sump/fuge

[denny80688]

I have been reading through all the various posts on sump and fuge design and am very overwhelmed. My question is why doesnt anyone use bio balls? What exactly is doing your filtration when there is only a skimmer? Dont the bioballs serve a purpose for bio filtration? I understand that the fuge will help to strip nutrience from the water and all but will it really do it well enough to not need bio balls? My next question is for a 125gal tank how large should my sump be? I have lots of room under the stand and like Squidds design but how large is it?
sorry for all the Qs
Dennis

 

[squidd]

Bio Balls provide surface area for bacteria to grow on...this is part of your "Biological" filtration...This is converting fish waste/ammonia to nitrIte to nitrAte...
Live Rock and Sand also provide surface area for bacteria, and if you have enough LR/LS you don't "need" the Bio balls..
LR and to an extent LS can also provide de-nitrifying effect, something Bio balls can not...
The skimmer is also pulling DOCs (organics) from the water column through foam fractionation and serves a complimentary service to the biological filtration by removing organics before they are converted to nitrates...
The fuge removes the NitrAte from the water "completing" the cycle...
For a 125 gallon tank you will want the "sump" to be large enough to handle the "flow" you will be putting through it with out having to deal with a bunch of splashing and bubble problems...and the fuge should be even bigger...(IMO)
Off the "top of my head" (not knowing your flow requirements) I would say you would be looking in the neighborhood of a 20 gallon+ sump and a 45 gallon+ fuge...Surface area is more important than "depth" for volume on the fuge...

 

[denny80688]

wow that would be a pretty large fuge... I was going to try out using a large rubbermade container for the fuge and people keep recommending I convert my wet/dry into a sump and get rid of the bioballs. is this advised? I currently have 50lb of premium fiji and 50lb of dry base rock been int he tank together for about 2 months

 

[squidd]

100 lbs LR in a 125 is a good start for a FOWLR..The determining factor will be your bioload and maintaining adaquate levels of bacteria during the transition...
If you choose to go this route...remove the bioballs slowly over a period of time allowing the bacteria time to repopulate on the LR..
Do you have a good (I mean "good") skimmer...?
Does your W/D handle the flow your putting through it now...How much..?
Do you plan on adding a closed loop or raising the flow through the "sump"...?
"Starting" with a rubbermaid and your current "converted" W/D is a do able option as far as getting a fuge up and running... and the removal of the bioballs, the addition of a good skimmer and the increase in circulation will result in a better system than you are currently runnning...
The caveat being that if you run too small a fuge you won't be getting the impressive, measurable, results you would get with a larger growing area...But you can always "upgrade" the rubbermaid to a larger size...:yes:

 

[denny80688]

the skimer I am currently running is an aquaclear and Im not real pleased with it. I seem to be cleaning the tube daily and its removing little to nothing from the water. I purchased the wet/dry, skimmer, tank, and everything else used so thats the risk you take in buying used equipment...