sump question?

byron · Mar 6, 2018

I have been running a 450DT with 2 150 gals Rubermaids (refuge & sump) for the past 5 years. I finally decided to have sump made (72x27x16) and it will be here in several days.

I have already pulled out 1 of the Rubbermaids and will remove the other when I install the new sump.

My question: will switching to the new sump cause the tank to cycle? Will I potentially crash the system doing this? What do I need to watch for? DT has been up for 5 years, prob has 400 lbs of LR in it.

Crabs McJones · Mar 6, 2018

byron said:
I have been running a 450DT with 2 150 gals Rubermaids (refuge & sump) for the past 5 years. I finally decided to have sump made (72x27x16) and it will be here in several days.

I have already pulled out 1 of the Rubbermaids and will remove the other when I install the new sump.

My question: will switching to the new sump cause the tank to cycle? Will I potentially crash the system doing this? What do I need to watch for? DT has been up for 5 years, prob has 400 lbs of LR in it.

You may get a mini cycle if you add to much brand new water. But with your display tank being left alone you should be ok

Salty Carlo · Mar 6, 2018

I agree with crabs_mcjones. Maybe a mini cycle due to big volume of new water but as long as display stays undisturbed you should be fine.

Greybeard · Mar 6, 2018

450g tank, you're removing 150g and replacing it with new salt mix... that's a 37% water change.

By all means, match temp, salinity, calcium, alkalinity, and pH as well as you can, but no, I'd not expect any problems.

Finhead · Mar 6, 2018

I agree with @Greybeard a 37% WC is not going to cause any issues if you treat it like a reg WC and match all parameters.

byron · Mar 6, 2018

thx folks... while I had this setup running with 700 gal (450+150+150) for the past 5 years, I'm still a newbie at this stuff... maybe I'll figure it out someday

btw, the Rubbermaids worked great, but I was getting a huge evaporation into the equipment room from them being open and they took up a lot of space... this new one has lids and I decided I really didn't need the 300 gals anyway.

Greybeard · Mar 6, 2018

So... you've reduced volume by 25%... no problem with that... and you're going to reduce volume again, since your new sump is slightly smaller than your current sump, and do a slightly larger than normal water change. We're using capacity here, but most folks don't fill a sump to the rim... more like half way, so the actual volume being changed is going to be lower than what we're talking about. I don't see any problem here.

Nice looking sump, by the way

Closing the sump, or most of the sump, should help reduce evaporation quite a bit. I'd probably still have a dehumidifier handy with a system of that size. I have one sitting unused in my sump closet... and I have a far smaller system (140g display, 55g sump).

A newbe, with a 700 gallon system... that in and of itself might raise a few eyebrows... You like to jump in at deep end, don't you

byron · Mar 6, 2018

go big or stay home

actually, I do think the volume helped me maintain a stable system while I'm trying to learn... its fully automated with Apex, Ecotech, yada, yada, yada...

I do have a dehumidifier in the room and yes, the Rubbermaids were prob only about 2/3 full and the refuge one (which is the one still attached at the moment) has around 300 lbs of LR reducing the water volume even more. There is a build thread over on a diff forum from back when I built it. It's an in-wall 8' DT with a 9x15 equipment room housing the stuff...

I'm in PA. Advanced Acrylics on the left coast built it for me.

We built it in when we built the new house... in hindsight, a goldfish bowl may have been a better idea.

byron · Mar 6, 2018

I'm wrong... the build thread is on here: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/byron-reneÃ©s-465g-reef-700g-total.90932/
the system has morphed somewhat over the years since I glued it all together

byron · Apr 1, 2018

I now have the new sump here and operational -- about 75% completed... the Neptune ATK system is periodically complaining about something, I have to figure that one out...