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Sump / Fuge help......

Kmooresf

Kmooresf

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Hey there,

I went down to Neptune aquatics today to talk with Robert about a new tank. Thank you Jess ("Treylane") for the referral. I have officially put my 50% down on a new Leemar starfire tank 84 x 31 x 28. CAN'T wait!!! :bigsmile:

My question now is about my sump / fuge system. I have ordered a set up from "Lifereef" that has a seperate 30 gallon Fuge, Sump and skimmer. These are high quality and come with excellent reviews. HOWEVER........I have a huge tank headed my way and feel like I should take advantage of the room under my stand. It will be 84 x 32 x 36. That is a lot of room. The sump lifereef wants to build me is only 41 x 13 x 14. About 30 gallons total and only about 15 gallons will be active while in use. I believe it would be very efficient and would not fail me, however I have attempted many times to get the sump larger and basically He doesn't want to make it any bigger.

I talked with Robert today and he agreed that I would be missing the boat if I put such a small sump under there. I also feel like the fuge is way too small as well. I was hoping for something HUGE!! I just LOVE some of the designs that Lifereef does. Very sleek and nice, however I feel like they are taylored for smaller systems.

Robert is getting me a quote for an approx 145 gallon sump........60 x 24 x 22 that would be mostly a fuge from Kritter tanks. I feel like this is gonna make me a lot happier and am considering canceling my order from lifereef. However, since I have learned so freakin much from you guys already (yes I am reading ALL of your tank build threads.....one by one) I thought I would see what your thoughts are. Any input is appreciated. Thanks.
 
Gen from kritter is awesome, but if you want big and cheaper id get a 100 or 125 gal used truvu or similar tank and use that as a sump. You can put in baffles and stuff pretty easy, but really I find there is no need for them.
 
Thanks Mike,

I thought about a DIY situation, however I am getting some shoulder surg next week and am gonna be a bit gimpy for a bit.....LOL! I also would like this to be clean, neat and FANCY! LOL! Yes, I know I am a dork.

One thing I forgot to mention about the lifereef setup. The fuge is completely seperate from the sump and can be run at its own flow rate. This is pretty sweet since I plan on running anywhere from 1300-2000 gph on the main return pump. That is a lot of flow for a fuge, however it makes it a bit better if the fuge is HUGE! J) Okay, that was it.
 
I think you are making right choice. I'm not sure I'd go 60" unless you aren't planning on to need a chiller or calcium reactor... or unless you have a seperate place for those. Assuming you aren't using MH's and since you are on a reef forum :) you might be ok with fitting a calcium reactor in the space you have left but I'll have to have others chime in there.

I'm planning on just about filling up my stand with a sump/fuge but I don't plan on needing any additional equipment (knock on wood) since it's a small tank.
 
Thanks Levi,

I am plumbing the Skimmer, primary pump, ATO and frag tank through the wall behind the tank into the garage. The plan is to push the sump all the way to the right of the tank.......leaving me 2' on one end for a Calcium reactor, phosphate (or biobeads / pellets?) reactor. The stand will have an extra door on the left side, to slide the sump into, and give me room to work. I will plumb the drain on top of the sump to keep easy access from the front to the plumbing and the primary return pump will be taken from the far left of the sump so I can reach / repair that spot if necessary. Waiting to hear from Robert before that plan is final though, so may end up being smaller. He is rendering some specs for me, so I will start a tank build thread when I get that.

Definately NO chiller!! will eventually be LED's on the tank, external primary return, external skimmer (all in the garage). I will however be using some large Tunze pumps for circulation..............luckily I live in pacifica........and the tank is in the basement where it tends to stay cool. I don't heat that room because of the tanks and the skimmer and ATO being in the Garage will also help I think. I am more worried about the heaters working overtime. LOL! Hopefully I won't need a chiller. Fingers crossed.

Pretty much decided to use the larger sump set up. Just because it is what I want to do. I figure if I am dumping this much cash into a project, it should make me happy. ;) Although my guilt is bugging me. Like the guy at lifereef. He has been very cool and informative, so bummed not to be using him. Maybe in the future.
 
You wont need a chiller if you dont have MH's and your heater's will (almost without a doubt) work hard if a large amount of your water is in a cold room.
 
+1 on a larger custom sump & Tunze pumps Kris. I have my sump in the garage along with all the equipment also. What return pump are you using ? I don't think you will ever need a chiller living in Pacifica by the way. :p
 
Hey Jim,

I haven't bought a return pump yet, however was looking at the Reeflo Snapper / Dart hybrid. I like them because I can ramp it up if I want to, or slow it down. They are CRAZY energy efficient compared to most other pumps. However I am VERY open to suggestions.

I also considered using two smaller pumps in order to have a little redundancy built in. I am also deciding on a skimmer........was thinking the Reef Octopus 6000? Heard some good things about them. Also still considering a Lifereef skimmer.

I agree about the skimmer. I also agree with Levi that I might need to heat the room to keep from constantly heating the tank.
 
Kmooresf said:
Hey Jim,

I haven't bought a return pump yet, however was looking at the Reeflo Snapper / Dart hybrid. I like them because I can ramp it up if I want to, or slow it down. They are CRAZY energy efficient compared to most other pumps. However I am VERY open to suggestions.

I also considered using two smaller pumps in order to have a little redundancy built in. I am also deciding on a skimmer........was thinking the Reef Octopus 6000? Heard some good things about them. Also still considering a Lifereef skimmer.

I agree about the skimmer. I also agree with Levi that I might need to heat the room to keep from constantly heating the tank.
Click to expand...


Checkout the ATB Flowstar and Waterblaster pumps also. I would have to agree the Reef Octopus skimmers are the best bang for your buck.
 
+1 on the Reef Octopus.
I have one (with bubble blaster pump), and have been quite happy.

I am a big fan of large sump/fuge. Mine is 100G, about 45% of total.
But keep in mind that the amount of water you change is driven as a percentage of total volume,
including sump/fuge. So beyond the usual price/space, there is that little negative.

Return pump choice may depend a lot on the internal/external decision.
For internal, those waterblasters look great.
Internal will generally be quieter, but you get the heat in the tank.
Right now I have dual external Pan-World pumps. Fairly happy.
Decent flow/pressure/power/pump cost tradeoff. Plus has some redundancy.
Avoid the quiet-one pumps. Specs sure do not match what they put out.
(I have some for sale cheap)
I was thinking of the Snapper GOLD, since DART was a bit overkill for me,
but Reeflo has recently changed the pump line and discontinued a lot of the "Gold" pumps.

With LED and external pump, needing a chiller seems unlikely.
I live on the east bay where it gets warmer, and have just needed a small fan
blowing across the sump.
Although in Pacifica, even MH+internal pump might be fine, or an advantage
when you calculate in heating costs.
 
Raddogz said:
What are your views on the Waterblaster Jim?

I've been looking at possibly upgrading pumps ummm...for my next project :)
Click to expand...

Like their skimmers, they are best bang for your buck. They are patterned after the more expensive German pumps minus the price. They also move lots of water and use little electricity. :)

Give Mike at www.ReefSpecialty.com a shout, he's probably running a Christmas promo of some kind.
 
Thanks Mark,

I am going to do an external.......well.........EVERYTHING! LOL! My plan is to get all the noisy stuff into the garage. It's just on the other side of the wall, and NOT a fish room. I will only have about 18" of space to play with, however I have a long area (about 12'). So if I am creative in plumbing, I believe I can have my skimmer, primary pump, ATO tank........eventually I would like to build a frag tank out there, and any additional filtration. I like the idea of having two pumps for the return.......for safety.

Jim, do you know if you can turn down the flow on the Waterblaster pumps? Wasn't able to find that in reading about them. There are some good threads about them on RC, but didn't have time to read every post. Still didn't see anything about that. I like the fact that the Reeflo's are designed to be dialed down and actually get more efficient with electricity when doing so. They seem to be a very versitile. I do like the waterblaster though. I haven't read much about the ATB pumps yet. I will.
 
I have my HY-16000 dialed about a 1/3 ways down. I'm feeding the H&S skimmer and two reactors also. I hear alot of good things about the Deltec abyzz pumps also.
 
Kmooresf said:
Thanks Mark,

I am going to do an external.......well.........EVERYTHING! LOL! My plan is to get all the noisy stuff into the garage. It's just on the other side of the wall, and NOT a fish room. I will only have about 18" of space to play with, however I have a long area (about 12'). So if I am creative in plumbing, I believe I can have my skimmer, primary pump, ATO tank........eventually I would like to build a frag tank out there, and any additional filtration. I like the idea of having two pumps for the return.......for safety.
...
Click to expand...

Funny, same as me. Through the wall to the garage was great. Not just noise, but the inevitable water spills, etc.
I had some space issues also. Even though it is a garage, you can't always take up a ton of space.
So I had to do some peculiar vertical setup to minimize floorspace impact.

Note: Beware of fire codes when going through that garage wall. There was a fun discussion of that on my thread.
 
It's a problem if he tries to pull a permit from the city for the tank project, but it doesn't sound like he is though. ;)

Only problem you may have is if you have a fire and have to explain that part to the insurance company. Although, with all that water you would think it would be self extinguishing. :D
 
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