Upgrading my 65 gallon Reef - Sump/fuge

al&burke

al&burke

Active Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by spanko http:///forum/thread/383256/upgrading-my-65-gallon-reef-sump-fuge/140#post_3364354
The RC calculator says 53 lbs. of aragonite at 70 pounds per cubic foot will give those dimensions a 2" sand bed. A lot of the macro algae are going to grow on the rockwork anyway so I am a tad confused here. If you are talking about do turtle grass, sea grass you are gonna need to probably do a deep sand bed greater than 4 inches IMO. I have not seen many tank threads that have tried grasses and kept them long term though.
JMO
Thanks Henry - I thought it grew in the substrate - I want just macro algaes - cheers
Oh I forgot what about the fuge 27 x 14 x 14, and should I put sand or argonite in fuge.
 
spanko

spanko

Active Member
What are you plans for the fuge?
Display fuge?
Just a place to grow and harvest macro algae for nutrient export?
Deep sand bed for the filtering capabilities?
 
al&burke

al&burke

Active Member
I would like to maximize its potential for graowth and harvest of macro algae - might not be high enough for a deep sand bed. It is not a display fuge, originally I was going with a display fuge.
 
al&burke

al&burke

Active Member
I think I read somewhere that a little extra movement in the fuge helps, also on my small fuge I had a cyano problem, could have been my parameters as well, at the time.
 
spanko

spanko

Active Member
IDK, don't have a fuge so really don't know much about them from the standpoint of current and flow within them. Maybe someone else will jump in here.
 
flower

flower

Well-Known Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by Al&Burke http:///forum/thread/383256/upgrading-my-65-gallon-reef-sump-fuge/160#post_3364370
I think I read somewhere that a little extra movement in the fuge helps, also on my small fuge I had a cyano problem, could have been my parameters as well, at the time.
My little HOB came with a small power head. I have big bubbles in both of my refugiums to keep the water moving too. I know it flows into the sump but I like that surface water breaking...Spanko are you saying we don't need it?
 
al&burke

al&burke

Active Member
Here is a picture of my temporary holding totes for when I break down the tank. I will run my FX5 on this.
 
spanko

spanko

Active Member
IDK Flower. Would seem to me the normal flow through the sump from the tank water coming in to the return pump sending the water back would be enough to have the macro algae glean what it wants. I am not sure where the idea of additional flow originates from so I can't really advise either way.
 
al&burke

al&burke

Active Member
I think it helps with bad stuff just sitting in the fuge moves it around so the macro's can eat it up IDK can't see why it wouldn't help.
 
flower

flower

Well-Known Member
My big bubbles come from the return...I divided it with a Y connector to have water flow in more than one spot...it makes big bubbles that break the surface. I got a grow light on the fuge but no macro yet.
I read that macros fight as bad as coral with chemical warfare...So some places I read say to choose one type...other sites mix and match and sell it that way, so I was confused and decided to just wait until a nice red type of algae was available and not take any chances on a macro algae war.
 
2quills

2quills

Well-Known Member
From my understanding the reasoning behind putting a power head for flow in the fuge is the same reasons why we wan't flow inside of our tanks which is to help circulate water around for better contact interaction with the water and bacteria I guess? I did a search on bacteria and nitrate removal and came across some articals outlining that in order for bacteria to really be beneficial that the water darn near needs to flow at an almost stagnant pace. This study was done on the effects of bacteria in soil and ground water though. I've been told by a few more experience hobbiest (not just this site) that if you're running chaeto in your fuge then the circulation is helpful for more of the water to be able to penetrate through a dense ball of chaeto. I guess this is one of the reason why some people like to use a power head to tumble the chaeto (u can search this on u tube for video). And that also helps to rotate it so that it receieves light all around without having to turn it manually every other day. Less chance of die off I guess.
I'm just playing follow the leader I guess. Some folks say that's what you should do so I plan on trying it own that way on my own system. I also only plan on pushing 1x turnover through my fuge for increased dwell time. It's my personal believe that many people push the water too fast through there and typically run a fuge that's not large enough for their system to really make much of a difference and then get frustrated and wonder why it's not doing anything for nitrates like they had hoped it would.
 
al&burke

al&burke

Active Member
I ordered it an RS-Xtreme 160 SWC Mini Cone Protein Skimmer
Based on the size and height, and a personal recommendation from 2Quils - Get it next wednesday. Can't wait, right now I am running a CL 125 but it was too high for where I wanted to put it. I will use it for my Horse Tank (coming soon)
 
2quills

2quills

Well-Known Member
Sweet, will be looking for updates on that as well. That's what the guys down here at one of my local reef stores use on their tanks and they tell me it's a good skimmer for the price so I think I'm going to go with one of those as well. Same skimmer bodies as the Octos just without the bubble blaster pumps. I can live with that I guess. I would think you could still use a bubble blaster on it though if you want to or need to replace later down the road.
 
acrylic51

acrylic51

Active Member
That was really the major difference between the 2 skimmers....Both excellent performers, the SWC was suppose to be a little better price wise though.
 
al&burke

al&burke

Active Member
I am happy to hear this i really don't think my Coral Life was doing a great job, I think it will work better in a sump for my horse tank, thanks guys
 
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