Sump and Skimmer recommendation for 90G
 

I'm putting together a 90G RR tank that will be a home for a mixed reef setup. I want my stand to house a refugium, skimmer, ATO reservoir, and potentially a kalk reactor and/or phosphate chamber at some point.



[IMG]http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y45/carb850/Aquarium/SumpDraw.jpg[/IMG]

This is my current idea. The sump is a 38G tank, I would use an external return pump mounted along the sump on the back side that would be gravity feed from a bulkhead drilled into the sump. The divider between the refugium and the return section would be egg create. Doing this mainly to maximize the area I can use for water changes. Looking at the Euroreef RS135 in sump skimmer.

Any other ideas or suggestions would be appreciated.

I'd use plexiglass for the divider between the fuge and return. Even if you're just keeping a wad of chaeto in the fuge, it'll get pulled through the eggcrate and sucked into your bulkhead.

stick a BM160 in there, smaller footprint, more room for the fuge, and its a really really really good skimmer.

I didn't think about the cheaeto getting through the eggcrate. By putting a fake divider between the refug and the return I could do approx 13G of water change without shutting down the sump. That was not mandatory, just something I was trying to achieve.

I don't doubt the BM160 is a fantastic skimmer, but it $500 were I can get the RS135 for $328. Do you think that BM would do that much better of a job on a 90? I figured the RS135 was close to overskimming already.

DAS EX 1

oh yeah...the price increased...my bad, dont think its worth another 170.

[url]http://www.marinesolutionsinc.com/catalog/p131/Xtreme-160/product_info.html?osCsid=72hpmkr11pbupdvvrtt40u5op2[/url]

don't know when they are coming out but these look pretty nice:)

The Xtreme 160 does look interesting, but I'm a little bit afraid of new equipment.

Does anyone know of a place that makes reasonably priced custom sumps?

What exactly do you mean by an ATO reservoir? A place to hold water for top-up? remember you've only got 38g to work with
I'm assuming space is critical if your trying to get all this stuffed in a 38 gal tank
I've built around a 45g sump that would fit those dimensions but it took a almost a full sheet of 3/8, price that and it's not really worth the hassle IMO

External top-off reservior. If I had a custom sump made I could include a chamber in the sump for that water, but if I put baffles in a standard size tank I would want some other water holding devide to put along side the sump.

I used some 15 gallon barrels at first but ended up using a 30 gallon. I wanted to stretch my refill time. for when I go on vaction. That enabled me to go to 2 week intervals

I read on another thread that Kalk could be added to the ATO reservoir (1/2 tsp per gallon) and slowly added back to the refugium chamber (eliminating need for reactor).

Also, I've been reading threads on refugium's and have the exact same issue (90g with need to fit everything in stand).

I'll be very interested to see how your design works out. Can you post when you've built it out and let us know how it goes?

Also, any thoughts on what lighting you'll use and how you'll attach?

I'm now looking at external recirculating skimmers so I could use more of my sump for refuge area. I will update as I decided on which one.

As for lighting, I'm leaning toward the 6 bulb T5HO retro fit kit from reefgeek. These would be used in a custom canopy. I was wanting a hanging fixture but my only choice would be the ATI which is more than I really want to spend.

Thanks,

Small point of clarification, my question on lighting was meant for the lighting for the refugium. I've read a few posts about using many diff. "cheap" lights used for the refugium's and just curious how your going to place it under your stand. Some are using grow lights from Home depot, spiral florescants (sp), etc.

Also, please let us know what you use to separate the chambers and dimensions/heights when you determine.

My bad :)

I haven't got that far along, but I will post whatever I come up with. :)