New 135g shopping cart help

I keep getting an internal error when I try to reply. My replies are long so I'm learning to remember to do a copy of my posts beforehand so I can paste it back and try again if I get that error.

Previously I noted that I was perusing that link you gave Greech. I'm getting a basic understanding of the whole deal except for the refugium. In the link it shows 2 pipes, one in the sump and one in the refugium. It also notes flow should be slower in the refugium. I'm wondering how I get water from the refugium to the sump or tank and how that incorporates into the sump.

The way I see it in that pic is the return line is split and has a valve to allow a bit of the return water to drop into the refugium then the refugium overflows over a baffle and back into where the return line is sucking water. Is that correct? If so, does that small amount that gets over the edge actually contain enough of what you're trying to grow in it (still learning about that) to actually make a difference. I would think a lot of it would just sink to the bottom of the refug. I could be wrong though, I don't know enough about its purpose and the attributes of the food and whatever gets grown in it to know what I'm saying is correct.



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Also, what GPH do I want on the return pump? I want probably around an 8x turn over right? So I would need the overflow to drain about 1000gph and return pump to be able to manage that plus a bit?
 
Nepherael, I think you are so cool. I have been following this topic for a while now, I am plannong on a second tank 8 months from now, and I have learned alot from this. I haven't understood how to put a giant, DIY tank this whole time because I was intimidated and bought a BC. I will continue to watch your progress.

Good Luck. I wish you the best.

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I just put a post in the classifieds here. Maybe someone will ave something for me =)
 
Nepherael, I think you are so cool. I have been following this topic for a while now, I am plannong on a second tank 8 months from now, and I have learned alot from this. I haven't understood how to put a giant, DIY tank this whole time because I was intimidated and bought a BC. I will continue to watch your progress.

Good Luck. I wish you the best.

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Thank you very much for the kind words =) feel free to pm me if you wanna go over anything. I'm pretty new to the hobby but I learn quick as soon as it is explained to me.

I was actually hoping that this thread would help others too because I knew I had to go from the ground up and Greech and others have been awesome about it so I'm glad you've been able to take something away from it.
 
Also, what GPH do I want on the return pump? I want probably around an 8x turn over right? So I would need the overflow to drain about 1000gph and return pump to be able to manage that plus a bit?

Somewhere about 5 to 8 times an hour is about right depnding on what you want to keep.

The idea of turnover through a sump with a skimmer is to not have it so high that the skimmer doesn't have a chance to do its job. This concept is taken a step futher with a fuge so that the water has maximum contact time with the algae before it is returned to the tank. The most common sump layout is: drain/filter sock/skimmer section >>> refugium section >> return pump section. That layout doesn't incorporate the "T" back to the fuge and solely relies on the water flow path to bring water where it needs to be. By placing the return in the middle and running a valved line back to the fuge area, you can better control the amount of turnover through the fuge area while still feeding the skimmer and moving water through the display at whatever desired rate you like. Note that refugiums are not required. Heck for that matter skimmers aren't either but I would use a good skimmer over a small or moderately sized refugium any day. There is a build going on now that Bally is doing and that refugium will provide a lot of benefit to her display. The refugium wil be placed above the tank and the fuge is slightly larger than the display itself. This is a remote fuge and is completely separate from the rest of the system. So many options. You just need to figure out the one that works best for your tank and the sapce you have to work with.
 
Gotcha. That made it a lot more clear. I do have a lot space to work with. The whole 55g plus more room if I want to put anything else. The ones I've seen ran with fuge in the middle and return last in line and I liked that but it sounds to me like my fuge would be more stable and more controllable with the extra valve from the return running to it.

In that situation (fuge to the outside) does that create an issue with water moving past the skimmer too quick or am I good? Maybe just tweak it from there? I'm going for the highest amount of filtration and waste removal possible.

Edit: I was just thinking. Do you mean the skimmer is in the fuge? If so and I ran the fuge on the outside would enough water from the tank come into contact from the Extra return runoff to make a difference? Or is the skimmer in the return valve compartment where the sump and the fuge feeds it?


After those minor details I think all that is left is a good UV sterilizer (unless we covered that earlier and I missed it) and I have to learn about lighting. I'm definitely not spending a grand on lighting but, if possible! I would love to have something adjustable or, at the very least, a day/night cycle. Granted I can love without it though (if high light corals can too lol)
 
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