Need advice for frag setup

[DwightKeenan]

So I am starting to plan and assemble my frag setup and need some thoughts from others.

I have 3 drilled 18g frag tanks that I have put on a heavy duty shelf with the top being for a fuge,t eh 2nd for frags on racks and the third for frags on rocks. The bottom shelf will ahve a 30 gallon sump.

I am trying to decide if I should plumb the overflows from each of the frag tanks to the sump seperately or if I should have the top feed the 2nd, the 2nd feed the 3rd and the 3rd go to the sump? The advantage would be that the pods in the fuge could flow down through the other tanks.

Also, for the return line should I tee it off and feed each tank seperately or again feed the top tank and let it all trickle down? If you tell me to tee it, what is the best way to do that?

The sump has a skimmer and will have bio balls and live rock.

This setup is only so I can start doing something while I am in between tanks and trying to get my basement finished. It will also give me something to start collecting frags with and maybe even start recuring some of my live rock again, very slowly.

I also plan on frag right to some rock that will go into the new main display.

Your thoughts would be appreciated.

I will try and post pictures tonight of what I have so far.

Thanks

[hansmatt]

I'd put them in series...one after another. It will save on plumbing, and use one return pump. They are all tied together in the sump anyway, so there is no real purpose in keeping them independent.

[carym]

Actually I have done some thought on this subject as well, on my setup I am going to have a combination of the two method, first off I am going to create a Drain line, where the DSB, Refugium and small frags tanks all fee into the one drain (except for 2 of the small frag tanks - these will feed the other two frag tanks). Then for feeding the tanks I am going to feed each seperately with valves to control flow. I will try and draw a picture of what I am thinking as far as feeding each tank, I am thinking almost like a manifold I will post a picture tonight.

[DwightKeenan]

Matt, thanks for the feedback that is kind of my thought also.

Cary, I really like where you are going with teh feed approach and the manifold, I am just not sure how I can push water from the sump and get the flow into each tank without robbing the top tank of any flow at all. But I will wait for you to create the diagram and steal it.

My goal is to use one return pump and have small powerheads in the frag tanks for flow.

I am also working on a way to put chaeto in a ball on a rotating apparatus that keeps it tumbling in the refugium but without it ever touching the bottom. Kind of like a paddle wheel. This will only occur at night when the fuge light is on and it will ensure that the ball gets light on all sides. I am also going to put other macro algea in the tank that can be rooted in the sand bed. My last refugium got gross, due to lack fo flow I think.

As you can tell, I have too much time on my hands. Should be goign back to work next Monday

[DwightKeenan]

Just thought of another question. For my overflow water, I should probably try to staggger the tanks above each other, right?

If they are straight above and sharing the same plumbing, I am thinking the micro bubbles will be terrible considering the fuge wil be at a height of 6 1/2 feet and falling straight down.

Maybe just have it so the over flow water runs diagonally for a little bit before joining with the next tank and so on.

[hansmatt]

the biggest expense of a big frag setup is the lighting, as you need fixtures for each separate tank, though you can utilize a single return, skimmer, heater in a common sump.

[carym]

See the reason I am going with the manifold system, is I am going to be using a Mag 18 to push water and the Mag 18 that I already have will just be feeding the display. I know it can handle the 8 foot head and should be plenty of flow for all of the tanks. What were you thinking for a return pump?

[DwightKeenan]

I have an OR2500 and a Mag 7. I plan to use one of them, jsut need to decide which is best.

I like the idea of a manifold, becuase then I can probably eliminate the need for powerheads, but getting a bigger pump isn't an option for me.

I have enough parts and pieces to make this whole setup work, with the exception of a few pieces of plumbing and I think I need one 24" light for one of hte frag tanks, but plan to go to OTP for that.

[firsthesitation]

Sounds like you got it planned out pretty well. Theres always the option of perfecting it once you realize what you dont like. Sometimes trial and error is the best method. Would definately nix the bio balls though.

[DwightKeenan]

The only reason I was going to use bio balls is becuase I have a taon of them laying around and my rock all needs to be cooked, so this gives me a change to have some biological filtering in the tank. It was purely going to be temporary.

[Jrmass]

You know bio-balls work as long as you filter the water BEFORE THEM. You need to get the heavy stuff out I.E. using filter floss or a filter pad to collect the detrius that would typically get stuck in/on the bioballs if they are not pre-filtered. This is really the only way that I can think of to make the bioballs work very efficiently. The only drawback is that you need to clean/change the filter pad quite often (once/twice a week would not be out of the question at all).

As for the plumbing the only reason I haven't chimed in is because basically all of the ideas you guys have already said I've agreed with so really wasn't a reason for me to give my $0.02 lol. Figured I would just throw that in with this post seeing I was giving my opinion on the filtration.

HIH

Jason

[carym]

Dang I hate trying to draw stuff with paint, maybe I will just go tomorrow and buy the parts I need for it and dry fit it together... take a picture and you can see what I am talking about...how's that sound Dwight? I need to get them anyway so it would just be buying them early

[carym]

just thinking out loud here, has anyone run two pumps in tandem? Lets say the OR2500 and mag 7 pumping into the same pipe to get better flow?

[schneijt]

I agree with Jason about the need to filter particulates out of the water if you're going to use bio balls. I don't use bio balls myself, but I use filter socks on the end of my return line to keep stuff from settling out in my sump. I try my best to change it every couple days, though I really need to do it every day to keep stuff from breaking down and possibly causing any nitrate issues, especially since I feed frozen foods that really float around the water for a long time and get sucked into the Megaflow and down the return line...

-Joe

[DwightKeenan]

Don't do that just for me, but I will surely look at the picture.

Originally Posted by carym

Dang I hate trying to draw stuff with paint, maybe I will just go tomorrow and buy the parts I need for it and dry fit it together... take a picture and you can see what I am talking about...how's that sound Dwight? I need to get them anyway so it would just be buying them early