Sump Room Planning Question - Live Rock Tank?

[jeffmuse]

I am in the process of rebooting my tank after a recent move, and I am planning on building a "sump room" for my new system. This will basically be a behind the wall setup (display on one side of the wall and equipment/ sump will have a dedicated room).

I have a tremendous amount of live rock rubble as well as dry rock that I would like to put to use in the new setup. I am thinking about using a 40-50 gallon rubber made tank and filling it with approx 100 lbs of live rock. I would then plumb the system so that water would drain from the UV sterilizer into the LR tank... the LR tank would then slowly overflow into the sump.

My rationale for doing this is that it will increase the total volume of water in my system (150g display, 48 gallon sump, 50 gallon LR tank) and help with the filtration of the system (180 lbs of LR in the display, 100 lbs in the LR tank).

Does anyone have a dedicated LR tank as part of their system and have any feedback on its effectiveness? Do you guys see any potential problems with my plan?

 

[tim8111]

ardunan;894763 wrote: The more water and rock the healthier the system.

The solution to pollution is dilution.

You could always make the Rubbermaid the sump if you have room for the 150 gallon stock tank. Then you could convert your sump into a large refugium?

 

[jeffmuse]

ardunan;894763 wrote: Hey... We are doing something similar. If you have the room for another tank in a spare room I would go as much water as possible... Make the 100 gal vs 50 gal.

You can see our mega build... We are doing something simile lair... Just way over the top... Compete overkill... But the concept is a great one.... The more water and rock the healthier the system.

I love mega builds! Do you have a link or a pic of your system?

 

[k3nnyp]

If matrix is as good as they claim why not just use a couple liters of it? I recently added some to my sump but not really sure how to tell how much benefit it has added?

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[glxtrix]

I have LR in my sump right before the return. It's a great source of natural filtration and gives lots of area for bacteria to grow. Just remember to siphon out that area from time to time because it will start to build up some ditritus.

 

[mcphock]

Let me ask a different question:

Does adding the extra rock yield benefits beyond the rock you already have in the display tank? The matrix question kinda hit on this....

In other words, ...if... your display tank rock is/has been/was handling all your biological needs, then what purpose does the rock serve? Bacteria will grow, but only up to the point of their food limitations. It may just be better to use the sump to provide extra water capacity to the system without any additional biological capacity.

 

[fishdude]

<span style="color: black"><span style="font-family: Verdana">I agree with McPhock, I would only add more rock if you plan on have more fish in the DT. More water is always good for keeping parameters stable but it also makes water changes more of a pain. I&#8217;ve always believed that consistent water changes are the best thing you can do for a tank. If I had a spare room, I&#8217;d plumb it so water changes were as easy as possible. </span></span>
<span style="color: black"><span style="font-family: Verdana">Can&#8217;t wait to see pictures of the build.</span></span>
<span style="color: black"><span style="font-family: Verdana">-Nick</span></span>

 

[kirkwood]

Wouldn't all Bare Bottome builds have a dedicated live rock section of their sump/filtration?? I remember reading Acroholics latest build and seeing all the Matrix that he used. I'd say you should use the pond matrix instead of just live rock because you'll get more surface area for bacteria..

 

[jj ocean]

The live rock in my DT is setup to what looks visually appealing. Based on my livestock load and heavy feeding practice, I didn't feel the rock in my DT would adequetly handle the bio load. So I doubled my DT's volume "behind the scenes" to support additional LR, refugium, matrix chamber and frag tanks.

My nitrates are virtually undectable with this setup. What would they have been if I didn't add the the volume? Don't know ... setup from the get-go that way. The logic behind your reasoning is sound and is used on a lot of systems. Just make sure you don't have any stagnant areas for detrius to build up (or siphon out those areas on a regular basis).

On the down side, the volume of your water changes increases if you want to maintain the same % change. Also, the size of you CA reactor or 2-part dosing volume needs to increase too. Not just a one-time $ decision ... ongoing maintenance $'s.

 

[jeffmuse]

McPhock;894795 wrote: Let me ask a different question:

Does adding the extra rock yield benefits beyond the rock you already have in the display tank? The matrix question kinda hit on this....

In other words, ...if... your display tank rock is/has been/was handling all your biological needs, then what purpose does the rock serve? Bacteria will grow, but only up to the point of their food limitations. It may just be better to use the sump to provide extra water capacity to the system without any additional biological capacity.

To put things in perspective, my display is 150 gallons and will feature a single piece of live rock that weighs 130 lbs. This massive rock with be the centerpiece of the tank, but I will probably have a few smaller rock formations to go along with the massive boulder.

With this in mind, the display will only have about 150-160 lbs of rock. For a system this size, I would like to have more bacteria/ filtering capacity, but I don't necessarily want to load up more rock in the display tank (thus the sump room idea).

I don't know a lot about Matrix, but it sounds pretty awesome from what little I know. I would not be opposed to using this to help with the filtration, but I currently have a good bit of dry rock that is sitting around doing nothing (its always a good idea to accumulate good rock pieces ). Being that I have the dry rock available, I figure I might as well use it to help with the filtration.

The build up ditritus is my primary concern with the plan. The lack of ditritus with a Matrix filter/ reactor is a big plus for that method.

Edit:

Fishdude;894810 wrote: <span style="color: black"><span style="font-family: Verdana">I agree with McPhock, I would only add more rock if you plan on have more fish in the DT. More water is always good for keeping parameters stable but it also makes water changes more of a pain. I’ve always believed that consistent water changes are the best thing you can do for a tank. If I had a spare room, I’d plumb it so water changes were as easy as possible. </span></span>
<span style="color: black"><span style="font-family: Verdana">Can’t wait to see pictures of the build.</span></span>
<span style="color: black"><span style="font-family: Verdana">-Nick</span></span>

Nick, I completely agree about the water changes! I think that it is the single most important thing we can do to be successful with our tanks :yes:

I have been lugging buckets of water all over my house for years, and I plan on making things a bit easier this time around. I am setting up a water making station that is going to be inline with my RO/DI and connected with a float valve. I am then going to have a 55 gallon RO reservior and a 55 gallon salt water resistor that will be plumbed directly into the system... when I am done with this epic project, doing a 50 gallon water change will be as simple as turning a few knobs (or at least that is the plan!)

 

[falos]

i would run the rock filter afte the sumpcrud will build up in the lr tank if its not filterd first
your lr tank will act like a large refugeum supporting lots of pods if th return runs from the lr tank they will mak it in to the dt (good for leperd wrass)
if you add a light you can make it a clam filter tank also
i would hold off on the matrix live rock is much better

 

[k3nnyp]

falos;895003 wrote:
i would hold off on the matrix live rock is much better

Not disputing this claim just curious what backs it up. What makes it better? I'm curious since I recently added some to my sump as opposed to live rock ruble due to its claimed surface area and my sump is a 40g breeder. I upgraded from 75 to 120g DT and added about 50lb of lr to DT and 1 liter of Matrix to my sump.


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[jeffmuse]

JJ Ocean;894917 wrote: The live rock in my DT is setup to what looks visually appealing. Based on my livestock load and heavy feeding practice, I didn't feel the rock in my DT would adequetly handle the bio load. So I doubled my DT's volume "behind the scenes" to support additional LR, refugium, matrix chamber and frag tanks.

My nitrates are virtually undectable with this setup. What would they have been if I didn't add the the volume? Don't know ... setup from the get-go that way. The logic behind your reasoning is sound and is used on a lot of systems. Just make sure you don't have any stagnant areas for detrius to build up (or siphon out those areas on a regular basis).

On the down side, the volume of your water changes increases if you want to maintain the same % change. Also, the size of you CA reactor or 2-part dosing volume needs to increase too. Not just a one-time $ decision ... ongoing maintenance $'s.

Right on JJ, my desired setup/ situation sounds very similar to yours. I have a set amount of rock that I want to use in the display, and want to add additional filtration capacity/ water volume behind the scenes.

I am concerned about adding TOO much water as this will force me to upgrade equipment. If I only add 40-50 gallons of water, my Calcium Reactor and Skimmer should be ok to handle the extra load. The media reactors that I use for carbon and gfo will need to be upgraded; however.