If you were starting over what would you do different?

[Tradewinds]

I have 3 filter socks and the only drain without one feeds into my refugium. I only have to wash the socks about twice a month. I still get a lot of build up in the sump with the socks so i could only imagine how mush there would be without. It literally takes 2 minutes to change the socks and throw them in the washing machine. that seems way easier than continuously cleaning the sump.

Very interesting. When I used filter socks they would clog up every two or three days. Not sure if it was necessary, but my wife always wanted me to run an empty load with bleach through the washer after washing the filter socks. That's one of the great things about this hobby, there is typically more than one way to do the same thing.

 

[glb]

I would've never used tap water or natural seawater. More problems than I can count before I switched to RO and salt mix. What a difference!

 

[aslmx]

What about a pad under the sump to make it more quieter or any other quieting ideas for vibration

 

[Railcar79]

I put foam rubber tiles under my sump, they were like $10 at the hardware store, and I put mousepads under my pumps

 

[aslmx]

I put foam rubber tiles under my sump, they were like $10 at the hardware store, and I put mousepads under my pumps

no problems with using mouse pads and what is that picture of in your avatar

 

[KoleTang]

Hi Lucas,

I have never owned a rimless tank, but love the look. I would be interested in hearing why you dislike them.

They can look amazing (Rimless Reef - Rimless Reef 2.0: the dawn of the new Rimless setup!), but in my experiance with them, they cause more headaches than they're worth. For me, the trade off of functionality for aesthetics is not worth it.

What I don't like:
- Rimless tanks are usually smaller tanks. Smaller fish fit in smaller tanks. Smaller fish love to jump. Smaller fish are now on my floor. Now I need to make a screen or glass top which messes up the aesthetic.
- There is no hope of using retrofitting a light unless you make some sort of hanging canopy thing.
- Evaporation.
- Light spills out like crazy because there is no canopy
- If you have a screen top (like me) you can't easily use things like autofeeders

What I do like:
- The look

See what I mean.

But, if you can find a way to somehow keep your fish from jumping and buy a trendy looking light fixture, then it may be worth it.

 

[Tradewinds]

Lucas, thanks for the clarification on the rimless tanks.

 

[Railcar79]

Galacus atlanticus, a nudi that feeds on portugese man o war. Beautiful, but toxic

As for the mousepads, I bought the cheap ones from wally world, all black, and not a single issue. Use q new one, old ones have human detritus, and usually some spilled food/drink

 

[zemuss]

Go as big as you think you can afford. For me that would be a 120 g tank but of course you need to have room for that size tank. Thus, going to about a 60 for now.

Realize a sump is a sump not a refuguim. Keep them seperate. Sumps purpose is for equipment not some macro algae.

Rock rubble in the sump collects garbage and causes nitrates.

Slow return has always been my favorite. I use a power head in the sump to suspend particles which need to be exported by the skimmer.

 

[mallorieGgator]

I will be starting over and one thing I want is an organized sump and plenty of room under the tank to access and clean the sump. I would go with the largest footprint for a sump possible and plan out where baffles would go. Also, I want to have appropriate room in the stand for equipment that is outside of the sump like an auto top off and reactors.

 

[Jeffanator]

Not much ,I have enough money to buy the best stuff and the time to research everything I buy. Well maybe quarantined longer. Lol