40 Breeder Sump & Refugium Design

[Diamond1]

Sump build looks good.
I bought a little cheapo Harbor Freight trim router and a 1/4" bit to make baffles for overflows and such.
If you have a butane torch you can use that to clean up the teeth a bit. Just lightly run it over the rough areas and it should clean up nicely.

 

[DirtDiggler2823]

Sump build looks good.
I bought a little cheapo Harbor Freight trim router and a 1/4" bit to make baffles for overflows and such.
If you have a butane torch you can use that to clean up the teeth a bit. Just lightly run it over the rough areas and it should clean up nicely.

It's already in there, so I'm gonna leave it be. It works just fine, all ugly and whatnot.

 

[ubasu]

This thread makes me want to go get a 40 breeder at the 1 per gallon sale.

 

[DirtDiggler2823]

This thread makes me want to go get a 40 breeder at the 1 per gallon sale.

The 40b are half off during that sale, but its not a big difference

 

[DirtDiggler2823]

Getting the sump ready for action....

 

[Singspot]

Great thread and amazing posts!

I have fully setup 2-yrs old FOWLR that is running well but has high Nitrate and could grow a lot of algae if I let light be on regular hours - so I can use some help from pros on this thread!

1. The bio-blocks - has anyone seen real directly attributable benefits from it? (There is a lot of debate on internet - like everything!) but has any personally seen direct benefit and did you put it before skimmer or after skimmer? How much bioblock is used to support how many gallons of aquarium ... of course live rocks and feeding and fish, etc. will matter a lot .. but if you could share any observations. I use 4 big slabs (4 inch block of 8 inch by 8 inch) but do not see control over nitrate.

2. What make live rocks live? Just having live rocks in saltwater aquarium (without any copper or other stuff that kills live organisms) and sand or keeping PODs/ Copepods too or something additional?

3. What is sustainable sump setup for large FOWLR? I do not intend to keep corals - I like fishes and want to create the best environment for fishes only.

I have 200 lbs of live rock and 80 lbs of live sand in 240G main tank too ... I have 13 fishes (7 large) and feed well - only once a day. My phosphate is near 0 but nitrate lowers to 25 after 40% water change and climbs to 50 in 2 week ... I want to control the nitrate without reducing feeding.

In my Sump setup - my water enters from left goes through filter cups (I use fiter pads instead of socks and I replace them every 3-4 days) then goes to skimmers and then into chamber full of bio blocks and GFO reactor and then finally into return pump chamber back to DT.

 

[Reef-junky]

Live rock is rock that has marine organisms growing on and inside it.

From the internet how live rock works

1. On first pass, the small filter feeders and cleanup crews such as emerald crabs, spaghetti worms and other invertebrates living on and within the Live Rock consume the uneaten food portions and fish waste.
2. As the waste particles have now gotten smaller they will convert to ammonia, nitrite, and phosphate.
3. Live Rock will actively facilitate the conversion of these toxic chemicals into less harmful products such as nitrate.
4. Next, these nitrates can be quickly assimilated by the different algae and nitrifying bacteria (both aerobic and anaerobic) contained within the rocks.
5. Finally, the majority of these nitrates will convert to nitrogen gas and will exit the tank via the gas exchange at the water’s surface. If you have more waste in your tank than your Live Rock can keep up with, you may need to do periodic water changes or acquire more Live Rock.

 

[Reef-junky]

The more porous the rocks are the better filter they make. MarinePure blocks are designed to be more porous then rocks so they take up less space and give you more surface area. I would buy the big blocks. Yes the blocks will work. All kinds of stuff will work in reality.

 

[Reef-junky]

As far as sump design all you need is something basic. I would put the blocks before the skimmer (I have my refugium before the skimmer) if you can but I have seen them put in all kinds of spots.

 

[Singspot]

As far as sump design all you need is something basic. I would put the blocks before the skimmer (I have my refugium before the skimmer) if you can but I have seen them put in all kinds of spots.

Thanks for the response - my arrangement is similar to the GMAC REEF -- water enters sump from left to Skimmer to Fuge area (the center where "gMAC Reef" is written) is where I have all bio blocks and GFO reaction (and last year I had macro algae there ... and then water is pumped back into tank from right ...