cycling with planted sump?

[dabrybry]

Hello everyone. New guy here, getting ready to start up my first SW tank. I'm still in the process of building my stand, gathering all the plumbing supplies and whatnot. This weekend though I should be ready to assemble it all, do some leak test and hopefully if all that goes well start cycling with some live rock and sand with some water. I'm not too familiar though with the algae used in a planted sump. Should I add those and cycle with them from the get go? Or do I need to add those a little further down the line once my ammonia and nitrites have chilled out? Also, I was considering using a canister filter for my sump return pump. A LFS dude told me something about bubbles forming in the filter or something like that. This is bad? I mean...little more aeration can't hurt right? I want to set this up in the most optimal way, so even if using a canister filter is 1% less effective than a regular pump, I'll switch. But I'd like to understand why this is not the best way to do it. Thanks in advance for any comments/help/suggestions.


Bryan

[Reverend Reefer]

having a "planted sump" is technically called a refugium. are you planning to only have a refugium or do you plan on dividing your sump into different sections where the refugium (i.e., "planted sump") is one section of your sump?

using a canister filter as your return is totally fine. the problem with that is that some gunk can get trapped inside the canister, this is the main drawback to using a canister as your return pump. you have to clean and maintain the canister filter. most canister filters have pretty good pumps in them. i used an eheim canister for 2-3 yrs as my return pump from a below the tank refugium. i have now upgraded to a proper sump, with 3 sections: 1) skimmer section, 2) refugium section, 3) return section with return pump and top off water section (to deal with evaporated water).

[Reverend Reefer]

Hello everyone. New guy here, getting ready to start up my first SW tank. I'm still in the process of building my stand, gathering all the plumbing supplies and whatnot. This weekend though I should be ready to assemble it all, do some leak test and hopefully if all that goes well start cycling with some live rock and sand with some water. I'm not too familiar though with the algae used in a planted sump. Should I add those and cycle with them from the get go? Or do I need to add those a little further down the line once my ammonia and nitrites have chilled out? Also, I was considering using a canister filter for my sump return pump. A LFS dude told me something about bubbles forming in the filter or something like that. This is bad? I mean...little more aeration can't hurt right? I want to set this up in the most optimal way, so even if using a canister filter is 1% less effective than a regular pump, I'll switch. But I'd like to understand why this is not the best way to do it. Thanks in advance for any comments/help/suggestions.


Bryan

not sure what your LFS guy meant by bubbles in the canister. i never had any problems with that. just make sure the pump that the canister you have is rated high enough to pump the water to the height of your display tank.

in regards to your first question, if you have all the macroalgae and plan to have a deep sand bed in your refugium, you might as well start that up with your cycling. of course you have to remember if you do want to do this, you need to light your refugium since the plants in there will need light.

[sn4265]

Glad to have stumbled across this thread as I'm in exactly the same position. I currently have the LR curing in a vat out in the garage, so I should be able to avoid a major cycle from that, but I will have the sand and water to cycle. I suppose that I'll hit up the LFS for some cheato since this seems to be the best recommendation for the fuge, and I'll plan on getting that planted in the sand when I setup the tank right at the start.

[Reverend Reefer]

by the way, if you are building your own stand, i copied this tank of the month idea using cinder blocks and then tiled the outside facade just like this guy and i absolutely love it!

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2008-12/totm/index.php

make sure you have enuff room under there so that if you do decide to upgrade and convert the refugium to a proper sump/fuge you can.