Sump questions

[ty406]

Hello! So I am making the switch from freshwater to saltwater. I have a 75 gallon aquarium. Should I use a 20 long or something larger for the sump? I would like to have a refugium and my skimmer in the sump. I will be using an overflow box. What should my gph be for the overflow and the return?

 

[bskerrichard27]

20 long is what I.used on my 75...works great. Is this going to be a reef tank? What size overflow are u going to buy ? That will dictate pump size needed ..

 

[ty406]

I am gonna do fowlr for a while but i do want to start a reef. For the overflow im not quite sure what i should get. I've heard that you don't want a lot of flow going through the sump. Is this correct?

 

[spoonman]

20L is ok for a sump, but if you can fit larger, I would. I use a 40g for my sump and it has alot of room for skimmer, fuge, reactor....etc. In Saltwater, bigger is always better.

 

[ty406]

Ok. I built a new stand so i would have more room underneath! Would a 800 gph overflow work?

 

[bskerrichard27]

800gph would be great ..

 

[ty406]

Would a Ehieim 1260 work with the 800 gph overflow?

 

[danbstrong]

Would a Ehieim 1260 work with the 800 gph overflow?

Pump cant be rated higher than overflow but also try and get close as you can correct you dont want to much flow thru sump 800gph sounds about right to much flow wont allow protien skimmer to work efficiently also macro wont pull as much nutrient out heres a pic of my sump it allows control over flow thru fugi

 

[Daniel Fishy]

Check out life reef .com for over flow

 

[ty406]

Ok. What is head loss when referring to pumps?

 

[Daniel Fishy]

When the water has to travel to the display tank. 90degree elbows, so many feet straight up all adds into head loss. I'm going with a mag 7 I wanted a mag 9 but the owner of my lfs recommend the 7 for what I was doing.dr foster and smith has good info on pumps and stuff.

 

[danbstrong]

Ok. What is head loss when referring to pumps?

Id get a big pump and put a valve to dial down if needed

 

[ty406]

Ok thanks! Hopefully I can get the sump finished this weekend. Would two 1400 korails would be a good amount of flow for 75 gallon? Also I'm thinking about using BRS dry rock and seeding it with a small piece of live rock.

 

[danbstrong]

Ok thanks! Hopefully I can get the sump finished this weekend. Would two 1400 korails would be a good amount of flow for 75 gallon? Also I'm thinking about using BRS dry rock and seeding it with a small piece of live rock.

For flow 30-50 times the water volume

 

[Daniel Fishy]

I have two 1050 and there's plenty of flow for 75

 

[ty406]

Has anybody used BRS dry rock?

 

[ty406]

So I ended up going with the 20L for the sump. Any recommendations for the skimmer?

 

[Sniperhank]

Reef octopus. They are amazing. I got one for my 55 reef and 20 long sump rated at 150 gallons, since you roughly want to double the size of your tank. The manufacturer said that it was too big and wouldn't pull anything out of the water. Got it tuned in and it is great. Crystal clear water.

This is mine:
Reef Octopus NWB150 6

 

[ty406]

That's the one I was thinking about getting. Does it fit good in the sump? I was looking at the footprint and I think it was 12.5 * 8.

 

[Pizza101]

I like the corallife skimmers but that's just my opinion. I spent half the price and it has done just as we'll as my old octopus did.