Adding sump/refug to 75g NON reef ready??

[jcm1229]

I have a 75g Oceanic Show tank (not reef ready) that I plan to convert from FW to reef in March or April. The tank is in my living room so it needs to be quiet and virtually flood proof or the wife will not be happy.

I'd like to add a sump and refugium. I know the benefits of having separate sump and refugium, but what are folks opinions of some kind of combo?? My needs for the refugium would be to grow some macro and pods and maybe throw a few frags in there. The sump would basically have my heater and a skimmer.

Additionally, in the vain of minimizing flood potential, should I be concerned about using an overflow box or would it be better to have my tank drilled to use a traditional overflow??

Any and all comments will be appreciated.

Thanks!!

[wizardgus®]

I had similar concerns, here is what I came up with that is as close to fool-proof as I could get.

Lifereef overflow...virtually unstoppable.
Mag7 return pump...good service history
Syphon break in return line right at water level in display
Spectrapure switch mounted in inner overflow box...just in case

I turn off return pump for 1/2 hour for feeding twice a day, it has not missed restarting in three months. So far so good.

I wanted lots of fuge so I don't have a sump. Fuge is in bottom of stand, 20g. tall. Only oops as I don't have room for skimmer in there. Measure twice!

[MalHavoc]

The words "overflow box" and "virtually flood proof" don't normally go together, unfortunately.

If you absolutely must have flood proof drainage, getting a drilled tank is probably the best option.

[wizardgus®]

I almost NEVER would contradict MalHavok, BUT this comes up fairly regularly from others as well. I will admit that drilled is more foolproof...but I work with bulkhead fittings on a daily basis in my business and they are not really foolproof either. I just had to say that finally. You'll find a few "help my RR is leaking" threads that will bear this out. Other than that I normally look to Mal for my advice.:D

[MalHavoc]

good point, actually. bulkheads leak too :)

I guess the safest answer is, "if you don't want leaks, don't use a sump."

:)

[wizardgus®]

Ok, now I am embarrassed and should apologize to both of you. In my defense I thought I was in "reef discussion" not "new to". This wasn't the place to sound off on bulkheads.

The benefits to a sump/refugium are too great to let it go at that.

1. The potential leak problem from bulkheads is very low.
2. With either method you can do things to lessen the potential problem. In the case of drilled tank...drill high, if it does leak it can't leak as much. For the return pump have the intake in the fuge placed high, if overflow stops it can't pump too much water. On your return line drill multiple syphon breaks, if one plugs the other will work. In either case a switch (reed or float) controlling the return pump so if water in display rises too high it shuts down the pump.

There have been some very advanced aquarists that have gone way over the edge in this regard. One fairly famous one comes to mind who actually had sensors on his floor to detect any water hitting the floor, hooked into a LOUD alarm system. Hey, if you get a small leak it's only water, it can be mopped up.

FWIW, I flooded twice during my hook up stage by getting my plumbing wrong. It isn't that hard, but I of course had to do first and research later.:rolleyes:

The benefits are great, the risk is small. I just didn't want to leave this sounding like a crap shoot...it isn't.

[gas4544]

I recently took down my 75-gallon reef that was up and running for three years. It was a 75-gallon AGA tank with a tempered bottom that could not be drilled. When I decided to add a sump, I bought a LifeReef Slimline Overflow box and installed a Stockman standpipe. My sump pump was a Mag 9.5 with a gate valve and 1" plumbing.

For the 2.5 years that I used the LifeReef Overflow box, I never had a flood. Every couple of months or so, I would clean the U-tube and it always worked without a problem.