pump and pvc size ?

[trigger2]

I have a 55g and 29g side by side that I want to run to a 20 g sump/refuge below. The 55 will be a reef that I may in the future want sps in and I’m keeping my non reef safe fish in the 29. Neither tank is drilled so I’m plumbing the feed with 1.5” pvc siphoning off the top with a durso type stand from both tanks. The return is 1.25” which then T’s off back up to both tanks with a ball valve on each pipe and has five 90 degree turns. The vertical length is 3.5’ and horizontal 6’. I’ve heard that you only want overturn x 5 in the refug but that you need at least x10 in a reef. Would appreciate thoughts on pump size and the pvc size on both tanks. I haven’t purchased any power heads yet.

[Reef Noob]

You need to keep the tanks separate. Sps corals need low nutrient water, and a fish tank produces exactly the opposite. You could do the 55g in soft corals, and it would act as a natural filter for the fish side of the system.

As for piping and the pump, I did a few pages on a popular freshwater site. If you do a google search with the screen name "Chompers", you'll probably find it. They are sticky threads.

[trigger2]

thanks for the info, that's good to know about the nutrients.

[trigger2]

I couldn't find this, exactly what do I search on google? Also, I see a lot of coral tanks with fish, are those probably soft or LPS?

[clsanchez77]

I disagree the tanks need to be kept seperate. Fish and coral are kept together all the time. The diference is a fish only aquarium allows you to be sloppier with water quality. That is not the same as the fish only tank requires you to be sloppy with the water quaility. Having said that, both tanks will need to be maintained to the reef aquarium water quality standards.

Regarding pipe size, what flow are you putting through each system? 10x turnover is a good sump flow rate for each tank. But again depends on the equipment. The refugium portion should be limited to 5x the size of the refug, not the size of the tank. But that is for efficiency purposes. It will certainly still work with higher flows, just not as well.

So for your 29, plan on 290gph and for the 55g, plan on 550gph. Your total flow will be 840gph. At this flow rate, 1" piping off the pump discharge would be fine. 1.25" would be better. Anything larger than that would be of little gain. For your overflow piping, 1" should be ok for each tank as long as the siphon piping is independent for each tank and you do not combine them between the tanks and the sump. Again, no harm in larger pipe here.

In your case, I would size your filtration equipment on the heavy side you can handle the fowlr load and still maintain reef standards. So in other words, select equipment rated for 100g on the minimum rating. If a skimmer is rated from 75g to 100g, go to the next one. This will still be cheaper than buying two of everything and keeping seperate systems.

[trigger2]

Thanks for your reply,
I'm glad to hear someone say it is possible to have the tanks together, because we only have a 2.5" trigger and 2.5" puffer and I plan on making their tank bare bottom and I don't overfeed, although I'm afraid it's going to be confusing at first feeding my coral.

I had planned on purchasing a pump for x10 overturn then a diy wave maker from several blowers in the reef (in case I want sps) and maybe one blower in the FO.
I have 1.5" pvc feeding the sump and 1.25 returning off the pump. Each tank has a separate piping system and ball valve to control the return independantly.

About the sump/refug, where you said the refugium portion should be limited to 5x the size of the refug. Are you saying to keep the overturn in the sump at x5, because I've read that before. Do I need to purchase a pump that keeps the whole tank/sump system at a x5 and get my reef up to a x10 with the blowers, or is there another way to keep overturn lower in sump?

My cone skimmer is rated up to 120g. I've been reading reviews on pumps and blowers and it's hard to chose what to get, any suggestions?

What do you suggest for setup of sump compartments? I had planned on skimmer/refug/return but can change it.

I'm sorry to ? you to death, but I was also wondering if people make their own display tank covers out of plexiglass or lexan with lights above, to keep evaporation and fish jumping down? Thanks again for your help.

[jeff@zina.com]

MAG 7 to 3/4" return PVC, split to 1/2" to feed the two tanks, with a LocLine and flare nozzle at the end.

Jeff