making a sump.. - Page 4

afbengochea · 10-05-2006, 01:40 AM

no problem, yeah I should get some sleep, since Ill be up in 6 hrs. seems like I have insomnia these days

Tim224DT · 10-05-2006, 02:59 AM

I have a strange sump setup i guess you can say here is a bad pic of what it kinda looks like but you will get the idea.

Tim

Sara7814 · 10-05-2006, 08:34 AM

so this may sound stupid and if so please forgive me.... i know there is a return pump... where can i buy that... but there is a pump in the show tank also...right?? and thats what makes the water go down to the sump??
is so..are they the same pump??

Sara7814 · 10-05-2006, 08:55 AM

nevermind.. i read some other stuff... its a return pump and overflow... answered my own question.... now what pump size should i get?

afbengochea · 10-05-2006, 09:22 AM

thats kinda like how I had my first sump setup tim, but instead of pump from the chiller back to the sump I put it going back to the main tank. I felt like it was wasted flow that couldve been used in the main tank

110galreef · 10-05-2006, 09:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by VWD

I agree with amando's drawing, It is about right if You are going to have one , But I don't think you need one for a seahorse tank. If You set up the tank with live rock and places to hitch and macro algae it will be pleny of macro to do the very same thing as a refugium.

Hmmm. so we are now back to me original idea........oh well I tried

Do you (Sara)already have the baffles in? Any pics of it? What size sump did you go with?

Sara7814 · 10-05-2006, 09:39 AM

i havent done anything. i am making up a drawing... thats why i wanted to know what was best.. if i had it wrong or not. i am just trying to see what i need first. i got a 20 gallon to fit under my tank. i measured everything out on it. seems to be fine. i just needed to see if the model was good. but now im just seeing what everyone posts and i guess ill go from there.

110galreef · 10-05-2006, 09:43 AM

20 Gallon...24"wide??

With baflles properly spaced (~1.5" depending on flow), say and 8" wide compartment for the skimmer, 8" wide for the fuge, that will only leave you like 3-4" for the return pump compartment. Are you going to have an ATO to keep the water level in check. That is a very small area for the pump and the water level will fall very fast!

Sara7814 · 10-05-2006, 09:45 AM

yes i am doing a auto top off system

afbengochea · 10-05-2006, 09:45 AM

good deal sara, now as far as the return pump ..... will it be installed externally or will it be submersible?

Sara7814 · 10-05-2006, 09:46 AM

i havent a clue.. im trying to figure out what i need and whats best. do you recommend one?

Geoff · 10-05-2006, 09:55 AM

i like Armando's pic in post #28 if you must have a silly fuge.

the only thing i would change is move the triple overflow combination to the side with the skimmer/overflow. this is where all of the bubbles will be coming from. by the time the water gets to the return side it should be pretty free of bubbles so a double baffle system will be fine over there.

OK, here is my silly fuge speil.

how are the pods going to get into the tank to feed the mandarin? are you going to feed the fuge seperately? if not than how are they going to survive with the skimmer before the fuge taking most of the food out of the water column?

if you really want to keep mandarins setup 2 10g tanks with nothing but a HOB filter on them. feed the daylights out of it with phytoplankton. you will have plenty of pods. it is a good idea to have these tanks on different cleaning cycles. you will need to completely clean these systems out every 3-6 months or they will completely crash and kill everything in them and really stink.

hence the reason for 2 of them. when you are refurbishing one tank the other is still going, so you will have plenty of food for the mandarin.

OK, back to the sump. when setting up baffle heights it is a good idea to figure out what the recommended water level for the skimmer is. if you are outside of this level tuning the skimmer will be almost impossible.

G~

Sara7814 · 10-05-2006, 10:01 AM

3'' is recommended for the skimmer

afbengochea · 10-05-2006, 10:06 AM

good info G, as far as the pump goes u have to options. submersible or external and it sort of depends on how much room u have in the stand. U see I always recommend external if possible since it would not transfer heat into the tank and some might say that its easier to service. Now if u dont have the room for a sump and a pump on the side of it, then go submersible. U can just drop it in ur sump and not worry about having to drill.

Sara7814 · 10-05-2006, 10:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by afbengochea

good info G, as far as the pump goes u have to options. submersible or external and it sort of depends on how much room u have in the stand. U see I always recommend external if possible since it would not transfer heat into the tank and some might say that its easier to service. Now if u dont have the room for a sump and a pump on the side of it, then go submersible. U can just drop it in ur sump and not worry about having to drill.

what would be a good external pump??? how does that work... pretty much the same just outside the tank??