Setting up new aquarium

rodneyri

might be dumb question, but i thought trigger fish werent reef safe...today at the LFS they had a reed setup with triggers in there.

Pasfur

I could not disagree more. I am actually very surprised this debate still exists after 15 years of success with Protein Skimmers.

Leaving the skimmer off will only allow for organic waste to remain in the system and be processed by the bacteria bed. This reduces the carbonates available to maintain stable alkalinity, calcium, and magnesium levels. Additionally, the side effects will be increased phosphate and Nitrate levels, which would contribute to increased algae outbreaks.

On aquariums with live rock the skimmer should be turned on immediately. There is simply on value in waiting. Understand, the bacteria are ALREADY present in the live rock and do not live in the water column. Turning on the skimmer does not reduce the effectiveness of the bacteria colonies.

rodneyri

i would like to add an auto-top up for fresh water to the tank to maintain SG...Question: where does the float switch reside in the sump?

rodneyri

Ok, so this is the design so far, any faults?

Lighting - is this ok?
- 4 tube holder ( 2 T5 14000K, 2 Actinic )
- single Moon light for night

- compact T5 for the refugium

Power Heads - is this sufficient? how high up from the sand bed?
- one in each corner
- direction as shown

Attached Images

aquarium layout1.JPG (74.5 KB, 34 views)

SKAustin

A few issues with your sump design that I see.

A) your first bubble trap is far too tall. Your first baffle should keep the water level in the Inlet/Skimmer section at the required level for proper skimmer operation, and the bubble trap should be no more than an inch higher than the water level in your refugium. The cascading water gains too much momentum and will both disturb the sandbed of the fuge, and will cause too much water movement for pod populations to establish.

B) you do not need the bubble trap after the fuge. Add that space to your return section to increase your evaporation allowance.

C) I'd recommend against the sponges in the bubble trap. If they get clogged, it's going to be a big mess. As long as the baffles in the bubble trap are an adequate distance apart, a lot of the detritus that gets past the skimmer will collect in the bottom of the bubble trap. The farther apart the baffles are in the bubble trap, the slower the water will flow through it. The slower the water flows thru there, the more bubbles and detritus it will trap. I'd recommend between 1" and 1.5".

D) you'll want a shut-off valve on your return line as well. This will allow you to cut the water to the display while keeping the sump in operation. This is especially handy during sump maintenance and Macro harvesting. It allows the skimmer to clean the crap from the water that may get stirred up if you disturb the sand bed during the harvest.

Just as an added aside, do not use ribbed sump hose to plumb your system (like I did). The ribs cause alot of noise, not to mention, they trap alot of calcium carbonate precipitate and detritus. If you disturb the hose, the precipitate will break free from the ribs and be strewn about into the system. This could cause unwanted Cyano and algae problems.

rodneyri

thanks for the tips, i was thinking of using flexible hosing...i can see why not to.

ive read in places to put a syphon hole in the return line just under the water level?

onefish2fish

yes, thats so if power fails your return line doesnt act as a syphon and when the water level drops to that small hole it should be a "syphon break"

SKAustin

Use the clear vinyl Tubing (they sell it right at Lowes) with the gray PVC hose barb fittings and plastic hose clamps.

Yes, you will need a syphon break in your return line. If you are using a reef ready tank, with the factory plumbing, then there is probably one already in place. Check this article Understanding Sumps for more details

rodneyri

yup i know the clear stuff, great thanks for the tip.

one thing im not sure of still is the specs for the sump return pump, for this size tank what am i looking for? flow rate etc. and heating is 200w suitable?

SKAustin

Eheim 1262 Hobby Pump
898 gph with a max head of 11.8 feet at 80 watts. Input 25/34 mm, output 16/22 mm.

You'll also want to get 4 suction cups to mount to the base of the pump for noise reduction. The pump itself is very quiet, but without the suction cups, you may get vibration noise.

As for the heater, I cant remember the suggested ratio for watts/gallon, but you should use 2 underrated heaters rather than 1 appropriately sized one. That way, if one gets stuck in the on position (which happens more often than one might think), you don't bake your system. I believe 200w is rated for 55 gallons, so for your system, you may need to go with a pair of 250w heaters.