?Sump questions?

zanoshanox

zanoshanox

Active Member
I am gettin a 46 gallon bowfront tank sometime in the near future and I was really wanting to go with a sump..The only problem is, I know nothing about sumps, how to work them, brands, specs, necessary equipment, best places to buy, nothing. I was hoping for some help from someone with some greater knowledge?
 
fanker

fanker

Active Member
what about the 38g? if u dont want it ill buy it from u. but for the 46g. use ur old 20g long and put baffles in it and have one section for where the water goes into, a fuge than a skimmer and the return pump
 
fanker

fanker

Active Member
u dont want bioballs. i dont know why but in another forum 15 people said not to. go with water enter. fuge, skimmer/return
 
rustyj

rustyj

Member
You should take advantage of live rock and sand and macro algae in the refugium. The bioballs work too well and will quickly convert all of the amonia and nitrite to nitrate and you will be constantly be performing water changes due to excess nitrate levels. Take a look at the site www.garf.org, they show you how to set up an aquarium without all those filters and they have been researching and propagating live corals since the 1970's. Good luck.
 
rustyj

rustyj

Member
Originally Posted by zanoshanox
couldn't find any tips on there, and iw as wondering, what does macro algea do for your tank?

The macro algae will take up excess nutrients including nitrate to help reduce or eliminate the vile micro algae blooms that occur in an unbalanced system. It grows, and removes unneeded nutrients and then you throw some out and it grows again. It is a nice cycle.. I have some macro in my reef tank to cover some tubing and such and it adds some nice green to teh tank as well as being food for some of my fish. They constantly take small pieces of it but that only helps the cycle by reusing what was fed to the tank, then stored instead of rotting and turned into amonia or being used to fuel an algae bloom that you dont want, and reused by the fish. That is nature at work and you can use just enough to add some color to your tank and cover some tubing in the tank. In the refuge make it into a ball and have a power head keep it 'rolling' in the tank. This is supposed to be the most effective use. In your tank it also provide cover for small animals that your fish will eat as well as other creatures that are beneficial to your system. Good luck.
 
zanoshanox

zanoshanox

Active Member
Ok thanks, I just added soem on the weekend and I'm hoping that it will help my algea problem a little. Thank you very much for the reply!
 
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