building a new tank... in need of help

[Tigger86]

So long story short I had 2 gsp in a 10g, moved them to a 30 and lost one a few months later... my inexperience cost me a fish ... I've acquired a 90 gal tank and want to do it right and give "puffy" the proper home... I've been trying to plan my sump and found I should decide what skimmer to get first and build my sump to accommodate it... my issue now is that I can find consistent info on what type or size of skimmer to go with... I have many questions to come but for now we'll stick to this one... I would like to keep half my stand for storage if possible... I can provide my info just not sure how much u guys will need

[Tigger86]

So I've figured out what skimmer I want to run, now I'm in my sump/refug design stage any suggestions there? So far I'm thinking return pump in the middle with skimmer and refug on either side so that I can control or stop flow independantly for maintenance or for other unforseen reasons/problems... again any and all opinions or comments are welcome thanks in advance for the help

[bertie 83]

I'm not up on sumps or refugiums yet so can't help, a pro in this field will answer your questions shortly I'm sure. Great to see you are going about the set up the right way, good on you.

[Master of Puffers]

puffer ghoti builds all my refusiums..but just google and there's a heck of a lot of links and vidoes out there..

It's reasonably easy if you can get glass/ acrylic cut to size..I know a glass guy who helps me out when needed..

[Tim]

My sump looks like this

Code: Select all

                                |                                        |
|  intake & skimmer |  return   |             refugium                   |

The return having a pump to the refugium and a pump back to the aquarium. Due to my skimmer having a max height of about 25cm iirc I decided to make it this way so the refugium could hold more volume. It's not entirely perfect and does havesome microbubbles being pushes into the displaytank but it worked well otherwise.

[Pufferpunk]

http://www.melevsreef.com

[Tigger86]

I finished my sump design (I'll upload a pic later)... I acquired a 30 gal plastic drum yesterday how can I clean it and make sure its safe to mix my water in? On a side note Im interested in reef dynamics http://www.reefdynamics.com/INS135-Prot ... ins135.htm is that to big?


If this in the wrong sections mods please feel free to move the thread, thanks again for all the help guys

[Tigger86]

Any thoughts on how to clean the drum? And r there any alternatives for lighting besides compact fluorescents?

[Nuclear_Glitter]

Use vinegar for cleaning the drum out. You could also use bleach diluted in water, if you want, just rinse super well. Oxiclean works too, again, just rinse very well.

[RTR]

If you use Oxiclean, make sure it is the original, not one of the variations with surfactants/detergents in them.

[Tigger86]

Thanks for the tip I'll prolly use bleach and water followed with diluted vinegar and lot water run throw it for a few hours to make sure its all rinsed out...

Anyone have any opinions on led lights?

[Tigger86]

Just realized I never posted my sump design, please post your input on changed or improvements that can b made...

thanks again for all the help so far

[bertie 83]

I have LEDs and t5s on my marine tank, the LEDs really show off the fishes colours but there is still a big debate as to how useful they are for coral growth etc. this is why I mixed it up a bit to get the best of both worlds.

[Tigger86]

What led light did you decide to go with, I'm only setting up a fowlr so I'm just going with cup and will upgrade to led down the road...

On a side note does anyone have a recommendation on what type of acrylic to use for my sump or where to get a good deal on it?