My 75 gallon reef journey

[Hinds04]

Still waiting on my 75 gallon predrilled tank for my reef I got for $194. I will be doing a sump out of an old tank, unsure how many gallon but it is 3 x 1 and 17 inches high. I am making my own rock to add to the 35 lbs of live rock I have.

Stocking list:
5 green chromis
1 royal gramma
1 percula clown
1 yellow tang
1 something else

Inverts:
emerald crab
porcelain crab
pom pom crab
scralett hermit
blue leg
halloween
nassarius snails
black turbo snails

I am gonna start with a mushroom rock. Then... who knows

 

[Hinds04]

I think I have decided on a sump design, 3 chamber with return in the middle, Live rock on one side and skimmer on the other. Would like to keep it as deep as possible. Any ideas?

side not: I have found at least 10 brittle stars in my LR, very small ones

 

[Jimbo7]

I'm not sure how that sump would work. Where is the return? You kinda have to have a flow pattern and direction through a sump.
Sounds good otherwise, tagging along.

 

[Hinds04]

My overflow would split and empty into the two side chambers then both flow to the return in the middle of the sump.

 

[melosu58]

5 green chromis
1 royal gramma
1 percula clown
1 yellow tang
1 something else

the something else needs to be a pink spotted goby.

 

[Hinds04]

the something else needs to be a pink spotted goby.

I have thought about a yellow watchman goby. Any advantages to having the pink spotted or just a goby in general? Anyone else have any ideas?

 

[mdaniel2882]

I LOVE my diamond goby. he keeps my sand bed spotless and come up and eats frozen plankton and regular pellets. probably the most entertaining fish i have just make sure he is eating preped food before you buy.

 

[Hinds04]

Wanting to get this sump together. Do any of you guys use the hang on style protein skimmers on your sump? This would let me keep my sump as deep as possible and give me more of a return or live rock chamber. Anybody?

 

[CEverii]

If you have the room I'd go with the in sump skimmer. My Reef octopus is a beast.

GL on your 75 man. Just went through what your going through about 7 months ago with my 75. Was definately a fun experience.

 

[Hinds04]

If you have the room I'd go with the in sump skimmer. My Reef octopus is a beast.

GL on your 75 man. Just went through what your going through about 7 months ago with my 75. Was definately a fun experience.

how is your sump set up?

 

[CEverii]

HA that my friend is a tricky question... I have a very unusual situation.

I had my stand built for me by a friend of the family. He did a very good job, probably the sturdiest(spelling?) I have ever seen. However, the inside is very restricted as far as width goes. So currently all I can do is have a sump next to my tank. Its a 33gal rubbermaid bin, with a smaller 10gal rubbermaid bin inside it. I have my overflow pouring into the 10gal that has the skimmer in it. I cut some teeth in the 10gal so water can pour out, and keep the water level in the 10gal bin consistant. Then I have my return pump/heater/powerhead in the 33gal part.

HOWEVER, I am today setting up a new setup. I bought two rubbermaid bins that I can squeeze under my stand. Because if the narrow width in the middle of the stand, Im connecting two 20gal bins with a 1.5inch bulkhead.

Bin on the left will have the skimmer in it with consistant water level. This will feed into the second bin. Bin on the right will become a fudge with a small custom built chamber to seperate the return pump and keep its water level consistant as well.

Lol ya that stand threw me off bad. Have a 30gal glass sump that I cant even use.

 

[Hinds04]

interesting. I just want to keep my sump as deep as possible..problem is skimmer will go in chamber before my return chamber which means 2 of the 3 chambers in the 18" deep sump will be 8 inches deep.

 

[CEverii]

Why do you want your sump to be "as deep as possible?"

If you do have a deep sump, make sure you throw a power head in there to keep the water moving.

 

[Hinds04]

more water the better right... plus more water in a return means less chance of evaporation problems

 

[CEverii]

more water the better right... plus more water in a return means less chance of evaporation problems

The more water the better yes, but evaporation will always be working against you. An auto top off rig is very easy to setup and will be better IMO.

I'd rather have a normal sump that works properly, then sacraficing the functionality of the sump just to add a little more water volume.

If your worried about the water level in your sump being too high to set a skimmer in, just raise the skimmer a bit. Set it on top of one of those plastic crates walmart has or some kind of butter tub or something.

Also, are you still planning on putting the return in the center and have the left and right sides of the sump for the overflows?

 

[Hinds04]

considering it but open to anything. I never thought about just setting the skimmer on something lol. I guess I could just make all my chambers 15" and sit the skimmer on something 7" high.

 

[Hinds04]

Just finished filling molds of DIY live rock. Tomorrow I will dig it out and we will see. I am a little skeptical on it being dry in 24hrs. I covered all my molds on top as well with the oyster. Do you guys think it will be dry tomorrow? Does it hurt to leave it in a little longer? What is the best way to check to see if it is done? Thanks in advance.

 

[CEverii]

Pics or it didnt happen!

 

[Hinds04]

lol this is all I can do for now.

[/IMG]
future 30 gallon sump

[/IMG]
current 10 gallon

[/IMG]

 

[Hinds04]

Gonna check the rock later today. If done I'll get some pics