restarting a 300 gal plus 100 gal sump. questions and comments on what components to use

cameltowing

cameltowing

Member
i had this system running for 2 or 3 years. full reef. i used to post here quite often. my 3yo decided to help dadduy feed the fish and a 3lb pale of flake went in. holy mess. killed 2k worth of fish and corals in 1 hour and was never the same afterwards. i moved and dried ouy 400lbs or so of live rock. sold what was left of fish and corals. now its a year later and am ready to start again. so questions are what power heads? had a little giant for a return pump. 4 korilla 3's i thing in the dt. need more. have 2 400watt mh 20k. 4 10k florcent pendant lights. algea grew incredably with the 10k,s on. sump has a percision marine skimmer another 100 lbs of rock, algea and mangroves. i wanna do auto topoffs and controllers. never ran a reactor or chiller. never needed to. had fans but never ran them. thinking of doing a bare bottom? what are the pros and cons besides way easier to keep clean? thanks in advance
 
cameltowing

cameltowing

Member
my sump is a dyi. a 150 glass tank with some baffles siliconed in place. would like to make it more efficiant. tank feeds out of 4 bulkheads into 1" pvc and drops to the left side of the sump into the skimmer chamber. then water flows under and over a baffle to the liverock and algea. down and over baffles aginan to the return pump. any ideas of more efficiant?
 
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eric b 125

Guest
welcome back. sounds to me like this will be a pretty sick build! check out vortech power heads. a little pricey but i've heard great things about them and i cant wait to get my paws on some. as far as the ATO goes, i use a tunze osmolator. it might not be enough for a 350+ gallon system, but it works great for my 125 gallon reef. keep us updated!
 
cameltowing

cameltowing

Member
the top off system is just a float valve in the sump. cause i gravity feed the dt to the sump im only concerned about the levels in the sump and the saltinity getting lower and higher. who runs controllers for heat? lights? ph controller? seems the ones that do everything are up around $1000.00 is there a cheaper way to go? thanks
 
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eric b 125

Guest
^ that's how i have the osmolator connected. there is a laser sensor in the return chamber as well as a float switch that sounds an alarm and disables the system if the water should get too high.
i'd love to have a controller for my system, like a reef keeper elite, but dont have need enough to warrant spending the money on one yet
 
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