question

[Brownbear88]

ok so my tank has been up for around 9 months with no issues. i have 2 oc clowns, one royal gramma, one algae blenny, one green mandarin, and 3 clown gobys. lately ( the last month or so ) i have had high nitrates around 50-80 ppm. Now before you go into it i am running a canister filter and know all about how they are nitrate factories, have no room for a sump. i do a 5 gallon water change on my 36 gallon system once a week ( should i do more water then 5 gallons? ) and clean the filter out along with it. in the canister filter i have chempure elite with polishing pads, ceramic cubs, and the sponge at the bottom along with the tray of 4 sponges along side ( running a fluvial 306 ). my question is can i change the media that i have in my canister to say, chempure with live rock rubble and thats it? i have around 70-80lbs of liverock in the tanks so im not sure why i couldnt just take the ceramic cubs and sponge out seeing as i have way more then enough bio filtration. i also have a skimmer the BH-100 reef octopus thats rated for 90 gal. i have no problem with the constant cleaning but would like any info on how to get the levels down and some ideas on types of media to use. thanks! o btw all other water levels were good.

[jwalk034]

I would use live rock rubble in there with the chemi pure. How much room do you have for a sump??

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[Brownbear88]

well i prolly have just enough room for a 10 gallon sump. but honestly wouldnt know were to begin with a sump that small

[Keelynnsreef]

I built my own out of a 10 galon tank. It was not hard at all. Look on my posts and there is what I built and its working great.

[Brownbear88]

humm that sounds interesting where did you go for your supplies >?

[alton]

What type of corals do you have? Green star Polyps, Xenia, Mushrooms, Kenyan Trees, do not require a bunch of light but love reducing phosphates and nitrates

[Brownbear88]

Ya I mostly have softies zoa's, k tree Xenia toad stool. I think this weekend I'm going to do a 10 gallon sump only question is then how many baffles do I need if any at all? Read somewhere that on a tank my size with a sump that small all I need is a skimmer and a heater in it and that's it. I really want the 10 gallon sump just don't know where to start.

[Brownbear88]

Anyone know where I can get some acrilyic for the sump?

[electricrcplane]

its off rittiman road, can't think of the name at the moment, they sell scraps, big pieces for $1 a lb. I'll look to see if I can find their name.

[BBQHILLBILLY]

Lowes has acrylic and will cut to your specs no charge:bigsmile:Thats how I did my baffles on my custom 55 and 75 gallon sumps/refug

[Brownbear88]

awesome well i guess tomorrow lowes is where ill be. any suggestions on a good overflow or sump pump for a 36 gal

[electricrcplane]

regal plastic off rittiman road has the best prices on everything acrylic. They also sell scrap for $1 a lb and they're decent sized pieces not scrap you can't do anything with. Lowes/Home Depot are much more expensive than regal plastic.

[hobogato]

like eric said, regal plastics or allied plastics are much cheaper than lowes and the acrylic there is better quality, so it is easier to work with.