Improve plumbing in 90 gallon

[Tate]

wet dry and my overflow and return

I got my 90 gallon tank off of Craig's list and I'm currently cycling it but then I realized how crappy of plumbing is on it and was wondering if there was anyway to improve that. Maybe adding a sump?

 

[Tate]

Its only a fish only tank and I'm fixing my protein skimmer Noe

 

[huma-huma]

IMO id run hardline for everything, and avoid 90 degree elbows if at all possible. you can run the heater in the sump as well.

 

[Tate]

So run a PVC straight to the intake on the wet dry

 

[Tate]

Also a lot of water goes into the overflow through the cutout for the return nozzle. Would a spray pipe instead help this or give the live rock better flow?

 

[huma-huma]

just attach pvc to the bulkhead, and make appropriate bends where needed. but try to use 45's instead of 90's. and I wouldn't worry about the cutout for the return nozzle. you are gonna get a lil flow thru there no matter what

 

[Tate]

Bulkhead?

 

[Tate]

What's so wrong with 90 degree elbows?

 

[Tate]

And ive been reading up on the wet dry filter nitrate factory thing and should I take out my bio balls now during the cycle or just leave them in there?

 

[roladad]

I only use a protein skimmer and live rock and water quality has stayed very good.

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[Tate]

Do you have a light in the sump for the live rock?

 

[huma-huma]

yes I do. 24" Coralife dual-bulb t5

 

[Tate]

Where the bio balls are currently what should I put there if I did remove them

 

[AquaRick]

You can add live rock rubble. I'm not a fan of Bioballs myself.

 

[huma-huma]

i personally believe that you COULD run bioballs, however, unless you are able to keep all 100% of them in a consistant waterflow, I find them highly inefficient. running live rock rubble as mentioned is a good idea

 

[AquaRick]

Right. Bioballs work, don't get me wrong, but the maintenance on them is such a pain.

 

[huma-huma]

exactly, not to mention that they need to be "wet" to actually grow BB, any part or entire bioball that's not touched by water is simply taking up space.

 

[Tate]

Does it matter what kind of light is in the sump on the live rock

 

[Tate]

So I am defiantly going to take out my bio balls so should I leave the drip plate on and let the water drip into the empty area? Or put something there instead

 

[Jimbo C]

Just remove about 20% of bio balls at a time so you don't remove all that bb at once. You could place live rock rubble in place of bio balls. I've ran into same scenario when I set my system up and never had a crash, so you should be fine. Just remember everything done in a reef should be done slow. Happy reefing!