Is this enough?

srgvigil

Member
I have a 55 gallon tank.
Right now I'm running a biowheel with activated carbon
I have about 40 pounds of live rock (i'm getting more as time goes on)
and I plan on getting a protein skimmer in one or two months once there is stuff in the tank for the skimmer to clean.
WOuld this be enough filtration?
Is it to late for me to add a sump?
 

tarball

Member
Save your money & buy a good aggresive skimmer & build the sump/refugium around it. Skimmer/refugium is a 1000x better then a HOB filter.
You can add another 20 or 30 pounds of LR also.
 

dmjordan

Active Member
i agree it is never too late to switch to a sump or sump/fuge combo. i would hold off on getting the skimmer until you add the sump though. pointless to have a sump to hide your equipment but still have a big skimmer hanging on the back of the tank.
 

dadszx7

Member
I highly recommend adding a sump. I recently did it for my 55 TruVu and turned it into a reefready. I did this by adding an overflow and drilling the bottom corner behind the overflow and drilling the back and adding four returns. Made the sump myself out of plexiglass and end up to be about 35 gallons total. Depending on the kind of tank you have (plexi or glass) you can drill them or add the hang on over flows.
Although there is no real "outta the box" kit. Just do your research and do it. You will have to have experience working with PVC plumbing. Just cutting, cementing the PVC and adding in the pieces. IE. elbows, junctions or "T"s, shut off valves etc. You can make your own sump out of plexi and make the divider walls out of plexi or buy a cheap glass tank and use glass to make the dividers and secure them with silicon.
Over all in my experience the cost for everything is about 100 bucks. Not including any new equipment you need.
That way the only thing that you'll see in the tank is the overflow and the returns. In my sump, I've got 2 heaters, bubble trap, skimmer, UV sterilizer and the return pump.
Definately do a refugium, you can add cheato and other plants down there. They are very easy to grow and remove things in your tank that "AREN'T" benenifical to it.
Also another thought is this: If you have a 55 gallon and you add a 35 gallon sump. Although the sump will never be full, so actuallyit should be about half full. Then you'll have about 18 gallons of water in there on a normal basis. Your total water volome is 55+18. So now you have a 73 gallon tank and that helps keeps your tank more stable. Less chemical flucuations.
Another thing is this. Once you add a sump, the water level in the display never changes. Your water level in the sump will go down due to evaporation. That is where you add water.
Just go for it and let the questions fly, we are here to help.

Chef
 

apos

Member
If you have room, he could hang the skimmer off the back of your sump, no? He'd just have to make sure it would all fit in his stand. My stand is open in the back, so plenty of room for things to stick out back there since I don't have the tank directly flush with the wall.
 

dmjordan

Active Member
Originally Posted by Apos
If you have room, he could hang the skimmer off the back of your sump, no? He'd just have to make sure it would all fit in his stand. My stand is open in the back, so plenty of room for things to stick out back there since I don't have the tank directly flush with the wall.
it would also depend on the height of the sump, if the sump was made from a tank, etc. skimmer would be harder to reach also if you have to reach across to the back of the sump inside the stand to remove it for cleaning.
 
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