Questions about plumbing and sumps

[johnnstacy]

Starting back up in the hobby and want to do things right this time. Not make any mistakes.....yeah right. Well anyway, my last tank was a 60 gallon with a sump. It was an acrylic tank with an overflow. I always fought with noise in the drain pipe leading to the sump. The sump itself had a prefilter bag. It also housed the skimmer and the return pump.
This time around I am going with glass and haven't yet decided on 90 or 130 gallon. I assume I will be having the tank pre drilled and overflow since I hate the hang on stuff. But lets talk abou the sump for a sec. I assume a prefilter bag is still pretty good. I know that you could use just about anything for a sump but with money not being a huge issue this time around, would your recommend any particular brand with a nice setup. I will be using a Euroreef skimmer and likely a calc reactor and any other toys that will fit. What size sump should I be looking at? I have also heard people mention a refugen or something like that? Is that a sump? How about plumbing? As I mentioned I had a overflow that was loud and one pump in the sump that lead back to the tank. Is that best or can I come up with something better? I have heard something about a closed system. Where perhaps I don't have to ugly up my tank with powerheads. Any information, plumbing schematics, ideas, and product info would be appreciated.

[The R/C Man]

Welcome to RC!!

Wow where to start.....

Ok, personally I like acrylic tanks over glass. They are easier to drill for a closed loop system or for overflows etc. They are also clearer than glass. I would suggest the larger of the two tanks you mentioned. The set up costs between the two will most likely be in the costs of the tanks themselves....

A closed loop is just what the name implies. It is just a pump with an imput from the tank and the output back to the tank. It just circulates the water. This is great for SPS corals that need lots of current flow.

As for overflows there are ways to quiet them down to near silent. Using Durso standpipes is one method.....

A refugium is a safe haven to grow macro algae etc away from the main tank inhabitants. The macro algea is great for Nitrate exportation. I would make the sump/refugium as big as you fit under the tank. Custom sumps are the best way go. You can build them using anything from rubber maid containers to acrylic or glass tanks.

For a diagram ou can check my gallery or my web under the 375 gallon project.

I hope that helped some.....

[Misfit6669]

Welcome back.
I agree with the Durso design, that will help out a lot with the flushing water issues. I would get/make as large a sump as you can but that is just IMHO.
Brian

[johnnstacy]

I see the acrylic vs glass debate goes on over the span of years! LOL! I wonder if any survey's have been done to see which percentage of serious reef keepers use acrylic vs glass. I totally agree with you that acrylic is beautiful. It is also easy to work with. But cleaning! Nitemare. And rock fall over! I nearly cried the first time I gouged the front of my acrylic tank from the inside with water and fish in it. I did have a polish that took out most of the scratches on the outside but back then, the only choice you had if you scratched the inside was to lower the water level to below the scratch and start polishing. Has anything changed? Please convince me that acrylic is the way to go as it won't take much to convince me. Tell me you have no scratches.....:-)

[johnnstacy]

One other thing I just realized. This time around, I am using MH lamps. Does anyone use MH with an acrylic tank?

[The R/C Man]

I am going to be using MH on the 375. Although the tank is being built to accomodate them. There will be no cross braces directly under the lights.... If you decide to purchase a pre-built tank be sure to watch for that. Also watch for the thickness of the acrylic. There are lots of manufactures that go to thin. You will suffer from bowing, stress cracks and possible failure.

Why buy acrylic. Overall I would say reliablilty. Not to say it doesn't happen but I have yet to hear of an acrylic tank failing. On that note I have had my 25 gallon reef tank (glass) leak. The whole panel on the right shifted and cracked the plastic frame around the top. Oh, and the 10 gallon glass sump. That was fun moving everything to a rubbermaid container wet vacing it dry and siliconing the seal. A guy locally has a leak on his AGA 125 and is looking for a replacement as we speak.

Personally all my tanks from now on including my sumps will be acrylic.

Just some thoughts.... :D

[Nanoreefer]

Greg,

I am setting up a 125 aga with twin overflows. I already have the tank, so acrylic is out. However I do have one HUGE question for you.

I have been struggling real bad with designing a sump and fuge system for below the tank in the stand. I reviewed your picture, which by the way is fantastic, and your system is interesting.

I want to have both a sump and a fuge. The hard part is whether or not to do them together (1 sump) or separate (2 sumps). Now, I have thought about doing them all-in-one, however I am concerned about the strong flow of water through the fuge. I plan on using a pump that can handle the 1200 gph that the megaflows can provide.

So is the flow through your sumps not maxed out since you have a closed loop system? or is your sump providing max. flow and the flow through your fuge is ok.

This is the biggest thing I am struggling with, If a fuge can handle 1200 gph, then I will do all in one.

And how did you do that diagram? again, it is awsome.

Thanks
Fred

[The R/C Man]

Hey Fred!

Let me try to explain this the best way possible.

Most people see water flowing at 1000gph out the end of a 1" tube and immediately notice it's velocity. If you spread the water out over a 12" span it turns into a slow stream. You are still getting the same flow it just slows down. I hope that makes sense.

The sump design for my large tank will have 1800gph flowing through it. Although it sounds like a lot it is really negligible when you consider the sump/refugium dimensions at 48x24x20. The 24" width makes all the difference..... Personally I like my equipment outside of the sump for ease of access and cleaning. If you where to design something similar and wanted a larger water volume you could incorporate the skimmer into the sump....

[The R/C Man]

Oh yeah....

Like my signature states.....SIMPLE...... Keeping your design funtional and very simple helps in: set up, trouble shooting and potential failures.... :D

[Nanoreefer]

Greg,

So in your experience having both overflows flow through the fuge would not be to much flow? I understand what you are saying about the width of the sump. I would have approx 12" for the 1200gph to flow through. I am just worried that it is to much flow for macroalgae like calerpa.

Thanks for your input.

FYI- I am planning on an external return pump. Protien skimmer I have yet to decide. I do like the external setup that your plan has. It is just a matter of selecting a skimmer that won't break my wallet.

Thanks

[The R/C Man]

You should be good to go.
Another good nitrate exporter for your sump would be Xenia.
They grow like weeds. :D

Good Luck!