Need help with a display sump for a 120 gallon

biglurr54 · 11/22/2009, 09:16 PM

well im writing to you guys because i am jealous of everyone who has stable tanks with out algae and issues. You guys who have mastered this are rockstars in my book. im looking for some feed back from you experts on building a sump for my reef. Right now i have a 120 gallon tank with 200lbs of live rock and about an inch and a half of live sand. it is cycled and its about seven years old. i just recently acquired the tank and moved it. It has completed a short cycle due to the move. All parameters we leveled out in about a day. it has a 20 gallon tank as a sump that has a corallife super skimmer rated for 220 gallon. then it has a return pump that goes back to the main tank. im having algae out breaks that are minor but still a pain and look bad.

my plan:

build a 30 gallon tank next to the display tank that has the different biomes of the ocean in it.

1. Water pumped from 20 gallon sump up to the display filter system with a quiet one 3000 that i have laying around. about 450 gph at head height.

2. The water will flow up through a sand bed. Kind of like how a fluidized sand bed works. above the sand will be a bunch of liverock that is porous and perfect for bio filtration.

3. the water will fill up chamber one until reaching an acrylic ramp with a plastic mesh screen on the ramp. The water will trickle down the screen mixing with the oxygen. I have a 150 watt 5100k halide over the ramp. this will hopefully create the perfect area for algae to grow. (algae scrubber)

4. the ramp with run about 1inch under water and provide the water for the second chamber. in this chamber i will have refuge mud and some cheato. i was thinking i could add some sea horses here later on down the road. then the water will flow past a divider and into an overflow and back into the 20 gallon sump.

i am hoping to create all the different biomes of the ocean and have different wildlife in each area. not only will this look nice but it should be extremely beneficial to the main tank.

now for you experts

what am i missing
what should i add to the refuge?
do algae scrubbers work? benefits, cons?
does any one do fluidized sand beds? what do they help with?
what are the flaws with this system?
any advice would be extremely appreciated!

im at the foot of the masters looking for help!

dustinlclarke · 11/23/2009, 11:49 AM

just my opinion but if you ever have a power outage more than a hour or so your fsb will pretty much die also 450 gph is probably too much flow for seahorses just imho

biglurr54 · 11/23/2009, 10:32 PM

yea i was kind of afraid that it might be a little too much turn over. i fit a vertical scrubber under my tank today with a ball of chaeto in the sump under the tank. maybe i can just do a second display tank with sea horses and brine shrimp hatchery. i just thought it would be cool to have a horizontal algae scrubber and maybe get a few snails grazing on the algae that grows so i wouldnt even have to scrape off the algae weekly.

11/22/2009, 09:16 PM	#1
biglurr54 Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Averill Park NY Posts: 406	Need help with a display sump for a 120 gallon well im writing to you guys because i am jealous of everyone who has stable tanks with out algae and issues. You guys who have mastered this are rockstars in my book. im looking for some feed back from you experts on building a sump for my reef. Right now i have a 120 gallon tank with 200lbs of live rock and about an inch and a half of live sand. it is cycled and its about seven years old. i just recently acquired the tank and moved it. It has completed a short cycle due to the move. All parameters we leveled out in about a day. it has a 20 gallon tank as a sump that has a corallife super skimmer rated for 220 gallon. then it has a return pump that goes back to the main tank. im having algae out breaks that are minor but still a pain and look bad. my plan: build a 30 gallon tank next to the display tank that has the different biomes of the ocean in it. 1. Water pumped from 20 gallon sump up to the display filter system with a quiet one 3000 that i have laying around. about 450 gph at head height. 2. The water will flow up through a sand bed. Kind of like how a fluidized sand bed works. above the sand will be a bunch of liverock that is porous and perfect for bio filtration. 3. the water will fill up chamber one until reaching an acrylic ramp with a plastic mesh screen on the ramp. The water will trickle down the screen mixing with the oxygen. I have a 150 watt 5100k halide over the ramp. this will hopefully create the perfect area for algae to grow. (algae scrubber) 4. the ramp with run about 1inch under water and provide the water for the second chamber. in this chamber i will have refuge mud and some cheato. i was thinking i could add some sea horses here later on down the road. then the water will flow past a divider and into an overflow and back into the 20 gallon sump. i am hoping to create all the different biomes of the ocean and have different wildlife in each area. not only will this look nice but it should be extremely beneficial to the main tank. now for you experts what am i missing what should i add to the refuge? do algae scrubbers work? benefits, cons? does any one do fluidized sand beds? what do they help with? what are the flaws with this system? any advice would be extremely appreciated! im at the foot of the masters looking for help!

11/23/2009, 11:49 AM	#2
dustinlclarke Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Denison, TX Posts: 51	just my opinion but if you ever have a power outage more than a hour or so your fsb will pretty much die also 450 gph is probably too much flow for seahorses just imho

11/23/2009, 10:32 PM	#3
biglurr54 Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Averill Park NY Posts: 406	yea i was kind of afraid that it might be a little too much turn over. i fit a vertical scrubber under my tank today with a ball of chaeto in the sump under the tank. maybe i can just do a second display tank with sea horses and brine shrimp hatchery. i just thought it would be cool to have a horizontal algae scrubber and maybe get a few snails grazing on the algae that grows so i wouldnt even have to scrape off the algae weekly.