My first sump / refug - advice needed!

Ace5high

Ace5high

Reefing newb
I've started my first sump project for my first salt water tank. Normally I would copy a popular design for the project but I was very limited on space in my stand. In order to make the largest sump for the area I made it almost a cube shape, it measures 20" x 18" x 12" high. So my question is what would make the best use of the limited space I'm working with? Should I include a protein skimmer section, a refugium or both? If possible I would like to have both of these included. The problem is that I don't know enough about their design to make the best use of space in an almost square layou, does anyone have pictures or plans for a design similar to this? Any advise would be much appreciated!

Btw it's build from 1/4 acrylic, right now I only have the sides up without and baffles until I figure out how I want the flow to work...
 
Make an algae scrubber, it will do the job of both a skimmer and fuge, and is very compact. There is a great thread on how to build it in the DIY section of the forum.
 
Well actually that was going to be my original plan for it, however Ive been told by several local aquarium places that a skimmer still really needs to be used with a scrubber...
 
Ace5high said:
Well actually that was going to be my original plan for it, however Ive been told by several local aquarium places that a skimmer still really needs to be used with a scrubber...
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Not trute. A scrubber can be used as a stand alone system or in conjunction with a skimmer. Read this thread, it's quite long, but pack with the best info ever about scrubbers.
 
I definitely like the idea of making the scrubber but don't you still need the skimmer to physically remove organic compounds before they break down?
 
I've got a scrubber and no skimmer. My water is crystal clear and water quality is perfect. I love it!
 
Many people do. And remember, your LFS will make money when the sell you the skimmer, they arent going to make a dime if you do only an aglae scrubber, so its in their best interest to try and sell you one.
 
Ace5high said:
Well actually that was going to be my original plan for it, however Ive been told by several local aquarium places that a skimmer still really needs to be used with a scrubber...
Click to expand...

I have a 180g and have had it up since 2009...I've never owned a skimmer. I've only used an algae scrubber... I've never had any algae issues, and my parameters are always very good. In regard to removing the organic compounds, when you read the DIY posted in the thread above, it will explain that alot of the stuff that the skimmer removes you actually want to stay in the tank.
 
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little_fish said:
Many people do. And remember, your LFS will make money when the sell you the skimmer, they arent going to make a dime if you do only an aglae scrubber, so its in their best interest to try and sell you one.
Click to expand...

Good point... You would think being a Sales Executive I would have considered this lol :D
 
Ive decided to go the way of the scrubber for my first salt tank... The problem that I seem to be running into with this design is the limited vertical height I have to work with...

My sump is only 12" high and I dont have much more room than that the add lights, since its fairly wide and long I dont really want to run lights down inside the sump box...

Ideally I wanted to make a horizontal Scrubber or at least on a 45% slant but im not finding much info for scrubbers in this design. On the scrubber forum Im seeing 4.0 sq inches per gal for this design, and 1.5 watts of light... That would be much more than the 10" x 10" screen and 23 watt spiral CFL I was planning to use... :-/

Btw: my other concern was for micro bubbles in the sump, my plan was to still incorporate a bubble trap before flowing into my pump return. Is that nessisary?
 
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I dont think you are going to need the bubble trap because the water will flow right over the scrubber and shouldnt fall into the water below to make bubbles. But i could be wrong.

There is a lot of play room in the design of the algae scrubber, i think you would come up with a great slanted design, just mess around with it and find what works. Then be sure to post about it! Add to the
!
 
Updates:

I started building and wanted to include a few pictures for your viewing pleasure... Not the best I know but hopefully can see where im going with this thing :sfish:



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Few more of the final product from day 1...


If you look at the 2nd pic I made a real snug fit between the Main sump box and the water bar, this is perfect because I really have to apply some pressure to get it to snap into place.

The Screen area measures abut 16" wide by 11" long giving me just over 175 sq in in surface area. Im hoping this will be good enough for my 55 gallon with the correct lighting... More pics to come :D



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Ok well getting the tank ready to go was a little bit more difficult than I thought it would be. Ive worked for a few days to get every leak sealed and overflow adjusted correctly, but I finally finished I think!

Only a few minor issues, the worst being that I do not believe I am getting enough flow over the screen. The plastic screen is warped a little and does not sit flush on the shelf, so the water flows under the screen is a few areas. Not sure how much of a problem this will be but you can see in some of the pictures what im talking about...

Updates!


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The latest update.

I took some advise with the lights and ended up building a little setup for the scrubber with two 18" T5's . They light the screen much more evenly and have a better built reflector but are only rated at 10 watts each, im wondering if this will hurt my performance or increase it...?
 
Sorry for the long delay, but I did want to update on my Scrubber Progress!

First off, after adding the T5HO 18" 6700k light I have been getting actual growth, not a whole lot and not as much I had had hoped for, but a good amount for my design.

So I have redesigned the screen configuration... I flipped it up and made it vertical, just like a proper scrubber should be :D

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Also, I wanted to add that I tested all water parameters last night and im detecting ZERO nitrites, nitrates, and phosphates, oh and of course ammonia. And Ive been feeding everyone VERY heavy :)

Now that it is a vertical setup Im not seeing as much growth all of a sudden, almost none the past 2 days. I believe this is due to my inadequate lighting. I mean I only have 28 watts running length wise by 18" T5's , and keep in mind this is a huge screen for my size tank 18" x 12".

So to solve this problem I just got back from the hardware store with some lighting ideas and parts... Im planning on posting my updates soon as Im done working out my new lighting for the system.

Also, did I mention I built a custom stand for the tank? Here's a few pics:

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