Large tank sump design

[jerwin]

HI Guys

I am building the tank of my dreams. It will be a large tank with large water volume. The tank will be a mixed reef with lots of fish from big tangs to small gobies. The design is based roughly on David Saxby's filtration design. Most of the filtration will be remote to the tank and will be placed in the garage. This garage is completely insulated. I live alone and work from home the garage door stays closed almost all of the time. I would like to hear from people that keep their filtration system in a space that does not have heating and cooling. How does this affect the tank during the winters and summers? I am figuring that I will be sending about 2000 to 2500 Gal/ per hour to the garage. I know this will keep the water moving. The full water volume will be between 1200 - 1400 gals depending on the design. I have had a tank up and running for around 9 years with some of my first fish still in it as of today. I have done up 3 designs and would like to get some more advice on the Pros and Cons. I am trying to decide between designs. Thanks for any advice.

 

[AlexG]

I am also in the process of setting up a large system. I would be more in favor of something along the lines of design 1. But in the garage I would hit the skimmers before the live rock area for 2 reasons. 1 The live rock can possibly trap waste before the skimmers can take it out. 2 Having the live rock other the other side will create a refuge area for pods and if the pods leave the area the skimmer might take them out before they can do any good in the system. The other part of design 1 is that there is direct flow into the tank and not just through the sand so pods can be sent into the water column. I am not in favor of not having a macro algae refuge like design 2. With the 250 gallon water volume tanks are you planning additional flow in these tanks?

 

[jerwin]

I like your idea of changing the skimmer to be in front. That makes total sense to me. I did not plan to have any power heads in the 250 tanks. Those are just basically add more water volume to the system. When it comes time for water changes one tank will be segregated off the system and new saltwater will be added, mixed and parameters to match the system. Then it will be added back to the system. The water will dump in one tank and then flow over to the next tank where it will gravity feed by 2-2in drains to the sump under the tank.

 

[jerwin]

I am concerned with the refugium being in the garage with the temp change. I also live in Arkansas so it's not like I live in Michigan. Winters are a more mild but Summer's can get to be 100 to 104.

 

[jerwin]

I would also be concerned with 2500 gal per hour going through the the refugium unless I controlled the water flow to the refugium.

 

[AlexG]

Depending on the size of the refugium and whats in it that flow might be possible. My next refugium I plan to keep high flow and a bare bottom. The algae will remain on rock in the refugium as the sand in my last refugium setup caused more harm than good over time. With the 250 tanks the extra flow might help to stop settling in those tanks. Also if there are dead spots it might encourage cyano to grow. I like the idea for water changes. As for the temperature I am not sure of the size of your main tank but if 500+ gallons of water is exposed to those high temperatures it will increase the over all temp in the system. Insulation and cooling in the garage might be needed.

 

[jerwin]

The main tank will be 530 gal. I think the 2000 to 2500 gals moving through the 250 gal tanks will keep the water moving.

 

[jerwin]

The garage is already completely insulated since the house is brand new and had them do that during the build process. I rather not but I know it is a possibility to I might have to heat and cool the garage.