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New fuge setup
- Thread starter Brando457
- Start date
http://www.melevsreef.com/allmysumps.html
I like marc - he was a speaker at macna. Check out his verbose page. ;D
I do cheato only but my fuge still has quite a few pods scurrying about. Amphipods prefer larger places to hide/breed...so i don't have as many of those in my fug since i don't have any LS or LR.
LS/miracle mud is basically an additional export bed used to help control nitrates. It's great for those who want bare bottom displays or additional export on top of the sandbed in the display.
I do bare bottom in my sump so I can siphon out the detritus that collects there. There is no set way to do this.
I like marc - he was a speaker at macna. Check out his verbose page. ;D
I do cheato only but my fuge still has quite a few pods scurrying about. Amphipods prefer larger places to hide/breed...so i don't have as many of those in my fug since i don't have any LS or LR.
LS/miracle mud is basically an additional export bed used to help control nitrates. It's great for those who want bare bottom displays or additional export on top of the sandbed in the display.
I do bare bottom in my sump so I can siphon out the detritus that collects there. There is no set way to do this.
in mine i have a 3" sand bed in a 10 gal with half of it filled with cheato. i also have about 2lbs of live rock. there are bristles,amphipods and tons of copeods and it does really well. i have my feed from the dt falling onto the cheato which catches alot of debris and the snails and hermies take care of...there is also a red serpent star in there that i took out of the dt. the sand stays very clean. hope that helps...everyone does something different.
it's dependent on your flow rate of your overflow vs return. if your overflow is rated at 600gph it's going to do less than that already so est./ex 450-550gph overflow then determine your return rate mag9.5/12/18/24 how much can you sacrifice from which location to make it easier to create an equilibrium? remember you don't want too much flow going through a fuge.
I answered some in your tank thread about the mud and light.
Hawk makes good point there is no set way. I admit I love my fuge and wouldn't do it any other way, same cannot totally be said for my DT :
. Not that I don't love my DT but there are some things I would have done slightly differently.
So here are some things to think about. I run filter socks on my drains. My drains come in right side of sump in first chamber with skimmer. Then water flows down and through bubble trap(not an issue with my skimmer) then across surface of fuge, and into third chamber. There is a piece of egg crate on the upper portion of the divider between 2nd and 3rd chamber that for the most part keeps the cheato in place. The return pump is T'd off goes to TLF reactor and up to my duel returns, from the reactor it comes back into to bubble trap between chamber 1 and 2.
Because of the socks and the drains going to the first chamber there is little solid waste going to my fuge.
I also disagree with the whole flow thing. Cheato does well in a good flow. But the lower half of my fuge doesn't really have a lot of flow so pods and whatnot do well. They are always crawling around the cheato. So it depends a bit on your sump structure. Pic of the sump will help.
Hawk makes good point there is no set way. I admit I love my fuge and wouldn't do it any other way, same cannot totally be said for my DT :
. Not that I don't love my DT but there are some things I would have done slightly differently.So here are some things to think about. I run filter socks on my drains. My drains come in right side of sump in first chamber with skimmer. Then water flows down and through bubble trap(not an issue with my skimmer) then across surface of fuge, and into third chamber. There is a piece of egg crate on the upper portion of the divider between 2nd and 3rd chamber that for the most part keeps the cheato in place. The return pump is T'd off goes to TLF reactor and up to my duel returns, from the reactor it comes back into to bubble trap between chamber 1 and 2.
Because of the socks and the drains going to the first chamber there is little solid waste going to my fuge.
I also disagree with the whole flow thing. Cheato does well in a good flow. But the lower half of my fuge doesn't really have a lot of flow so pods and whatnot do well. They are always crawling around the cheato. So it depends a bit on your sump structure. Pic of the sump will help.
This is a picture of the sump, sorry it is kind of blurry, but crappy iphone since my brother took my digi.
What I am thinking is doing the skimmer in the left chamber, fuge in the middle, and return internal on the right.
The fuge will be about 21 inches long x 16 inches wide x 10 inches high.
I plan on doing about a 4 inch sand bed and then a good amount of LR rubble. Also considering growing cheato or some other type of macro algae (which are good?)
The overflows will feed into the skimmer section and then that will flow through the fuge and back to the tank via a mag 12 for return.
The mag 12 is ball valved and slightly throttled back so flow should not be too too fast through the sump.
I've read about people painting their acrylic to keep light in only the fuge area (is this necessary)
I appreciate everyones help and if anyone wants to come help me swap sumps from the old to the new I'd appreciate it even more lol
What I am thinking is doing the skimmer in the left chamber, fuge in the middle, and return internal on the right.
The fuge will be about 21 inches long x 16 inches wide x 10 inches high.
I plan on doing about a 4 inch sand bed and then a good amount of LR rubble. Also considering growing cheato or some other type of macro algae (which are good?)
The overflows will feed into the skimmer section and then that will flow through the fuge and back to the tank via a mag 12 for return.
The mag 12 is ball valved and slightly throttled back so flow should not be too too fast through the sump.
I've read about people painting their acrylic to keep light in only the fuge area (is this necessary)
I appreciate everyones help and if anyone wants to come help me swap sumps from the old to the new I'd appreciate it even more lol
Your internal baffle look at little short to retain much macro once you out the 4" bed in there. You may want to extend them with egg crate or something to keep the chaeto in place as it will tumble all over with any kind of flow
One thought is too dry plumb as much as you can in case you see a better way at a later point. (which always happen, much to our grief!) I would dry plumb the return since there is no pressure on it. You can seal up pvc with the white teflon plumbers tape
One thought is too dry plumb as much as you can in case you see a better way at a later point. (which always happen, much to our grief!) I would dry plumb the return since there is no pressure on it. You can seal up pvc with the white teflon plumbers tape
boontonbob said:
I was thinking the same thing with the egg crate
. I'm not really sure I follow you as far as dry plumbing, you mean not gluing the PVC and using threaded instead?
As it stands my returns are flexible vinyl tubing 3/4 ID. Basically I believe I should only need to extend the return like to compensate the extra 12 inches to the right it'll be sitting and then I "should be okay".
The most difficult part will be getting the actual tube off the barb, but I have a heatgun somewhere.
Also draining the water from the sump existing sump will be a treat.
Sounds like you are on a pretty good track with plans for your return. Yes, no gluing it at first was my thought. Flexible pvc helps that issue as you don't have to be as exacting. You can often not glue slip pvc as well, when there is no pressure and preferably on areas overhanging the sump.
A heat gun, aye? That's sounds quicker then soaking flex pvc in hot water!
I also suggest installing unions in places that make change out much easier down the line.
A heat gun, aye? That's sounds quicker then soaking flex pvc in hot water!
I also suggest installing unions in places that make change out much easier down the line.
Was wondering should I buy a bag of live sand or dry sand to place in the fuge? I think I'm
going with a 3-4" sand bed. Also I was planning on packing it with some lr rubble
and cheato.
Do I ever siphon thE sand in the sump or should I add some small cuc to handle it? And is there any issue with adding lr
to other sections of the sump since as near my skimmer and return pump?
If I did add more lr from a lfs should I only add a pound or 2 a week or add it at once.
At the moment I probably have around 130 pounds or so.
going with a 3-4" sand bed. Also I was planning on packing it with some lr rubble
and cheato.
Do I ever siphon thE sand in the sump or should I add some small cuc to handle it? And is there any issue with adding lr
to other sections of the sump since as near my skimmer and return pump?
If I did add more lr from a lfs should I only add a pound or 2 a week or add it at once.
At the moment I probably have around 130 pounds or so.
I used some live sand but mine was from my old tank that I had as I used different sand from my nano when I upgraded so worked out well I would personally limit the LR, sand and so on to your fuge section keep it away from pumps and whatnot ... if for no other reason then it is easier to clean. Get some rubble to start your fuge from someone else to help seed your fuge plus if you can pick some up from the LFS just go cheap as possible.
I came across his site a long time ago.. but I can't seem to find this verbose pageHawkeye said:
