Semi noob, tank questions.

[weaponusmc]

Hello everyone.
First time poster long time lurker. I have two tanks niether of them set up (8 Gal, 20 Gal) I used to have the 8 Gal set up as a SW tank about 5 years ago until I re-enlisted back into the USMC. I will be retiring (medically) in about 2 months and will have huge amounts of time on my hands for my old hobby (sitting and watching my tank bloom). I'm going to attempt to build acouple of my own large tanks of 100 Gal plus and have some questions for you, hope you can answer them. Ive done searches and never had them answered for me. can someone explain to me what these three things do please. Refuge, Sumps and skimmers. thanks in advance for your time.

 

[latino277]

ok... 1st Welcome back!

lets start with the skimmer:
a skimmer remove organic waste that has dissolved into the water column. is it a "have to get" item... NO. put it sure does make life a lot easier. I would get the best possible
skimmer that I can afford. It will stop many of your head aches.
Next... the sump:
a sump is nothing more that an extra tank that is plumed to your main tank. Having this some does the following for you:
keeps the water level stable in the Display tank (DT)
give you a place to hide all of you equipment... heater/skimmer/dosers....
give you a place to dose thing like CA/alk with out putting it directly into you DT
give you a place to do your top offs with out adding fresh water to your DT
and about 20 other reasons to go a long with these 4...
a refuge is a type of sump:
we use them to grow Macro algae to eat the extra nutrients in the water (Nitrate and Phosphates) and to grow pod (SW bugs that help get things clean and serve as fish food).
Hope this helps and good luck

 

[jjlittle]

Sumps - great place for you to put pumps / skimmer rather then hang on's gives you more water volume, also a place for pods to gather.Refrug place to house macro algea to export nitrates / phosphates place for pod to grow as well once again place to have more water volume which is good and place to have extra LR / LS which in hand gives you a better bacteria farm( WHich is good thing) Protien Skimmer they remove waste from left over food ,fishy poop etc. I also believe they add oxygen to the the water.I think I cover it all but basiclly that is it in a nut shell.

 

[latino277]

some note I copied for another site...
"Q. I have never used a protein skimmer before and really don't know much about them. Can you tell me what their purpose is, and relative cost?
A. A protein skimmer, or foam fractionator removes organics in your tank by way of mass air bubbles. When the water passes through the skimmer, the air bubbles it produces allows the chemical compounds of organics to attach to the bubbles and ride to the surface where this gunk is collected in a cup and disposed of. As far as cost, they can range anywhere from about $50.00 up to hundreds of dollars.
There are various types of skimmers and set ups; in-tank, hang-on-tank, in-sump, as well as free standing"

 

[latino277]

some sump info from that same site:
A sump box is the best way I can:
Supply the skimmers with a consistent volume of water,
Incorporate a prefilter,
Have a “working amount of water” (the amount it takes to “work” the tank, pumping water into the tank to a desired level, so that water will flow out, and
Have the needed buffer, in case the electricity goes out and the tank drains down to the lowest point of the overflow(s).
DESIGN AND FUNCTION OF THE SUMP BOX
It is desirable to have two separate areas in the sump. They are separated with a piece of Plexiglas that is high enough to keep the water separated while the sump is in operation, but not totally separate, so the sump can fill up completely in case of a power outage. We will refer to one side as “dirty” (water from the tank), and the other as “clean” (water from the skimmer and the prefilter).
You need an area where the water can be controlled and directed. This is done with a sump box. One side is water coming from the tank, going to the skimmer. The other side is water coming from the skimmer through the prefilter, going to the main pump and back into the tank. Gravity drains water from the tank, into one side of the sump. The skimmer pump (on this “dirty” side) pumps this water into the skimmer. The water then drains by gravity into the prefilter (“clean”) side of the sump box, collects there, and gets pumped back into the tank by the main pump.

 

[weaponusmc]

Thank you all for the information you gave, it helped alot should only be about a month to month and a half till I can get mine started once again.

 

[latino277]

good luck.