SUMP tank SUMP :(

[noobie reefer]

hello all at reefland i wish i knew of this site when i started a year ago

After alot of reading it seem alot of you are using a sump instead of external filter. its looking like i will be heading that way but its confusing me silly!!!! my tank is 48" length 15" width, so does my sump have to be a certain size to. also i have seen alot of people with over flow on the tank goin to the sump but i dont have this and was thinking of the siphon method. Only how do i get the same flow going back into the tank? or would it be best to have a power head instead of siphon and a power head from sump to tank? could i use the tops of my canisters but just without the cannisters?
if i get a sump how do i change it from my filters as its more water and would have to cycle?
is this what a sump basically does?
water goes in through filtering equipment ie carbon bio etc then live rock and skimmer heater? what is the best order i really have no clue.
and what is a refugium?
any help is welcome thanlyou for reading

[Samper]

Hey noobie reefer check this out.........

Your sump is a place to house extra equipment that you wouldn't necessarily want to see aka heaters skimmer, floating hydrometer etc. It also adds more water volume to your system +++! The sump also makes it very easy to do water changes add things etc like dripping limewater. Since it sounds like it's too late to drill and put overflows in your tank I'd go with the next best thing. A hang on overflow or two. These overflows will drain the water into your sump. Mine is going to be setup like this. The overflow drains into the skimmer chamber. The skimmer does its thing and dumps the water into a series of baffles. Over, under, over the water goes into a large compartment filled with water. I've been debating on putting a ton of LR in the sump chamber but I don't think I will now since I'll have a refugium and anything living that makes it into the return pump won't be living for long. The water from this larger chamber flows into some more baffles into the return pump chamber just to make sure there are no bubbles returning to the display. The return pump pushes the water back up and the cycle is repeated. Hope this helps ya out man I tend to ramble on and on and on ...............and on

[noobie reefer]

thanks it has helped me alot although i m still not sure on whether it has to be a certain size? also im still not sure on what a refugium is. i like your custom stand the structure looks alot like mine a part from yours is alot higher. was yours a ass to build too? i like your tank, i think i posted you about crushed coral,and that blue type lighting is that a moon light (on all night if there is such a thing?)
thanks for the help man!

[Samper]

Thanks for the compliments. I always tell people to be patient and plan everything but not I'm wishing I had taken my own advice. I like the stand I built but I think I may sell it and build another putting the refugium above and behind the main display instead of off to the side. It was a pain to build and I had all the tools I could handle at my disposal. The refugium is a place to put mangroves and various algaes for nutrint export. It's also a place for your pod population to breed and grow without being consumed. Some refugiums are as pretty as the display imo if they are done right. As for what size overflow you need that is determined by how much flow you want in your display. If you want a ton of flow for say sps corals then you may want a large return pump. You want your overflows to be able to handle more water than your pump can push out that way your display never overflows the sides. I don't remember us chatting about cc or lighting but that doesn't mean it didn't happen. I used to party pretty hard so my memory is that of an old man. The moonlight that I have for my pc fixture is only turned on when I want to view at night. It's a waste of money if you ask me. I just use my old army flashlight with the red lens for viewing. The moonlight is blue and seems to bother the fish and my starfish. The red light they don't even notice.

[noobie reefer]

its in the "just got it going" section under this one ;)

[Samper]

Oh ok.

[NoSump]

As my screen name implies - I'm attempting to go the no sump route.

I am also new to the hobby. I was tempted to buy a "reef ready" tank, but I was advised that a combination of live rock, a good canister filter, and a skimmer would work adequately. Was I given bad advice?

[Samper]

I don't run a sump on my nano but I'll incorporate one if I decide to keep it running when the 75 gets setup......

[noobie reefer]

As my screen name implies - I'm attempting to go the no sump route.

I am also new to the hobby. I was tempted to buy a "reef ready" tank, but I was advised that a combination of live rock, a good canister filter, and a skimmer would work adequately. Was I given bad advice?

after alot of reading up. it seems that the majority of peeps have sumps here. i do not at the moment, i have two flulals 404s and hang on skimmer, which do the job at the present. they work fine for me except for needing a good cleaning about once a month. but to do this ive got to disconnect them squeeze them out of my stand and take them to the bath for a scrub. its a bit of a chor but not that bad. also if you have to change contents of them that also mean disconnecting.

i will be changing to a sump soon as i think it will be easier to access for everything and the more water means a more stable tank (i think). you can also chuck all your equip in there i.e. skimmer, heater etc. but im prob not the best to advise if im wrong can some one let me know.

[Poseidon]

Biggest problem with the canister filters is they have a GREAT ability to remove NH3 and NO2, BUT LEAVE the NO3 alone. No problems for fish, but is a problem for inverts. SO that leves you with a need to remove the nitrate, it can be done with a DSB, lots of live rock, and to some extant a GOOD skimmer ( the skimmer removes the waste BEFORE it is broken down to NH3, at the beginning of the chain). These methods also work well at removing NH3 and NO2, so moral of the story, you can go without the Canisters, but you CAN"T go without at least 1 or all of the other methods listed. So why bother using a canister?