What to put in Sump.

[strat24]

I'm limited on space and had to build a 14 1/2 " x 15 1/2 " 2' tall sump. Any suggestions on what I should put in it? Bio-balls , live rock?

[D_Hood87]

are you skimming? and if you are and its an in sump skimmer where do you plan to put it?

[mg426]

Skimmer, heaters, a GFO reactor. I like to hide the gear in mine.

[D_Hood87]

but in my opinion i would alwayse go with live sand and LR like a fuge but i dont know how you built your sump

[melvinudawl]

You won't get a lot of endorsements for bio balls on here. Current common opinion labels them as a bit behind the times and nitrate factories. A typical sump configuration would include 3 sections. Section 1 would be the skimmer, section 2 the return, and section 3 would be the refugium. In the refugium you'll typically find macro algae(does require lighting), a deep sand bed and/or some live rock rubble. Chaeto seems to be the easiest macro to work with.

A lot of good info on sumps:
http://www.melevsreef.com/links.html

[mg426]

+1 on checking out Melevs site !!

[strat24]

Right now its just a box. I am still trying to figure out where to put baffles etc. I have a ...... seaclone skimmer (embarrassed). I thought I would be able to figure it out but there is alot of different ideas out there. I'll scratch the bio-ball idea and look into a ref.

[strat24]

So if I go with 3 slots skimmer,refugium,return it will be enough to filter the system? I know its a noob question ... but I'm posting in the noob section

[melvinudawl]

would help if you provided some basic details on your tank. Dimenions, water volume, lighting, etc. Easiest way is to edit your profile and add your basic specs like you'll see on the bottom of posts like mine or the other responses here.

Even knowing the size of your tank your mileage with filtration will vary based on several factors like lighting, feeding habits, and some fish are messier than others. I think most would agree that when it comes to a sump, do the biggest you can do. A big part of the value in a sump is the increase in water volume, which makes it harder for bad things to creap up to problematic levels - more the better.

That said, in looking for my own tank, I thought having a sump about 1/3rd the volume of the display tank was pretty common for the RC crowd. You'll also find Chaeto is highly recommended in the fuge, with or without LS/LR.

and plenty of people use seaclones...gotta do the best you can with what you've got. If it doesn't happen work as efficiently at others, so be it. Maybe you add one less fish, but it certainly won't stop you from succeeding if you pace yourself and manage your bioload to not exceed your filtration.

[strat24]

I have a 55 gallon with 1 clown and 2 damsels,green bubble tipped anemone,frogspawn , 60-70ish pounds of live rock and 4 in sand bed. For lighting I have 4 pcf 2 10,000 and 2 antic. I usually feed every other day a cube of brine shrimp and a little pinch of pellet food once a day. I also have 8-10 crabs and 5 turbo snails.

[Vapour1ze]

55 isnt that big you should be able to split the sump up into the 3 compartments you said, have it go drain > skimmer > fuge > return

and a bubble trap makes a world of difference if you dont like the look of microbubbles in your display, run the skimmer in a chamber if it will fit, if not dont do the fuge in the sump run one seperate maybe? or a hang on refugium, and then as far as your fuge, some chaeto algae and some rubble with say maybe a 4-5" deep sand bed.

My thoughts, not sure how far you want to go. =/ good luck :D

[crvz]

I'd probably upgrade skimmers, built the sump to fit the skimmer, and then put that, the heater, and return pump down there. You don't have a lot of space for much else, I say just make it easy on yourself with that stuff.

[DevilBoy]

i am guessing this tank is already set up and running. In order to run the sump properly you will need a overflow box to have water drain into the sump.

[strat24]

Yea its been up for 6 months or so. I made a acrylic overflow box and hopefully ill plumb it this weekend.

[Ncastro1981]

i would suggest useing a aqualifter pump to help maintain siphon and drill a hole like 1-2 inch under tak water so if theres a power loss you siphon will stop and the aqualifter can help get it going when the power comes on. I had a toms overflow before i upgraded to a drilled tank. It worked ok but found making your own can work better....