Upgrading my 65 gallon Reef - Sump/fuge

al&burke

al&burke

Active Member
About 900 GPH - 400 to 65 reef, 250 lion tank - 250 ATS. I figured that eheim 5000 would be perfect as you suggested.
 
2quills

2quills

Well-Known Member
Just wondering how much extra head pressure is going to put on the pump with splitting it 3 ways like that. That's alot of elbows.
 
2quills

2quills

Well-Known Member
Should be ok then. I've read that those pumps are pretty powerful for their size and that that max ratings are pretty conservative estimates. It looks like it's going to be pretty sweet.
 
al&burke

al&burke

Active Member
Fairly low watts as well. No with the drains Corey - I am going to run a seperate line to the fuge from 65 reef and another 1" line from 65 to sump then the 40 gallon lion will have two 1" drains one working and one as a backup with an upturned elbow. What do you think.
 
2quills

2quills

Well-Known Member
If they're both going to the same place in the sump than why cut one off with an elbow? Why not just use both...either way one will always act as a back up. I'm not sure but I'm thinking maybe having a little less water running through both at the same time might be a little quiter (speculating)??? I guess it would be easy enough to try it both ways and see what you think. I'd be more worried about the drain from the 65 that runs to the sump getting blocked and then the other one that runs to the fuge not being able to handle the extra flow with the spray bar on there.
 
al&burke

al&burke

Active Member
That's a good point Corey - why not run them both - I am rethinking the spray bar in the sump I might just go with a tee and a couple elbows or 45's on the end. Thanks my friend.
Add on - Hey Corey I just went to my FW set up where I had one working and one back up and I took the backup elbow off - unbelievable how quite it is now, thanks again Corey.
 
2quills

2quills

Well-Known Member
No prob my friend. Yes I like the idea of Teeing off on the fuge line just incase it backs up it has a second path to drain.
 
al&burke

al&burke

Active Member
Last night I order my Eheim Compact 5000 pump, should have it by wednesday. Having a hard time finding PVC gate valve in Canada. I was at my local Pool store LPS - the had some nice ball valve that were easy to move - they also had some knive valves - I wasn't sure if they would be good, I could make small adjustments with them, i might just go with ball valve from the local hardware store LHS - I also bought some of this flexible PVC tubing - nice stuff you basically PVC glue it to standard fittings - 2$ a ft - I think it will work great for the drains it will eleiminate any barbed hose fitting that constrict the flow. I might even use it for the return lines, i got 24 ft of it. Anyways if anybody has any ideas about the gate valves or ball valves please let me know. Thanks again Al
 
acrylic51

acrylic51

Active Member
Al have you checked out Savko.com? They have all the gate valves you'd need and pretty reasonable as well. Aquaticeco is another place. Knife valves would work, but might get a little better control with the gate valve though.
 
al&burke

al&burke

Active Member
Thanks Shawn I just noticed you posted thanks buddy I will check them out. I would like to use the knive valves because I can get tham at my pool place.
 
al&burke

al&burke

Active Member
Well I figured I would do an update:
Sump is almost finished baffles will go in tomorrow after a leak check on the box
Tomorrow my Eheim compact 5000 should be in.
I have decided t go with knife gates for flow control on the 65 reef and the 40 lion tank.
Finish the sump and fuge then this weekend hopefully start tearing down the tank, I have 5 rubbermaid totes 18 gallons each - got a few spare.
Now I have a question - I have had a problem with bubble algae - I think my membrane needs to be changed in my RO unit - going to bring a sample of my ro water to my water place tomorrow, when I take all the live rock out I plan on scrubbing all the BA off - I saved about 10 gallons of water from my last water change - is there anything I should be careful with when cleaning the rock.
Also i plan on putting all the coral in one tote with all the snails, crabs, and cleaner shrimp, should I keep a light on the live rock that is not with the corals. I plan on running my Fluval FX5 on the totes and have them looped together with overflow pipes. Any concerns here.
Thanks everyone.
 
meowzer

meowzer

Moderator
It is my understanding if you want the algae to die you should cover the tote and leave it in the dark
AND IMO you should buy a tds meter so you can just test your water yourself......How old is your membrane?
 
al&burke

al&burke

Active Member
Change of plans - I wasn't happy with the way the acrylic sump turned out - I will save it for something else. I went out and bought a 20 gallon long that will fit perfectly in the stand. Now with the sump operating there will be 15 gallons of SW, I figured from my plumbing drawing when the pump is off I will get approximately 3 gallons returned into the sump. Do you think this is OK. Also Shawn or Corey or anyone else if I make acrylic baffles how much of a gap should I leave for expansion of the acrylic baffles.
Thanks Al
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top