Starting a sump/fuge

[MikeDeL]

I would like to stuff a 10g in the cabinet underneath my tank, and would like a run down on the equipment would need to run it and plumb it to the main tank. Also how much lighting I will need for it and what kinda stuff to stock it with. Here is what I got on the list so far.

-Tank
-Protien Skimmer (thinking bak pak)
-Heater (now can I ditch the heater in the main tank and just get one heater to stick in the fuge?)
-Rock rubble
-Live sand
-Lighting(will an Aqua light 28w pc be enough? and should I put a moonlight on it too?)
-Another timer
-What else??

Im still not sure on what to do for moveing the water from the main tank to the fuge and back, and what I will need for water movement. Any additions or suggested changes would be great.


Thanks alot,
Mike

[RobertG]

Mike what size will the main tank be? The light should be fine. Growth of algaes will be slow though b/c of the small area. I probably would not put the heater in there unless you have a good flow going in there. It would be alot easier to put the 10G above the tank & let gravity do its thing. I used LR rubble & nice live sand.

HTH

Robert

[MikeDeL]

This is going to be for my nano cube, so it will double the water volume. I dont really have anyway of putting it above the tank that I can think of. If you mean easy as in smaller project, thats ok. I like projects. I need something to keep me busy, otherwise I start to think. lol


Thanks,
Mike

[RobertG]

Hymm start thinking, without looking at it I am lost. Water level is ringing in my head. If you can keep it from flooding your doing great.

[rocketeer]

You'll need a small overflow siphon to get the water from the main tank to the sump. Something like this: http://www.marinedepot.com/md_viewItem.asp?idproduct=CR1511

Then you'll need a pump to get the water back to the main tank. Decide on a flowrate and consider head pressure. That will determine what pump you use. In my 120 gallon reef, I think I'm using about 15 to 20 times my tank volume per hour through the sump and a closed loop toghther. These numbers may not be right for you. Maybe somebody out there into nanos can suggest a flow rate. I've been using a Rio without problems. I got shocked my a Mag pump once.

You can use one of these things to get the water back in:
http://www.marinedepot.com/md_viewItem.asp?idproduct=FT0001

Caution: Don't fill the sump all the way with the pump running. When you shut off the pump, your sump will overflow. Experiment to find a good water level in your sump. Also, It's a good idea to drill a hole in the U- tube near the water level on your main tank. This will break the siphon when you turn the pump off. You see, when you turn off the pump, the water can siphon out of the main tank down to the nozzle level unless you drill a hole in the U-tube. I like this hole to be just below the water level so it doesn't cause a lot of splashing.

Maybe somebody else can correct me if any of this is wrong, but this should get you on the right track. Good luck

Jack

[MikeDeL]

Ok so I have my sump/fuge built now and put together a light for it. I stole the 24w PC out of my stock nano cube hood when I bought the quadlight. Here is my shoping list.
CPR BakPak
PanWorld 30px return pump
SCWD

Now come some more questions. Im fixing to set up the fuge and get it cycling. Im going to order 5 pounds of garf grundge from GARF, find someone with some sand to trade and buy one of these refugium kits from florida pets. http://floridapets.tripod.com/refug.html
Im not sure if I should buy the "Booster Mix" the "Starter Mix" or the "Macro Booster" and buy my own snails and stuff. Which do yall think would be best? What other critters should I stock my fuge with? should I keep any astreas of hermits or anything in there?

Now for plumbing. Havent done much plumbing before so I have a million dumb question on it.
-What size bulk head should I use for the overflow?
-I want the use vinyl hose instead of PVC for my plumbing, so what size tubing should I get?
-What do I need to get to connect the tubing to the PVC.
-I would also like to run my lines through the top of my stand behind my tank. I was thinking if taking a hole saw and cutting holes in the top of the stand and getting something I could mount to the top of the stand and attach vinyl tubing to it on top and bottom, that way I have something like a water fixture behind the tank instead of hoses hanging there.
-Also thinking of drilling holes for the returns. what size bulk heads would I need for these holes. I was thinking one on th left and one on the right.
-Is something like this MPPC2, seen here http://www.premiumaquatics.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Category_Code=lockline, what I would need to connect the return nozzles to the bulkheads?
Like I said before I have never done anything like this before, but if yall help me figure out what all I will need for this project Im sure I can figure out how to put it all together. I will just need to make sure I add a mop and a few extra buckets to the shopping list before I turn everything on. :P
Im sure I will have lots more questions during this project, but this should get me pointed in the right direction.


Thanks,
Mike

[MikeDeL]

Told ya I would come up with more questions. Should I build a plenum for the sand bed in my fuge?


Thanks,
Mike

[MikeDeL]

Bump

[MikeDeL]

bump agian

[MikeDeL]

Did I ask too many questions at once? :?


Thanks,
Mike