All about Sumps Filters and Fuges

Discussion in 'Reef Aquarium Articles and How To's' started by Powerman, Jan 4, 2010.

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  1. Atlantico

    Atlantico Plankton

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    i just want to say a learned a whole lot about sumps and fuges because i never had one but i am getting a 140 gal tank with a 60 gal sump and i see now how that works and why and makes me excited about having one now!
     
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  3. Powerman

    Powerman Giant Squid

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    Sweet, welcome to the board.
     
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  4. Atlantico

    Atlantico Plankton

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    Help with this 140 gal tank

    Appreciate the share of knowledge. Ok i am getting this Tank with like 15 fish in it not many corals its full of algae in the display tank (dude didnt take care of it) im planning on picking it up this weekend. i was thinking on putting the fish on a plastic tank with airstone and pump and heater and clean the whole tank and redo the setting of the sand and live rock! he has over 250 lbs of live rock. it comes with a 60 gal sump with 50 lbs of live rock in it so dont know if its a fuge. any recommendations? thanks OZZY
    [​IMG]
     
  5. mikev15101

    mikev15101 Purple Spiny Lobster

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    Now instead of doing a remote sand bed; and having the worry of the issues that come with a deep sand bed...could i put this in my fuge/sump fill it with sand that way it could be removed if needed.

    [​IMG]
     
  6. SushiGirl

    SushiGirl Barracuda

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    Boy, I sure learned a lot! Great read, Powerman.

    So, where's the best spot to ask for advice on my sump? I've never had one before, and one came with the used tank I just bought and I want to do it right. I'm not convinced after reading this that the setup this guy had is how I want to do it.
     
  7. pizza101

    pizza101 Flamingo Tongue

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    What a great learning experience I have gotten from this thread. I just started my first on a 125 gal. ( 30 gal sump/fuge) about three weeks ago. I seem to watch my fuge more than the DT some days... Thanks for sharing your knowledge with us all. By the way my fuge has cheato,churlpa \, liverock,and a deep sandbed with three mangrove shoots growing.
     
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  9. makeshiftcrew

    makeshiftcrew Gigas Clam

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  10. Powerman

    Powerman Giant Squid

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    Thanks guys. Appreciate it.

    Sorry if I have not responded to questions. Didn't notice this was up again. Hopefully you guys got some answers.
     
  11. AcidRayn

    AcidRayn Astrea Snail

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    WOW! is all i got to say.
    i just decided i was going to go to a sump/refugieum, googled it up, and got to this article.
    im hooked!

    anyway, couple questions.
    i have a 75 reef with fish and inverts
    im presently using 2 HOB filters, and am tired of the noise
    and salt creep, so going to a sump

    i have this skimmer
    Aquarium Filtration & Water Quality: SeaClone Protein Skimmer
    its for up a 150 gal (might not be the right one in the link, its that type thou)
    it can HOB or go in a sump by way of taking the tube off and moving the powerhead.

    my question is, since i will be builiding this sump out of a 20gal long
    would it be ok to input on one end, baffle, into the refugiem, baffle,
    then have the skimmer near the output?
    the return from the skimmer is just a falling water, i can baffle it
    to stop the microbubbles, and what i read is i want dirty water in the refuge,
    so why dont i just skim it on the way out?

    im open to all suggestions

    thanks in advance

    great site
     
  12. Sacul1573

    Sacul1573 Millepora

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    If you did it the way you describe above, you'd need 4 baffles, and the water flow through the 'fuge would be the flow rate of the sump (probably too much flow, and not controllable).

    If given the opportunity to build my own sump, I'd go input on one end (big enough to fit skimmer, heater, whatever), return to main tank in the middle, and fuge on the other end. You then split the input into two, thus being able to control the flow through the fuge, and build the baffles so both sides spill into the middle section to return back to the tank.

    You might really want to consider getting a different skimmer, IMO. There are plenty of quality ones you can find used for decent prices. The SeaClones are mediocre at best, and require an intense amount of finicking and tweaking (and a bit of luck) even by the best of reefkeepers.

    Good luck, and start up a build thread!
     
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