A chance to start over...

[kwjones]

Well, I finally got the chance I've always wanted...I get a fresh start to set my tank up. So, I figure I won't be making the same mistakes all over again I hope. I got a really good deal on another 75 gallon tank, this one being reef ready, my current one is not. The new tank, really is brand new, the guy bought it a year ago and never set it up.

It's missing some of the pluming for the overflow, but he did find the bulkheads for it so that's not a big deal, I can re-build it, we can make you better, faster, stronger, oops...sorry wrong show. I'm still trying to decide if I want to build a durso stand pipe, or a Stockman stand pipe. I'm leaning towards the Stockman because the overflow on the AGA is a pretty tight squeeze.

So, I think my first project is to build a sump/fuge to put inside my stand. My stand measures 46x16x23 inside. I might be able to SQUEEZE a 40 gallon (36x13x20) in there, but that doesn't leave me any room for lights or anything else. I'm really looking for a 30 gallon (36x13x16) wich would leave me with about 7" of clearance for lights and hopefully my Remora skimmer.

I guess my question is, would a 30 gallon sump/fuge be able to handle 1000 to 1500 gph. Do you have a 30 gallon that you'd be willing to give/sell me? Any advantages or disadvangates over a durso or stockman stand pipe? What size pump do you think I'll need for 1000 to 1250 gph at I'm guessing 4' with at least 1 tee and one or two 90 degree elbows?

Once I get the sump built I'll start planning my plumbing and stand pipe, break everything down, take it outside set it back up again and water test it for a few days. As far as the water test goes, can I use food coloring to stain the water to see where I have any leaks?

I get to aquascape my tank all over again, catching all those fish should be fun... but my wife will be happy that I'm taking sand out of the display tank to make a 6" dsb in the fuge because she thinks I have too much sand in there now (2.5 - 3") UGHHHH...I just thought about how long it's gonna take me to make enough RO/DI water.....I'm going to need a few plastic trash cans.

Kevin

[JJM]

isnt 1000-1250 gph like 25-35 times turnover per hour in a 30-40 sump? ,...that seems like alot to me, but I dont have a fuge. Even the 1250 X your tanks volume is 16 X's turnover !!!!
thats allot to , but I am pretty old school,....like 5-12 X turnover per hour
I got a extra 20 long if that'll help

[dvlhzdu]

If your using a standard 70 RR tank your only going to have 1 x 1" drain with very little down pressure so max out flow is 700 GPH with 24" of surface area on the drain. So 700 GPH down with 1000 GPH, ,after head pressure, up equals a wet carpet. Might want to resize the return pump or go with an external overflow, but that kind of defeats the purpose of a RR tank.

[kwjones]

Ok, I think I see what I'm doing wrong. If I'm planning water circulation for 10 to 15x's the amount of water in my display tank, I shouldn't expect all of that turn over to flow through the sump and fuge. So, if the overflow will only handle 700gph, then a few well placed max-jet 1200's or 900's can make up the rest of the water circulation.

So for a 30 gallon sump I may only be able to have 300gph flowing through it to keep from blowing the sand around, allowing enough time for nutrient export to the macro algae, keeping pods and other things from getting sucked out of the fuge etc...

Well, since I have no money, I have plenty of time to pick your brains, as questions and plan everything out.

[MadTownMax]

If your plan is to have a refugium in your sump, it would probably be best to run just enough water through it for the size skimmer pump you have, along w/ about 5X turnover for the refugium portion - well within your 700gph limit. Then If you're wanting to keep types of corals that appreciate high current (20-40X), install a closed loop on the tank (there are a few people in the club with drills that might help you out there)

I'm just got a larger return pump, and plan to increase my overflow's capacity by using the 3/4" return bulkhead as an extra drain - possibly linking the two drains togather in order to "pull" the water from both drains out faster - we'll see. I'm hoping that using the durso design along with some larger standpipes that I can get around 1000-1500 gph