Questions on existing equipment.

[ddawson]

Ok advise time. I’ve had a Reef setup for 17 years.

I currently have a 40 Gallon tank with overflow and a Sunlight Supply T5 system with 5 39W bulbs.

I can run a combination of bulbs and was planning on running at least 1 actinic “420 nm” to make a few things glow better. I can also run the Sun “6000k” bulbs and the Aqua blue “11,000K” bulbs to balance out the color.

My current sump was for the Reef tank but I can remove it for a 4 gallon CPR unit which has a complete cover.

I understand the out gassing of CO2 but I don’t want to buy a whole new setup just for this. I’ll try to reduce as much out gassing as possible.

I will replace my 900 gph for something much smaller. Any suggestions on how many gph I should run?

I want a compo plant / fish tank but if I stay with the easy plants is it doable or would it fail?

D.

 

[czcz]

Seal the top of the sump (glass lid is good enough) and/or limit its surface agitation and it will be fine. Are you interested in planting the sump?

I think you'll want anywhere from 200-600gph, depending on whether your fish like current. Most plants adapt very well to high current/turnover, and you may be able to pull off 900gph if determined.

Your current equipment, even with one actinic bulb, will grow anything you want. You don't have to stick to easy plants if you address ferts and CO2.

If you'd rather keep it simple, running more actinic or less bulbs will make things easier, and you don't need to worry about sealing the sump. If you are not injecting CO2, surface agitation is good.

 

[ddawson]

No plants in the sump this time. The sump is mainly to keep heaters and pumps out of view.

The one for the reef setup has a large opening for the Protein skimmer.
http://ddawson1.net/images/Reef/SUMP.JPG.

I want to cut down the Power Bill so I don't want to run a bunch of pumps. The current pump would blow everything over plus it uses 85W's

I have a new CPR which I never used that's sealed but also has a small W/D chamber.

I was thinking of some Neons, Blue Rams, and a few Danio's along with some Cherry Shrimp.

D.

 

[czcz]

(Period after JPG messes up the link: http://ddawson1.net/images/Reef/SUMP.JPG )

You could cover the opening with a pane of glass. Keeping the water above the three baffles on the right to limit agitation would be good. Same principles apply to the CPR of course.

I think you could get away with something like a Magnum 2 or 3 if you wanted to, especially since the Neons and Rams are said to not like current, and I don't think the Danios have any specific requirement, though I've not kept any of those fish. The Cherry shrimp should be fine, but keeping the babies in the main and out of the sump while not limiting flow is challenging. If breeding shrimp is important to you, the fish will certainly be a problem, but if so you could just reconsider planting the sump to breed shrimp in there.