Trying to decide on sump

[Carissa]

I'm setting up a new 33g tank and originally I was thinking no sump, but then I thought maybe it would be a good idea. Would a 10g be ok, or I could go 20g, would that be overkill? Also, how much circulation do I want through the sump? What about a dsb in the sump?

[archer772]

Go with as large a sump/fuge as you can fit. You can run a DSB in the sump but I prefer to add some LR rubble with about an inch of sand and macro, will you have a SB in the display and how deep will it be. I would only shoot for about 170-200 gallons/hr being returned to the main tank then get the rest of your flow with PH's or closed loop. Going as big as you can adds stability, a place for your heater and a skimmer along with macro algea

[Carissa]

Sounds good. I think I'll do a 20g sump. That would bring my total volume to close to 45 - 50 gallons of water. Instead of 100% live rock, to save expenses I'm going to go with dead (?) rock and seed it with live rock, and in the sump a diy protein skimmer, and some live rock and a sponge on the intake into the sump for extra particulate/biological filtration since my 'live' rock won't actually be live for a while. I think I'm going to forego the dsb since from what I've read you really need about 4 - 5" in the main tank, a pretty major amount of sand and I don't want to sacrifice water volume that much on a small tank like this. So at this point I'm thinking a 2" sand bed in the main tank.

Does this sound like a reasonable setup for what will be a fish only tank (at least for a long while)?

Also, for a 20g sump does 200gph through the sump/filter sound reasonable, or should I ideally aim for more circulation that way? I've heard that ideally, 20x the tank volume should circulate in a reef tank with live rock.... 200gph would only be about 1/5 of that if I'm calculating it for the sump + tank. So would I need to then add another 800gph of circulation with powerheads? That seems like a lot. True, this won't be a reef tank, at least right now.

Also, any hints or tips on where to cut for adding bulkheads (intake and output)? I'm thinking that the intake and output should be placed closer to the top of the tank, in case the power goes out it will only siphon down to that level and stop so I could mark my sump to ensure it will contain that volume in case of a power outage. But it would have to have enough girth to produce the right gph, which will be less at a higher level than at a deeper level. I don't really want to add an overflow box, I would like to have nothing at all hanging on the tank to reduce evaporation and noise since this will be in the bedroom.

[archer772]

I think evaporation can be a good thing because it helps with cooling on hot days so I wouldnt worry about that. When drilling for your overflow you will want an overflow box mounted inside the tank that way the water can only drain down as low as the notches of the box, you will want the return close to the top and I like useing loc line on my returns. I like going for 4-7 times total water volume for the return from the fuge and I think thats what melevs reef recomends also, you will want about 20x your display volume in flow and you want to get that from PH's or closed loop, dont add in your return flow from your sump. Live rock and good flow will be your filtration along with macro in your fuge and a skimmer. Hope this makes some sence

[Carissa]

Why doesn't the return flow count as circulation?

Cooling won't be an issue - it rarely ever gets above 75 degrees here and even then a few days a year.

Since I won't be starting with all live rock, I was thinking that the live rock in the sump along with the sponge will be part of my biological filtration at least for a while until the rock gets populated.

[archer772]

I see alot of people trying to get most if not all there flow from there return pump and that is not a good idea IMO, you want a slow flow thru your sump/fuge so the macro and skimmer have time to clean the water IMO. I recomend 4-6 times total water volume thru the sump so by not counting that its just a little bonus in the flow area. You want the flow to keep the water flowing all around and thru your LR and keep foods and detritus in suspension to go thru your sump/fuge and idealy you dont want any dead spots in your tank.