Jump to content
Pod Your Reef

couple of questions about sumps/refug


eferna

Recommended Posts

I was going to be setting up a 90Gal Reef tank, now what I was mostly concerned about is about the sump/refugium. On my 10gal nano I do not have a sump nor a refugium. To my knowledge this is not necessary. I don't want to have a tank with all the bells and whistles. Whatever happened to the natural berlin method.

 

Anyway so my question to you all is.

 

Is it really necessay for having a sump/refugium?

Link to comment

No its not necessary

 

But by having a fug it is another way to make your tank a little more natural by providing your inhabitants a natural food supply (if you have various fauna) and it will help you control your nutrients. I put my 55 together 5 years ago (the first time) using the berlin method. There wasnt really much info at the time on running a fug (at least I couldnt find it) I found plenty on mangroves but that was a little more than I could handle at the time. The tank did well, of course I kept fighting nutrients but it never got too bad. When I decided to get back into the hobby I new I wanted use the berlin method again and add a fug after reading about the benefits of having one and all the success. So till this day my tank has been amazingly stable never a spike in anything, and the corals sure seem to love it. In short I will probably never set-up a tank again without one and I think its the perfect compliment to the berlin method. It never hurts to modify something a little to make it better. Thats basiclly what everything is.

 

Thats just my opinion though

 

In my new set-up there is a sump but its basiclly nothing but caulerpa, pods, a heater, a return pump, and a 27watt LOA light hanging over it. No bells, no whistles and works great

Link to comment

"I was going to be setting up a 90Gal Reef tank, now what I was mostly concerned about is about the sump/refugium. On my 10gal nano I do not have a sump nor a refugium. To my knowledge this is not necessary."

 

"Is it really necessary for having a sump/refugium?"

 

(dave's about, ooh, must be careful here, joking)

 

ok, let me say good points to start, secondly ( don't start on me again !! ), in a small tank MY OWN personal views are the same as you.

 

On the need to have a sump/fuge/dsb if needed etc, if you really want one, use it all in the sump area.

 

I.e. seperate the three area's in the sump (large'ish), and have enough work/maintenance space for them all in the sump, aswell as yourself moving and working around it in the cupboard space etc.

 

(If you need to know why i dont use them, read totally through :- "The most perfect Nano-Reef tank ( 1 2 ... Last page )" further down the general info page, i'm not adding anymore to it, honest !)

 

cheers,

 

lee

 

:) :) :) :)

Link to comment

Thanks, i am looking to getting a sump/refuge in one. what kind of pump would you recommend for the return?

I was looking for a mag drive, i heard that they are quiet , but I dont know which one is good.

Link to comment

maybe someone else can help you, i'm from england you see, and our pumps are totally different.

 

cheers agn,

 

lee

 

:) :) :) :)

Link to comment

great liz, can you make one for me :-)

20 gal will be purrrfect for me.

 

Anyway i was wondering how you attach the baffles to the glass? Do you use epoxy or do you just have it sit there?

Link to comment

My baffles are made from acrylic. They are held in place with aquarium silicone. What I did was sand/scratch the edges of the acrylic back about .5 inch to give the silicone a better chance to get a grip.

 

When building your sump you need to take into account how much water will flow into the sump when the pump fails and leave that much open at the top of the sump to catch the water when it happens. You also need to figure how much your pump compartment will hold and see if your tank will hold that when the overflow gets clogged. You might need to use bigger than a 20 to accomplish that goal and still have some depth left in the sump. I used this handy dandy site to figure the volumes.

 

http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/rick.clark/Tanksize.htm

Link to comment

Sump - Physh1 style Rubbermaid container. Dunno how big your 90gal. stand is. Probably can fit maybe 24gal. size container or a lil larger.

 

Refugium - Glazer style critter keeper refugium. XL size critter keeper.

 

p.s. then go to page 46-47 of March issue of Stuff magazine and smile. ;)

Link to comment

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

  • Recommended Discussions

×
×
  • Create New...