Skimmer/Sump Questions?

[budsreef]

There is a good discussion going on in reef1973's thread about the efficiency of skimmers vs cost and I wanted to ask a couple of related questions but didn't want to hijack his thread and take it off topic. So, if someone had a 120G tank what would be a logical size for a sump/refugium and then what would be the right size/type of skimmer. Would the answers be different for a tank that would be primarily fish, softies, lps, and maybe an anenome vs a tank with fish, clams, and sps? Both would have live rock and live sand.

 

[purplegorilla]

Bud, there is really no standard sizes for sump/refgium. The bigger the better. In my case, I went with what my space allowed. So if you have room, go for it. The larger sump will allow more water in the system in turn will help keep the system stable.

As for which skimmer. That part I have not really figure out yet. Some people say to go by your bioload and not by your water volume. Well, if you are like me...my bioload changes every week. So my best bet is to get the biggest skimmer your wallet allow...

Basically, GO BIG...

Anyways, those are all based on my research..True or not, I am sure there are other who will chime in.

 

[FutureInterest]

I agree with pG. My limitation was space, since my wife refused to allow any equipment to be exposed in the living room . So everything had to fit under the tank, so I squeezed in the largest fuge, sump, and octopus skimmer I could.

If I had free reign, I would of plumbed everything through the floor into the garage and made the entire room into a fuge/sump. It's a good thing I never have free reign...

 

[budsreef]

Thanks, guys!

Ok, so I have the space but still believe there is some reasonable sizes for what I am going to do. I'm planning a 120G, 48"x24"x24" with live sand, live rock, fish, softies and lps.

So, I'm thinking maybe an acrylic sump of a size yet to be determined to take care of bubbles and house a skimmer of a size and make yet to be determined, a separate rubbermaid container in the 50 to 75 gallon range to hold live rock, and a refugium in the 25 to 50 gallon range with a dsb and chaeto.

The sump and live rock containers I will put in the basement but I haven't decided whether or not to put the refugium in the stand under the tank or in the basement as well.

I keep reading all the threads here and RC but since I've never done anything like this I'd really like to get ideas and feedback to help me plan this thing out. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[victor626nj]

bud i stillsay that you put the refugium a little higher than the sump if you put it under you stand your going to need a pump strong enough to push it back up to you refugium remember you already need to spend the money on a pump strong enough to push it back up to your display if you do all of it in you basement you can use bryan howells method of it gravety feeding into your sump area and you can use some thing as small as a maxi jet to feed the refugium jmo

 

[suasati]

If you are going to put the sump in the basement, and you have space for fuge under the display, i would just redirect a small portion of the overflow from the display to the fuge and let it overflow back in to the sump... This way you won't need a pump to feed the fuge.

 

[budsreef]

I'll have the room under the tank in the stand, but still wouldn't have to use a pump even in the basement since I could put the refugium higher than the sump. So if I have a sump, lr filter, and a refugium would it be best to run an overflow directly from the tank to the sump and an additional one to the fuge which then overflows to the sump, then from the sump to the lr filter and then return to the tank? Or is there a better order? And what sizes for each do you think would be reasonable for a 120G softie and lps tank?

SuAsati;82759 wrote: If you are going to put the sump in the basement, and you have space for fuge under the display, i would just redirect a small portion of the overflow from the display to the fuge and let it overflow back in to the sump... This way you won't need a pump to feed the fuge.

 

[victor626nj]

Its like we talked about at sams what could you handel a 20 gal water change weekly or a100 gal water cgange its up to you the more volume the stable but the bigger the water change hope this helps

 

[schwaggs]

As others have said, "there is no replacement for displacement" :yes: I would go huge on the sump, especially since your sump will be in the basement. Simon has a 300 gallon sump on a 90 (or so) display which I don't think is excessive. I stongly reccomend the Rubbermaid water troughs as basement sumps. They come 100-300 gallon sizes and are CHEAP!

If it were me, I would put the fuge in the basement over the top of your sump. This way, if it ever overflows, it will overflow into your sump (I use this same philosophy with skimmers and ca reactors too). You can feed it with a portion of your overflow from the display (you will have lots of micro bubbles in your fuge with this method) or I would just break off a line from your return run.

 

[suasati]

Budsreef;83003 wrote: I'll have the room under the tank in the stand, but still wouldn't have to use a pump even in the basement since I could put the refugium higher than the sump. So if I have a sump, lr filter, and a refugium would it be best to run an overflow directly from the tank to the sump and an additional one to the fuge which then overflows to the sump, then from the sump to the lr filter and then return to the tank? Or is there a better order? And what sizes for each do you think would be reasonable for a 120G softie and lps tank?

You could put in in the basement, if you don't want to mess with it in the main display space, you can always use the extra space for something else....

If you are going with diverting some of the overflow, make sure you put in some critters that will clear out any uneaten food that gets settled in the fuge. As for size, go for the largest you can fit and afford.... ther is no harm in extra size and space for macros to grow..... Also when you t-off the overflow, make sure you do it in such a way it doesn't draw air so you won't have micro bubbles in the fuge....

 

[budsreef]

OK, I picked up a 70 Gal Rubbermaid container that I'll have filled with live rock, now I just have to decide on the sump and refugium sizes. I'm still leaning towards a regular acrylic sump to take care of the bubbles and skimmer. If I do about 30 gals for the sump and 50 gals for the fuge that will give me 150 gals supporting the 120G tank. I have lots of space but since I no longer work, money is still a limiting factor.

 

[victor626nj]

may i ask what your budget is that way we can make some recomendations on what kind of skimmer ,sump you can make your self

 

[budsreef]

Ha! I went over my budget when I ordered the tank! Seriously, I haven't tried to make a budget for it since I don't know enough yet to put a reasonable number on it.