Upgrading my 65 gallon Reef - Sump/fuge

al&burke

al&burke

Active Member
Well here it is the start of my upgrade, I have been kicking some ideas around - I am tired of my canister and my nitrates could be a bit lower (zero I hope) yesterday they were 2.5 mg/l. So I made a drawing up of what I am thinking of doing, (imagine that me making a drawing) - I want to display the fuge, I want to see it. I am thinking of making it out of 1/2" acrylic (rimless) with the nice pendant light over it (possibly LED). So please have a look at my drawing and I would really appreciate some feed back, not that I have to ask - because everybody is great on this forum (had to throw that in) Thanks for now, Al
 
al&burke

al&burke

Active Member
meowzer what do you think of seeing the fuge, you are the expert, will it look bad? Some nice live rock cheato and maybe some sea grass in the background, all topped off with a pendant light, I am thinking more of a taller cube for the fuge with external overflows.
 
meowzer

meowzer

Moderator
AL...I am no expert....LOL....I have seen fuges that are displays also....you just have to keep it cleaner....
 
2quills

2quills

Well-Known Member
Looks pretty good, Al. A fuge that size I would think should have the ability to help out alot with nitrate issues. What are you thinking in turns of an hourly turnover rate for the system? Since all of the overflow would be going through the fuge first and the effectivness of a fuge is increased by increasing the dwell time within it that maybe 3 times turnover an hour would be around the target range???
 
al&burke

al&burke

Active Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by 2Quills http:///forum/thread/383256/upgrading-my-65-gallon-reef-sump-fuge#post_3350600
Looks pretty good, Al. A fuge that size I would think should have the ability to help out alot with nitrate issues. What are you thinking in turns of an hourly turnover rate for the system? Since all of the overflow would be going through the fuge first and the effectivness of a fuge is increased by increasing the dwell time within it that maybe 3 times turnover an hour would be around the target range???
That is a good point Corey - I was thinking about that - I want to build a glass cube for the fuge approx 16 X 16 x 18 high = approx 18 gallons. Could I have a tee in my drain and just put some of the drained water to the fuge and then the rest to the skimmer and sump. What do you think - I would like to have somewhere close to a 10X turnover for the whole system aprox 25% to the fuge = 150 GPH turn over fuge would be 8 times a little too much I guess. Maybe the fuge should be 30 gallons, maybe I don't need the 600 GPH for system maybe closer to 400 GPH so that would be 100 GPH to fuge which would be a 5 times turn over rate. Babbling again - fuge should be closer to 25 gallons total. Let me know what you think.
 
al mc

al mc

Active Member
One other thing to consider before the build. While it is a small loss, having the fuge before the skimmer will cause the skimmer to skim out some of the beneficial microorganism that might be a food source for your corals/inverts. Many people put the skimming from the DT first, then the fuge, then the return. Your system looks good. 1/2inch thick acrylic would be overkill/overly expensive. Consider 1/4 to 3/8 inch. You will have plenty of strength for the size fuge/sumps and will cut down considerably on cost and weight.
 
al&burke

al&burke

Active Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by Al Mc http:///forum/thread/383256/upgrading-my-65-gallon-reef-sump-fuge#post_3350625
One other thing to consider before the build. While it is a small loss, having the fuge before the skimmer will cause the skimmer to skim out some of the beneficial microorganism that might be a food source for your corals/inverts. Many people put the skimming from the DT first, then the fuge, then the return. Your system looks good. 1/2inch thick acrylic would be overkill/overly expensive. Consider 1/4 to 3/8 inch. You will have plenty of strength for the size fuge/sumps and will cut down considerably on cost and weight.
Thanks Al Mc - maybe I should plumb the fuge drain into the return side of the sump. Also I will put a tee on the DT drain so approximately 25% of the flow goes to the fuge. Thanks for your comment appreciate your input.
 
acrylic51

acrylic51

Active Member
Plans look good Al.....I agree with putting a valve and bypassing water straight to the sump/skimmer area.....I don't think it would be super harmful to have the skimmer after the fuge....JMO. As far as material thickness if you want to go with no bracing on the fuge I would definitely do 1/2" acrylic.....3/8" or 1/4" and no bracing will be bowing over time.....
 
al&burke

al&burke

Active Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by acrylic51 http:///forum/thread/383256/upgrading-my-65-gallon-reef-sump-fuge#post_3350710
Plans look good Al.....I agree with putting a valve and bypassing water straight to the sump/skimmer area.....I don't think it would be super harmful to have the skimmer after the fuge....JMO. As far as material thickness if you want to go with no bracing on the fuge I would definitely do 1/2" acrylic.....3/8" or 1/4" and no bracing will be bowing over time.....
Thanks Shawn, I might even try making it out of glass. Thanks for your reply.
 
kzoobenjamin

kzoobenjamin

New Member
If you are making it 16 x 16 x18 and rimless, you need to use at least 1/2" You would get some serious bowing with 3/8 and 1/4 would be a miserable failure. With a rim, 3/8" would be fine but not 1/4".
Quote:
Originally Posted by Al Mc http:///forum/thread/383256/upgrading-my-65-gallon-reef-sump-fuge#post_3350625
One other thing to consider before the build. While it is a small loss, having the fuge before the skimmer will cause the skimmer to skim out some of the beneficial microorganism that might be a food source for your corals/inverts. Many people put the skimming from the DT first, then the fuge, then the return. Your system looks good. 1/2inch thick acrylic would be overkill/overly expensive. Consider 1/4 to 3/8 inch. You will have plenty of strength for the size fuge/sumps and will cut down considerably on cost and weight.
 
2quills

2quills

Well-Known Member
5x sounds a little bit better to me Al. Most of what I've ever read would indicate that 3-5x is plenty for sump/fuges and maybe 5-7x for canisters.
 
slice

slice

Active Member
I really like this idea, sort of a ying yang thing going on. You could even have a couple critters in the fuge.
 
acrylic51

acrylic51

Active Member
Love the bonsai type aquascape!!!! I wouldn't try to push more than 5X through the sump. Skimmer efficiency is important.
 
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