My 125 soon to be system design

nasotang00

nasotang00

Member
Well, finally done the design for the system. check it out and let me know what you think. The return pump may change to an external. We will see.
Broomer, if you read this, this is why i busted your chops on the head loss calculation posts a while back. Check out the returns in the tank and you will see what i was talking about. :D
 
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diatom

Guest
Nice design...just a couple of minor things...I'd think about using sea swirls on those returns if you can swing it. They give good water movement and are less obtrusive in the tank.
Also the middle of that tank is going to be much brighter then the sides with the 250 in the center and the 175 on each end. Depends on what you like. I happen to perfer a uniform lighing to my tank. If anything I think I'd put 2 250s on each end and a 175 in the middle.
 
nasotang00

nasotang00

Member
What i was looking to put on the ends of the tank were mushrooms. I would rather have the real light loving creatures in the center and the lower light things on the sides. That is why i put the 250 in the center surrounded by 175's.
I was also thinking about sea swirls but i want more movement at the bottom level of the tank also. more uniform in my opinion.
<a href="http://www.geocities.com/nasotang00/tanksumpdesign.htm" target="_blank">My tank design</a>
 
sylock

sylock

Member
L.O.T.R.,
Doesn't the refugium allow for critter and algae growth with out the preditors? This system is almost what I wast trying to come up with (I think this guy has done my work for me though :) ). The idea is to have some place for critters (pods, algae, etc) without preditors. What does the skimmer do that would defeat this purpose?
 
saltwater in nebraska

saltwater in nebraska

Member
Looks good and it looks like you thought things through. One thing you might consider, you could switch the skimmer and return pump (w/ overflow drain) around. This would allow your refug water to return to the tank without having some go through the skimmer.
 
dmaister

dmaister

New Member
questions... does gravity maintain the water levels as shown in the graphic, or does adjusting a variable speed pump maintain the different levels? (basically, what causes the different sections not to dry out - fill too slowly or too quickly, etc.)
Also, what are the two pipes going into the sump from the PVC drains for? I assume for easy water changes? And what prevents that drained water from returning to the tank?
(I know - dumb newbie questions - just gotta ask to know) :D
Thanks for all the helpful advice from this board.
 
nm reef

nm reef

Active Member
Now that is indeed a well thought out design...very nice!!!I have plans in the works to develope a 220 reef with dual over flows ...on mine I'm looking at 2 seperate closed loop systems close to what you have but without the refugium. Returns will be swirls. I do plan a refugium but it will be seperate and will continue to gravity return like my current one does. Each of my sumps will be 55 gal and the refugium is to be a 35 gal. Man I like the way you've thought all that through. I've come to believe that on a larger system the key is in the initial design. :cool: :rolleyes: <img src="graemlins//eek.gif" border="0" alt="[eek]" /> :cool:
<a href="http://members.3lefties.com/bdjr/index.html" target="_blank">NM REEF</a>
 
drkegel

drkegel

Member
dmaister-
Water can only flow out of your tank as fast as you put it in, assuming the overflow can keep up with the pump. The pump is the determining factor in how quickly the water moves, assuming the overflows can all handle the capacity of the pump.
In other words, they both are important in an overflow/sump design.
HTH.
 
drkegel

drkegel

Member
Forgot to add, this setup looks SWEET!
I would agree that switching the PS and refugium around would make sense.
Is there a reason you put the refugium first in the flow diagram that we're just not seeing?
 
nasotang00

nasotang00

Member
All, thanks for the nice remarks. I HAVE thought about this set up for quite sometime. I got a great deal on the tank, stand and canopy but the only problem is that I can't set it up until I "pergo" the floor in the room where it is going to go. The "Boss" needs the floor redone first.
I do agree that, and I will probably end up changing the skimmer and the return pump around. Good advice.
Anyway, thanks for the input and feedback. :D
 
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diatom

Guest
Naso, have you considered a closed loop for circulation...then you could use the sea swirls up top and still get the circulation lower in the tank. I just hate to see you "ruin" such a clean design with any more unnatural looking additions to your tank then you have to have.
Once again not a critism just like to throw out some other suggestions.
 
broomer5

broomer5

Active Member
Really NICE Naso !!!
A drawing is worth a thousand words, and a photo will be even better ;)
Hope you'll be able to post some pics once you get it all plumbed up.
Very well thought out - I can see clearly what we discussed before. I like it a lot.
Have you started buying the pieces/parts yet ? I've got bags of stuff all over the house awaiting my dual external overflow. Hopefully will be doing my sump/refugium/pump/plumbing/return upgrade this weekend. Come'on UPS man!
Good luck laying down the Pergo flooring, gotta keep the boss happy too
Later - and good luck !
 
lordofthereef

lordofthereef

Member
HEY SYLOCK, the reason to use a refugium without a skimmer is because the calurpa in it will feed off of all the stuff a skimmer takes out of the water. also, the refugium will not take out all the trace elements and other benificial additives that a skimmer will remove. also, the skimmer will remove ALOT of the pods that the refugium produces. i think that you should use one or the other, but not both. actually, i've seen system with both, and after time the skimmer DOES NOT PRODUCE ANY FOME AT ALL! that makes me see that the refugium will do all the work of a skimmer, plus more. thats my opinion, others may think differently, but i'll stick to my story! ;)
 
sylock

sylock

Member
L.O.T.R.,
Thanks for the explaination. I've been trying to understand all the little pieces (equipment and natural environments) that could make up a system.
If I understand correctly than there are two things 'wrong' with having both refugium and protein skimmer.
1) Pod/larva population would be hurt because of the P.S.
2) The Calpara (sp) takes out the same proteins as the skimmer
If you have your refugium go straight to a return pump than would you get around most of problem number 1?
For problem number 2, maybe you only have your P.S. running every so often?
I'm not trying to argue, this is just the way I ask questions and learn. My wife yells at me sometimes for asking her things because she thinks I'm challenging her ... and I'm not.
 
nasotang00

nasotang00

Member
Personally, the amount of pods that might be sucked up by the skimmer would be minimal. I don't think that this point is even worth arguing about. Anyway, the amount of pods that end up going through your return pump would would be damaged more than your protien skimmer would do. Either way you loose something!!!!
If you are really concerned about pod loss. use a hang on or IN TANK refugium. Then again. . . .
Personally, I am not worried about the pod population in my soon to be refugium. I want better water quality that that of producing pods. I will let the population in the main tank reproduce there instead. I would think most people would rather have better water quality circulating regardless!!! I think that most would agree????? ;)
My Opinion!
PS, I took some advice and changed to the sea swirls. They are on the diagram now. Still debating about switching the skimmer. I have thought it over and changed to an external pump also.
 
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diatom

Guest
Cool glad to hear that I could contribute.
BTW I have a similar sump setup on my 125. Only my tanks wasn't drilled so I have a lifereef overflow. Sump on one side with a protein skimmer and rege on the other feed with the water from the tank...it works very well!
Best of luck,
D~
 
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