Sump Fuge suggestions

[bgolpmp]

Good Day

I am setting up a 150 gallon sump and a 150 gallon fuge (rubbermaid stock tanks) and am looking for some advice

1) The current tank (60 cube I know overkill) has a 1" in and a 1" out.
Will that be enough??? I am sure it will be good for the return but I am guessing the drain should be bigger???
2) Should i have all the water first go to the fuge then the sump? In the past I had all the water go to the sump first into a filter sock and then back to the tank but I had a tee in the return line going to the fuge and kept the the flow slow in the fuge but have been watching BRS and they were talking about full flow through the fuge.
3) Also on a BRS youtube video they were not using filter socks at all. All water went through the Fuge then the sump and back to the tank. I hate cleaning the filter socks but I think they might be important?
4) Can I just put the return pump right in the sump? I mean do I need to have the pump in some sort of container? On all the sumps I see the pump chamber is the only place water fluctuates. Could I just place the pump anywhere in the sump? The only thing right now I will have in the sump are heaters and a protein skimmer.

Thats all I can think of for now

Thanks

Andy

 

[ReeferReefer]

I can't help with any plumbing but the reason that the BRS tank is not using a filter sock anymore is to allow microfauna to flow back into the fuge. In this set up you would have the overflow go directly into the fuge. Nutrients will occur from decomposing material in the fuge but the macro should uptake some of that.

In the end using mechanical filtration is a matter of principle. If you hate filter socks and you find that you are not changing them regularly, they might just be releasing nutrients into the tank anyways.

 

[choss]

Does seem like overkill but I love the idea of running such a big system. I think the 1" question is heavily dependent on how big a pump you are running. Personally I would have a second 1" pipe as an emergency in case the primary clogs. This is what I'm planning on my current system where I have a 25 gallon fuge planned in addition to a 25 gallon sump (96 gallon tank). With such a large fuge and sump, I imagine that you may need additional powerheads in the sump fuge to keep the water moving. You could of course buy a larger pump (like a varios 6 or 8) and build a manifold off of it. Feed the tank with say 60% (and have it drain to sump) and feed the fuge with 40% (flowing back into the sump as well). as long as the detritus has a place to settle before getting to the return pump (with a huge sump that should be no issue) I'd not worry so much about putting the pump into a sump bucket.

 

[bgolpmp]

I keep going back and forth on having both stock tanks running. That is a lot of extra salt and heat!! I am just sick of failing at this hobby and am trying to make it easier for myself. No more 5 gallon buckets up the stairs!! I am planning on installing a bulk head at around the 30 gallon mark of the sump tank. Open the valve the water will drain into the sump pump crock and have 30 gallons ready to go in. I wont even have to shut off the pump DT pump. I like more water volume keep things more consistent.

Would you use both stock tanks or just have 1 for the sump and fuge? If I used both I could have 1 HUGE fuge that would filter out all the nasty stuff in the water.

 

[choss]

More volume is always good. And you could argue that means less water changes considering the small footprint of the main tank. I hooked up an auto water change system (via litermeter3 pumps) and will never change another gallon of water, ever. You should look it up. D2Mini does a nice write up if you google his first cube tank. I also have a section in my build thread.

On the question of fuge in sump, I had that in my last build and found that algae grew in places I didn't want - like skimmer, probes, etc. I'm mow setting up a new system with a sump in one cabinet and a fuge in another (connected via PVC pipes). I will document in a few weeks when I am done with the cabinet build.

Good luck with whatever you decide to do.