Sump Question

[angelfire]

Hey all,
First let me say hi to everyone since I'm new to the boards here, and let me introduce myself and my tank which will lead into my question. I'm 24 and fly medical transport airplanes for a living, as well as some weather research every now and then. I have a 36 Gallon FOWLR that I inherited about a year ago. With some Clowns, an Angel, and a Chromis. Right now it's been running a Canister filter and skimmer, but I would like to upgrade to a sump design and maybe later on to a refugium, but for now let me just ask about the sump design. Now I'm going to be building my own sump out of Acrylic but only have room for about 10 to 15 gallons or so. On to my question! I was going to put a filter like poly fill or the like for big particals and then about a gallon of "bio-Balls" then into a well for the skimmer, bubble trap, and finally the sump portion for the return pump. My question is. Should I run the water through the Skimmer first and then Bio-balls? or Bio-balls then skimmer? or should I just for go the Bio-balls and run just the filter then skimmer or skimmer then filter, then return. Did I confuse you yet?? and I understand the benefits of a refugium but I don't have the room right now for one. I will be moving here in about a year and a half due to work and will make sure I have enough room for a bigger tank and refugium. but for now, just the sump.
Thanks,
Kevin

 

[gatorcsm]

Are you planning on having a sandbed? If so, the bacteria on the sand bed and rocks should be sufficient. Many people have problems with bioballs in the reef/fowlr setup with nitrates. I removed mine several years ago about 3-4 weeks after setting up the tanka and reading around on the boards.
Your sump can simply be a place for the tank to drain to, the skimmer, any equipment you have (heater) and then the return pumps. You can then just add the refugium to drain into the sump later on (either divert a little of the tank drain to the refuge, or have pump to deliver the flow. You could also take a little from the return pump..
So, bottom line, no real need for the bio-balls imo.
As far as the filter material goes.. You could probably get away without this. You should be good with the skimmer, sand and rock. If you wanted some mechanical filtration to help remove some waste, you could put a filter on the outlet of the drain line. I would recommend using a T on the drain unless you have two to provide redundancy in case the filter gets clogged or just put one on the filter and the other not.. you won't catch as much waste, but will have a better chance of preventing backup. There are also designs that could prevent this (some sumps have a holder for filter socks and such, which allow the water to overflow to the sump if it does overflow...)
But anyway, like everything else, these things can go either way, based on your preferences. Its just a matter of personal choice and experience as you try the different things.
The mechanical filtration is good because it helps out at removing waste before it has to break down.. The downside, is that you also remove benificial objects, such as pods, and other small organisms that wouldn't make it through the filter.

 

[angelfire]

Thanks for the reply.
Right now I do have Live sand and Live rock in the tank. So I might just leave the balls out. I will be running a Skimmer, Heater, and return pump in the sump so maybe I'll just stick with that. Thanks for the reply.
Kevin