55-Gal w/ sump...my supplies right?

[SWGuppie]

First I would like to thank everyone for helping me as much as they have so far you guys are great!

i've decided to up my tank size to 55 gallons, and to add a refugium, and a sump all in one, so i'm going to get another 20 gallon tank for that. However, this is where i'm at a complete loss...I need to know how I can set this up, and pictures of sumps and fuges are incredibly welcomed and very helpful, i'm very visual! I need to know all the things that I need to get for filtration, and stuff like that and just basically how to set it up, and have a clean tank ready for fishes! All help is greatly appreciated!

 

[reefrunner69]

Is your tank drilled/reef ready?

There have been many pictures posted in threads here of diagrams of sumps and fuge combos as well as pics, do a search using "sump + refugium" without the quotes, and you should find plenty.

 

[fishfreek]

Looking in the photo gallery under Saltwater Member Setups will also give some good photos.

If your tank is not drilled then you will need a way to get water out of the tank. The best way to do this is with a hang on overflow. I perfer the U tube style vs the C shell style. Once water is comming out of your tank you obviously plumb it down to your sump or refuge. From there you have what ever materials you want in the sump or refuge. If its a refuge maybe you want some sand or maybe some rock rubble or maybe some macro algae. If you go with macroalgae then you also need to light your fuge on preferably a reverse light schedule from your tank.

then you have the task of gettingn the water back up to your tank. So you have a properly sized water pump, based upon the desired flow you want comming thru your fuge. To calculate this you need to first know what the head height is. Once you know this look for pumps that flow that much water at that given head height. Once you have th epump you can plumb your return plumbing back up into the tank.

 

[SWGuppie]

OK, cool, however, what else do I need/should I put in the sump/fuge.... I know there are lots of things, and for circulation in the tank..i've heard people talking about powerheads...how much and where do I place them??

 

[SquishyFish]

If your running a reef system you will want a minimum of 10x your water volume. Meaning if you have a 100 gallon tank, you want to move 1000gallons an hour. That sounds like a lot, but it will really help keep your tank healthy..and its not as much as you would think. Take several p/h and place them around the tank (hiding them if possible).

gallons x 10 = desired turnover.

 

[fishfreek]

Well honestly you can put what ever you want in your fuge. You can put live rock rubble, sand, macro algae, or just about anything else you would put in a saltwater tank. a fuge is simply a safe haven for something(s) that you cant grow in your main tank. For example a fuge full of rock rubble will be great at growing pods and bristleworms. A fuge full of macroalgae will be great at removing excess nutrients in the water. A DSB fuge will be good for helping the denitrafication process.

In your sump you can put your heaters, skimmer, uv sterilizer (if you have one), ozone machine (if you want one), calcium reactor (once again ifyou have one).

 

[SWGuppie]

What about filtration overall...how does my tank get cleaned? like with FW I had a mechanical filter, what kind of filter to I put in my sump/fuge to make it keep my tank extra clean, this is the only part that I still don't get at all is filtering your SW tank!

 

[fishfreek]

Most of use use the natural filtration properties of the live rock and DSB along with the mechanical filtration of the protein skimmer. Coupled with regular water changes you can have a sucessful tank with out any extra equipment like a big bulky canister filter that you need to service reguarly.

IF you would see my tanks you would be hard pressed to find any true 'filter' equipment attached.

 

[SWGuppie]

Where can I find pictures of your tank at, i've seen your beautiful fish and corals in your gallery, but can't seem to find a picture of your tank...