I need advice

[Nabob89]

I'm setting up a sump to prepare for turning my 55 gallon fish-only tank into a reef tank. I have a spare 10 gallon tank that I plan to use as a sump, but I need advice as to what to place in it. Please leave messages telling me what you have in your sumps/post pics of your sumps. Thanks alot!

[Sugar Magnolia]

http://www.melevsreef.com/sump.html

[Nabob89]

Thanks for your input! I noticed that you don't have any bioballs/other filter media in your sump. Do you need it? Also, why do you have the liverock/plant in the refugium if they're also in the tank?

[markandkristen]

im a liverock only in my sump about 10lbs works for me no bio balls with great success no nitrates or amonia

[Nabob89]

thanks for your input. But why do you have live rock growing in the tank and the sump (wouldn't the LR in the tank do the filtering for you?)

[Justin L]

From what I understand, bio-balls are a nitrate factory, while live rock will eliminate nitrates.

[lillibirdy]

Thanks for posting this Nabob,I am also still learning and planning a sump, (trying). If I understand correctly the main reasons to use them are:

To increase water volume
To allow you to put additives in the sump instead of main tank
A place to put all the junk that is now in the tank
Pods can multiply there without being eaten so fast
But, MAINLY it allows a place for you to put macro algae which is really the BIG nitrate eater....

My confusion is the sump/refugium. If you have all this in the sump, why do you need the refugium? I looked at Sugars, and it began looking easy, but starts confusing me all the different spaces and levels in it ect... Please forgive me if this sounds really dumb, but can't we just simplify and run hose to a ten gallon tank, in and back out to tank.....? My 55 is not drilled and the wier sounded wonderful, but totally over my head... I am mechanically challenged, and the idea of a flood.......Hoooooo boy, my hubby would really want the tanks out then....lol.

I would also love to see your lists, and pics, and the really simple ones would thrill me!

[sulp]

Basically the more LR you have the better. Why not put LR in the sump? Why have water in the sump if its already in the tank? Same premis. You have a sump to add to the total water volume. The more water the better it is if something goes wrong. Same thing with LR. Putting it in the wasted space in your sump just adds more fitration which is a very good thing.

[markandkristen]

Originally posted by Nabob89
thanks for your input. But why do you have live rock growing in the tank and the sump (wouldn't the LR in the tank do the filtering for you?)

i agree it sounds dumb but it works i guess because the water is gushing down and getting filtered better.

ive even heard some reefers dont clean out their sump totally when doing a routine cleaning in order to maintain the bacteria in the sump..

all i can say it works great just like in nature

[dugg]

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/...77100_0474.jpg
Get a bigger then 10 gallon sump. the bigger the sump the less work you have to do. Lots of rock and macro algae (cheato), and light it 24/7

[Nabob89]

Thanks to everyone for their input! I think I'll get rid of the 10 gallon and use my friends spare 20 gallon tank as a sump. I plan on putting live rock in there (always lit), with the heater, filter, and a return pump. If this doesn't sound like an ideal setup, please let me know so I don't face any serious problems. Thanks again and I'll report how its going!

[Nabob89]

Also, where can you purchase macro algae to place in the sump/do you place it directly onto the live rock? Why do you need this? Will the live rock in the sump make food for certain species of fish such as the mandarin goby? thanks!

[Quincy2374]

Some people have to have the refugium as a part of the sump, for space reasons, I think. The sump part is just a way to increase water volume and hide all the equipment. It's the fuge that has the cheato and the pods. You can put all of this in one container. Or you can put them in separate containers. It's up to you.

I'm doing a separate refugium to the right and slightly above my main tank because I like the idea of being able to see what's growing in there. My original plan called for the fuge to be as much of a 'display' as the main tank. I've since added a door, but it's just what you want.

Melev has a lot of information and diagrams showing how to have the sump and fuge together. That's where most of my knowledge has come from.

Good luck!

[hollinhead]

the 20 will work, things will be easier if its a 20L