Starting a fowlr aquarium

[rilesjr44]

Hey everyone just signed up. I'm turning my fresh water tank into a saltwater. I'm in the process of getting everything ready just built a new stand for my 65gal tank so I can fit my DIY 30 gal sump/fuge under it. The questions I have are what size return pump, protein skimmer, and pipping should I use. Oh yeah already have a hang on the back overflow box bought from a friend. Any help would be appreciated thanks guys.
Also any other suggestions on setup would help also u can only find so much on YouTube lol. Have a great day.

 

[crister13]

Mag drive for return pump, you want 5-7x overturn through your sump. Flex hose or PVC wi work for piping.

 

[crister13]

For protein skimmer you can't have too big. I would get the biggest thatch fit in your sump. Reef octopus are great skimmers. If you don't have room in your sump, or don't want to take up room, you could get a hob skimmer. Reef octopus bh1000 are great.

 

[rilesjr44]

Cool thanks a lot. For pipping I will be using PVC. What size is good and should I put valves on both return and overflow so I can adjust flow on either side.

 

[Keithhjs]

Valves are always a good idea. As for size of pipe see what size your pump outlet is and then determine if that's good for you or if you need to reduce.

 

[rilesjr44]

Cool thanks a lot how bout my refuge should a use a deep sand bed and live rock. And what else should go in there.

 

[crister13]

No valve in the incoming water. Only on the tube for the pump, because the water coming in the sump will match that of the pump. So no need at all. In a fuge, I would recommend chaeto and some rock. Refugiums get covered in detritus sometimes so with sand it'll be hard to clean up, so I would recommend no sand.

 

[rilesjr44]

No valve in the incoming water. Only on the tube for the pump, because the water coming in the sump will match that of the pump. So no need at all. In a fuge, I would recommend chaeto and some rock. Refugiums get covered in detritus sometimes so with sand it'll be hard to clean up, so I would recommend no sand.

Cool thanks. So not even some fine sand for snails in the fuge

 

[crister13]

You shouldn't really have snails in the fuge. It's a place for pods and other critters to multiple, so I wouldn't out any animal in unless it's being aggressive or something.

 

[rilesjr44]

You shouldn't really have snails in the fuge. It's a place for pods and other critters to multiple, so I wouldn't out any animal in unless it's being aggressive or something.

Oh ok I though a fuge was for filtering also.

 

[crister13]

It is, hence the macro algae, but no snails are needed to filter.

 

[rilesjr44]

Just came across a nice sump for 20$ without a fuge I'm a rookie should I use the sump/fuge or the one that's just a sump. Lol

 

[Keithhjs]

I installed valves on both my overflow lines to my Refugium. I am glad I did that too. One reason is that one of my overflows is much louder than the other and I can throttle it down to a quitter level. Secondly, I had an anemone camp out for a month or so at one of my overflow box intakes and was having tentacles go into it and hurting it. With valves I was able to shut that side off and allow it not get sucked into it and yet still run my sump. Valves are always good, take it from a journeyman plumber, more is better than less when it comes to isolation and throttling valves.