Sump Or Wet Dry Filter
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I thought they were the same? Don't they both have Bio-Balls in them? Which would make it a Wet-Dry filter? Bio-Balls or a sponge or something?
er, i think you're only supposed to run bio-balls in FO or FOWLR systems, but not in reef setups, though i admit this is based on what i've been told, and not any real experience or personal research.
actually, everything i've read seems to indicate that your best bet is to run the largest refugium possible; the average seems to be roughly 1/4 of the main tank volume, or in your case, a 50 to 55 gallon setup.
actually, everything i've read seems to indicate that your best bet is to run the largest refugium possible; the average seems to be roughly 1/4 of the main tank volume, or in your case, a 50 to 55 gallon setup.
Hey another reefer from Dalton. What's up?
Some prefer a sump since you can hide different equipment like heaters and skimmers and all that and not clutter up your tank. also if you have a larger sump you can make a fuge in it and have more live rock or rubble rock or even cheato for nitrate reduction/absorption.
Also you want to calculate your overflow. Well you know how much water will drain to your sump if the power goes out. I'm not sure how much the wet/dry's can handle.
Also you might want to think about joining or at least coming to a Chattanooga Reef Club meeting they are pretty informal and mostly just hang and talk about tanks its closer.
Some prefer a sump since you can hide different equipment like heaters and skimmers and all that and not clutter up your tank. also if you have a larger sump you can make a fuge in it and have more live rock or rubble rock or even cheato for nitrate reduction/absorption.
Also you want to calculate your overflow. Well you know how much water will drain to your sump if the power goes out. I'm not sure how much the wet/dry's can handle.
Also you might want to think about joining or at least coming to a Chattanooga Reef Club meeting they are pretty informal and mostly just hang and talk about tanks its closer.
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Wet drys are not good for reef tanks. Bio-Ball create too much NO3. Go with a fuge over a sump if you had to choose one (or a sump area in your fuge to get the best of both worlds.)
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Siege that is what I was told as well. I think the best option is a Sump/Refugium.
well at home i got a 55 gal. with a 30 gal sump and a 20 gal fug on the side but i did not know if it would mess the fuge up with that much water flowing through cause they say u dont nee a lot of water flow in a fuge thats why i set mine up on the side but im setting up a 210 and did not know witch one would be better
Well, you could always try and chain your new tank into your currently existing setup, if placement and space allow for it.
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IMHO both need slower water flow. I think that people run water through a sump too fast anyways. I hear of 10X water vol going through a sump. From what I have read and experience, this does not allow enough contact time for your skimmer/UV/Ect.. If I had a 100 Fuge/sump to play with, I would me 60 gal a fuge and 40 gal a sump. Heck even 60/30/10 the 10 being for live rock storage and sponge growth. Water would run through at about 4-5X volume. This allows for good contact with skimmer and macro. Of Course, this is just my opinion.
Not that I'm trying to contradict you (not in the least), but I've always had it implied to me that higher water-flow in the main tank body was desirable. In our setup for example, we have a 50gal tank with sump holding roughly 5 gal. (on avg., max about 15) and a mag pushing roughly 650gph distributed thru to sand-level returns. I'm not saying this is right, it's just what has been implied to me, and I reason it that more water-flow means more trips through the filters more often... Theorhetically, if the water were moving too fast through the filters, it would back up, so any flow less than that which causes it to backup would be acceptable (though UV and skimmers are most certainly a diff. story).
Granted, fuge demands are a different story also. I understand that lower waterflow is to some degree desirable, esp. at the sand-bed level of the fuge, but don't you want to cycle as much water through that filter as possible also? If nothing else, flow at the top level of the fuge through your cheato or other macro's? Sure you want low flow for thriving pod populations and other critters that would live in deep in or around rock bodies where flow is much lower, but... I dunno... It's something I've been trying to tackle anyway while attempting to solidify a good fuge design.
Granted, fuge demands are a different story also. I understand that lower waterflow is to some degree desirable, esp. at the sand-bed level of the fuge, but don't you want to cycle as much water through that filter as possible also? If nothing else, flow at the top level of the fuge through your cheato or other macro's? Sure you want low flow for thriving pod populations and other critters that would live in deep in or around rock bodies where flow is much lower, but... I dunno... It's something I've been trying to tackle anyway while attempting to solidify a good fuge design.
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Main tank yes get as high of flow as you want... Well depending on what you want to keep (softies = Low flow, LPS = Med Flow, SPS = High Flow). Heck there are some people running SPS tanks going for 30X - 50X flow in the main tank. Heck I have a Mag 18 pushing my CL on my 55 gal , Do the math, that is about 33X flow running through my LPS/Softie tank. But you get that with a Closed Loop or Powerheads not by how fast you go through the sump/fuge. What other filters are you running? The more contact time you get in your sump, the better off you are for scrubing out crap that you are trying to get rid of. Sunning a sump at 15X flow would not give you much contact time.
Ok, I've seen lots of references to it, but am not entirely positive about the mechanics behind a closed-loop system... Anybody care to edify me?
And also, I'll buy that more time in the filter/fuge is better... But doesn't that mean less flow out of the tank, and that much longer , thereby, before the crap you want caught in the filter ever sees the media to begin with? I guess it's something of a balancing act that one could mediate simply by having the largest sump/fuge possible.
And also, I'll buy that more time in the filter/fuge is better... But doesn't that mean less flow out of the tank, and that much longer , thereby, before the crap you want caught in the filter ever sees the media to begin with? I guess it's something of a balancing act that one could mediate simply by having the largest sump/fuge possible.
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Ok: The cliffs note ver of a CL system:
Ok a pump takes water from the main tank and pumps it back to the main tank through a system of PVC that distributes the flow over mutiple outputs.
The following links show a return closed loop system running from a sump... This will work but I like the intake to come from the tank, not the sump for a few reasons that I do not have time to explain. But chek out these links and maybe someone can find the other link that I am missing from RC.
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/pbh2oret.htm">http://www.wetwebmedia.com/pbh2oret.htm</a>
[IMG]http://www.wetwebmedia.com/clloopratfaqs.htm">http://www.wetwebmedia.com/clloopratfaqs.htm</a>
As far stuff being in your main tank because you do not have it flowing into your sump at a high rate of speed. The physics behind it all says that 90% of the junk floats to the top of your main tank. This is why surface skimming is so important. By skimming the surface, you are getting the bulk of the junk, no matter how fast you are taking it down to the sump. You are right, macroalgae likes some flow. SOME being the key word. 200gph running in my sump is more then enough for good chaeto growth and needs. The plastic bag I pull out each week proves that.
Ok a pump takes water from the main tank and pumps it back to the main tank through a system of PVC that distributes the flow over mutiple outputs.
The following links show a return closed loop system running from a sump... This will work but I like the intake to come from the tank, not the sump for a few reasons that I do not have time to explain. But chek out these links and maybe someone can find the other link that I am missing from RC.
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/pbh2oret.htm">http://www.wetwebmedia.com/pbh2oret.htm</a>
[IMG]http://www.wetwebmedia.com/clloopratfaqs.htm">http://www.wetwebmedia.com/clloopratfaqs.htm</a>
As far stuff being in your main tank because you do not have it flowing into your sump at a high rate of speed. The physics behind it all says that 90% of the junk floats to the top of your main tank. This is why surface skimming is so important. By skimming the surface, you are getting the bulk of the junk, no matter how fast you are taking it down to the sump. You are right, macroalgae likes some flow. SOME being the key word. 200gph running in my sump is more then enough for good chaeto growth and needs. The plastic bag I pull out each week proves that.
Hrm. I am effectively running a closed loop, it seems, unless I'm missing something important. Water runs from my overflow to my sump, thru some filter media, hits the skimmer, and then passes a polyfilter to a 650gph mag when it is pumped up thru a pipe that is connected to our plenum frame with a pair of pipes rising up thru the 5+" sand bed, and as far as I can tell, even without the powerheads on, I don't really have any dead-spots, but water-flow is not, in my opinion, excessive in any part of the tank either. Sad for me, however, I have a lot of detritus in the tank that seems to be too much for - or even beyond - the abilities of my current cleanup crew. Additionally, my diamond watchman goby stirs up a lot of sand, and much of that detritus winds up on the rock.. and, well, even as often as I dust, no matter how I angle the power-head flow at my overflow, I just can't seem to get enough of the crud out fast enough, and I'm wary of introducing too much livestock too quickly, esp. now that I plan to start QT'ing most everything. Oh well, I guess water changes will have to continue to be the answer... Yarrr.
CLS in leman term.
Water go to the pump and back into the displace tank that does not have any contact with air.
If you are running a pump from your sump to your displace tank then you are running a RETURN line and not a CLOSE LOOP SYSTERM. Hint the CLOSE LOOP.
.
There are 2 way to make a CLS.
1 use a vacuum and take the water from the displace tank to the pump and have it puss back to the displace. Second are drill your displace tank and have it run to your pump then back to the displace tank.
Water go to the pump and back into the displace tank that does not have any contact with air.
If you are running a pump from your sump to your displace tank then you are running a RETURN line and not a CLOSE LOOP SYSTERM. Hint the CLOSE LOOP.
.
There are 2 way to make a CLS.
1 use a vacuum and take the water from the displace tank to the pump and have it puss back to the displace. Second are drill your displace tank and have it run to your pump then back to the displace tank.
oh-ho, now i gotcha! mine is def. not closed loop then, as it overflows, and the entry into the sump-box is over a diffuser plate that breaks up the water which then falls to the water-level in the sump box.
What's the advantage to a CLS?
What's the advantage to a CLS?
2 advantage of having a CLS.
first 1 are alway more flow and you can control the flow that you want to adding bigger/smaller pump. Second in case of power failer you do not have to worry about the water in your displace tank drain out because it a close loop so there are no where that your water can drain out.
Nice clearn/dry floor.
pic of my cls comming soon
first 1 are alway more flow and you can control the flow that you want to adding bigger/smaller pump. Second in case of power failer you do not have to worry about the water in your displace tank drain out because it a close loop so there are no where that your water can drain out.
Nice clearn/dry floor.
pic of my cls comming soon
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