Filtering Questions

yukon

yukon

Member
Hi Guys and Gals. I'm getting my 55gal Reef back in shape after having to move it a couple times during renovations in my house. I don't really have a hole lot in the tank right now, so I'm considering upgrading my filtering system. I have 55lbs of live rock(thats covered in hair algea
) and I think I have about 100lbs of live sand (can't remember for sure it was 2005 when I put it in). I'm running a HOB penguin 400 Biowheel, HOB skimmer, 2 heaters, UV sterilizer hose in and out of the tank, plus all the power heads.
So heres my dilema. The filtering has been working great for me for years and I'm thinking of going with a sump/refug to move all that stuff out of site. and ditch my trusty biowheel Is it worth it to spend the money to fix something that really isn't broke. Should I Just keep the biowheel, and put a sump box under to put all my heaters, skimmer ect.. in. Just kinda looking for some opinions.
 
D

dennis210

Guest
Personally the sump has been better for me than everything in the tank.
With a sump there should be increased flow in the system, increased O2 levels, more room in display, display looks better without all equipment showing, and parameters usually easier to maintain (addatives put into sump instead of directly into display).
 
C

cmaxwell39

Guest
I don't think that you would regret changing to a sump fuge. The advantages of going that way are many. One of the biggest ones is that you increase the volume of the system. You could put more live rock in your sump/fuge to replace the biological filtration that was taking place in your biowheel filter.
As has already been mentioned you will be able to clean up the look of the DT by hiding most of the equipment (everything except the powerheads) in the sump.
 
yukon

yukon

Member
Yeah I really like the idea of not seeing all the filters anymore. From what I have researched I don't think I need to use bio balls due to all the natural filtration I have with live rock and sand plus the adding of the refuge. I like the tidepools setup with the filter trays and large Bio wheel but it just looks so cheap. Plus I need another area for the refuge. Any suggestions on a good Sump/refug to buy. Thanks
 
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cmaxwell39

Guest
I made my own out of a 30 long tank. If you make your own you can customize it to make it the way you want. If you were wanting to try to make your own check out the diy section. I am sure that you could find something on the big

[hr]
site as well.
 
yukon

yukon

Member
Thanks Maxwell, yeah I think I'm going to build one myself and make it the way I want. I've been checking out a couple real good threads on here on how to build a sump/refuge. I think I'm going to make one out of a 30 long as well. Do you have any pictures of how yours looks?
 
bountyhunter23

bountyhunter23

Member
I just built one out of a 10gal. My work is going under a remodel and they were throwing away old Plexiglas shelves. So i took some home and used them to make my walls... I just used some of that glass adhesive you can get at pet stores. Its really cool. Ill take a pic and show you..
 
yukon

yukon

Member
Lookin' Good!
I see your using the plexiglass siliconed to glass. I was going to get some glass and cut it for the dividers. I read in one of these theads that the plexiglass is hard to bond and seal with silicone so they suggested using glass on glass. I would like to use the plexiglass if possible since I have some left over from the top I made. Was it hard to get it to bond? Any leaks? I like the holes you put in, definatly cant do that with glass!!
 
bountyhunter23

bountyhunter23

Member
Yeah i think i read that same thing too. I went ahead and tried... It wasnt hard at all. It held better than i thought. I let it dry for 12 hrs(way less than it says) and tried it out. I only had one leak. I patched it up and it worked fine.... I did uses THICK Plexiglas though. So i have proven that Plexiglas to glass works with silicon!!
 
bountyhunter23

bountyhunter23

Member
o and a word of advise.... The second baffle.. See how its raised, i used tape and pieces of excess Plexiglas stacked up to raise it. Well i almost glued the third piece on with out taking out the tape i had stacked up to keep it in place. I was just excited that it was working....
 
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