I think, It will show it was a good decision.

 

 

[nanoreeFan]

It sure looks good Perc,  thanks for the update and keep us posted

[Murphs_Reef]

That's a right mission.. you must have a good amount of free time to play with 🤣

[truepercs]

Aquarium is up and running, going to run a couple outlets on a separate breaker.  Should be able to get wires up and out of way.  Easy to reach, and I built a water station.   Should have done that with past tanks.  Water change  is simple, can even automate if desired...

 

Now the slow enjoyable part😀

Ha the sump is almost as big as the tank... Nice to have had it "laying around"

I can use the other sump as a quarantine unit or will find some other use.

 

A couple of quick photos,let the journey begin...

 

 

 

 

 

 

[truepercs]

On 4/9/2021 at 12:15 PM, jservedio said:

Your biggest drawbacks are going to be the added volume inside the plumbing requiring a bigger sump, the pain in the ass of maintenance if something needs replacing, and the added cost of a pump drawing more power. It seems pretty absurd when you can buy a kit off the shelf with a sump and ATO reservoir that fits easily under the stand. Plus, with a bigger sump it just means bigger water changes and more expensive when you get no extra space inside your tank.

Trying to use my old equipment... I had a Mag7 that I used for water changes on my large tank in the past... I  gave it a try  and It seems to work fine as a return pump...  So I bought the same pump for the water station I made.  If something goes down I have a back up.

[truepercs]

Maybe a bit much for this aquarium... I guess the good part about doing this, I can use everything "as is" if I ever decide to set the bigger aquarium back up.  I decided I would only do that if I am "forced" due to the need for room in the aquarium. As we know that will take some time.    I still want to focus on organizing everything in the sump area. It's a bit messy and want to do something nicer in appearance with the light over the cube aquarium itself.

 

[truepercs]

Just thought I would toss up a couple pictures...

So far going well...  

I have a couple more fav frags going in soon. 

eyedoxi

Leng Sy cap

 

However for the most part the want list for corals is complete and not much room left.

Just maintaining and enjoying!

 

 

 

 

Start of tank

*Start of aquarium April 24 2021

 

 

*6 Months October 24th, 2021

 

 

7 months

[mipster]

Is your return line just a hose over the edge? How is it secured? 

[taj0930]

Everyone has different tastes and needs. There are advantages and disadvantages to both. Do what’s best for you. Who cares what the common thought is. The easier the maintenance is the more likely you are to. That would be 1 advantage I would see. Which would in theory push you closer to the successful side of the pendulum. You’ll certainly draw more power and effort setting it up. But if you’re ok w that I see no disadvantage 

[fishez4alivin]

On 4/2/2021 at 1:49 PM, truepercs said:

I was wondering if anyone has a smaller tank 45 gal or smaller with a remote sump in basement? 

I have had large tanks with remote sump  100gal +aquarium

However never a small tank .   I am seeing advantages but wondering if anyone here has a remote sump.

 

 

 

I am considering plumbing  drain and return to sump in basement to keep mess out of room.

Comments? Considerations?

 

Thanks

I have a 20 gallon tank with a synergy reef TS-26 which is around 23 gallons.  I added it so that I could use a better skimmer as well as use more equipment if I needed to.  The sump has a large refugium, which I wanted so that I could keep nutrients low while feeding a lot.  The chaeto grows rapidly and I have to remember to cut it back or else it will fill the whole refugium and turns into a block.  I think having a refugium is really important for a SPS tank at least for the first couple of years.  Once your coral become colonies, the corals themselves will be able to keep pace with any feeding you do.

[truepercs]

14 hours ago, taj0930 said:

Everyone has different tastes and needs. There are advantages and disadvantages to both. Do what’s best for you. Who cares what the common thought is. The easier the maintenance is the more likely you are to. That would be 1 advantage I would see. Which would in theory push you closer to the successful side of the pendulum. You’ll certainly draw more power and effort setting it up. But if you’re ok w that I see no disadvantage 

 

Yep.... that is what I did in the end, and am happy with the decision. The cabinet is low profile so when looking at the aquarium you can get a good top down view.  With that.... it makes it more difficult to get in to do maintenance even with the slide out drawer.  So yes that is exactly my thought.  The way it is set up now the maintenance is minimal the way I have it set up.  I switch out socks every 3 days, add top off water once a week, and new salt water for the auto water change every 2-3 weeks.  at that time I clean out the skimmer if needed.  I have been checking Alk  routinely and phosphates every 3 weeks.  

 

 

I did the auto water change because I found I was not being consistent...  It swaps out about a gallon a day.

 

 

So far it is running very well!   Corals are growing.

 

😉

[truepercs]

15 hours ago, mipster said:

Is your return line just a hose over the edge? How is it secured? 

I heated and bent gray PVC pipe, it is fastened.... I admit it does not look the best...Maybe change it up one day  😉

[truepercs]

4 hours ago, fishez4alivin said:

I have a 20 gallon tank with a synergy reef TS-26 which is around 23 gallons.  I added it so that I could use a better skimmer as well as use more equipment if I needed to.  The sump has a large refugium, which I wanted so that I could keep nutrients low while feeding a lot.  The chaeto grows rapidly and I have to remember to cut it back or else it will fill the whole refugium and turns into a block.  I think having a refugium is really important for a SPS tank at least for the first couple of years.  Once your coral become colonies, the corals themselves will be able to keep pace with any feeding you do.

Sounds nice I will look for photos...  I was watching a video where the separate small fuge was actually set up like a display.  I would not mind trying to grow a few different types of macro in another box just over the sump ...  I recently dumped a few bio cubes and pod population to live in the cubes in the sump. 

 

I seen your post on using a refugium rather than changing out filter socks.  I like that idea...

 

I did finally clean up the sump area and mounted equipment on wall.  It is surprising on how many blinking lights are now in the basement  😄

[truepercs]

Looking at the photos posted, I will have to do better...  It looks much nicer in person.  I may even scrape the back to see if it improves the appearance.

Those pics were grabbed from another posting.

[truepercs]

Here is a quick top view from my phone...  Color is a bit better...   7 months in... I am thinking I may have put frags to close.  Not sure what the 1 year mark will bring if it continues to do well.  The coral is picking up the pace on growth.  Starting to think it is this old lap top the pics look better on my phone.

[fishez4alivin]

16 hours ago, truepercs said:

Sounds nice I will look for photos...  I was watching a video where the separate small fuge was actually set up like a display.  I would not mind trying to grow a few different types of macro in another box just over the sump ...  I recently dumped a few bio cubes and pod population to live in the cubes in the sump. 

 

I seen your post on using a refugium rather than changing out filter socks.  I like that idea...

 

I did finally clean up the sump area and mounted equipment on wall.  It is surprising on how many blinking lights are now in the basement  😄

I had a 60G tank with a 5g glass tank that I drilled.  I had it sitting over the sump, so the overflow was split to go into a bubble trap in the fuge and then I had a 1 1/2 bulkhead with a street L 90 that drained into the sump.  I've only used Chaeto because it's strictly for nutrient export and seems to grow the fastest.

[truepercs]

Just a couple recent photos…

Since Christmas, I have been battling Dino’s the nitrates was to low and I did not catch.  Finally aquarium is back on track.   I had to nip a couple tips off that died back due to the Dino’s hanging on.   However the aquarium is moving forward nicely.  I have had some good growth on the frags…  Will try to get some more photos up. Did move a couple of frags then fell to a better spot.     Happy with progress!

 

 

 

 

[truepercs]

Some of these corals are really in high gear for growth.

 

I had the Anemone in an acrylic container while fighting Dino’s as he wanted to move around.  Put him in the rear/ side since there is more room.  Seems to like the spot but also seems like he has already grown a lot. I gave the 24k lepto rock to a fellow reefer who has more room.

 

Reef  is looking great!

some quick i phone photos

 

 

 

 

 

 

One year anniversary not far away!

 

 

 

[truepercs]

Just picked this up from the fellow I gave the 24k lepto rock too.

 

He said it is a piece of a Leng Sy cap… Have to see how this grows out.