Help starting up my sump please

We, my husband and I, mostly my husband;D, have made a sump out if a ten gallon tank. It will be ready to set up tonight. One thing I haven't been able to find is if there are any tricks to starting it up. Can someone tell me what to expect. I assume I simply fill it and let 'er rip. Will it create any new water adjustment issues, or algae breakout issues. I have a new skimmer, so I know that takes some time to break in. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks

 

I started a new sump in December, I had a little disaster because I theorize that I did not let the new salt water mix long enough before I used it. At that time I also switched over to Coral Life salt from Reef crystals. I experienced a large ph shift and cloudy water. I shut it down and not knowing any better did a water change. (The water change actually hurt it). I let everything settle down and restarted it a few weeks later by mixing DT water and new water. That time it was fine. I did lose 3 chromis and a few corals. Now don't let that horror story worry you too much. Make sure the water is at the same temp as the tank, check the levels, at least ph, ca, alk. and Mg and you should be fine. Keep an eye on it to make sure the pump and overflow sync up.

 

Thanks, GuitarMan for the quick response. I appreciate the horror story. I will be carefull. Mixing some of the DT water makes sense.

 

Make sure to thoroughly flush the new sump and all plumbing with water to clean out any debris or dirt that has settled. Otherwise you can contaminate your tank.

I made a sump out of a 20 long and siliconed in several baffles and let it cure for 48 hours. Did all my drilling and installed bulkheads, PVC, etc, and flushed all thoroughly to clean. Filled with saltwater, started up, no problems at all.

 

I would put the water level up to about 1-2" obove your baffles and then add or take out once you have it sorted.A sump is so much better than a cannister filter, good move on that.I had a ten gal sump on a 55gal,now the 55 is my sump/fuge.Did you guys drill the tank or are you useing an external overflow box?As far as alge,shouldnt be a problem.goodluck with the new sump!

 

We're using an external flow box. I was dying to do the sump and get rid of my Fluval. Problem is the 10 gallon is the biggest I could fit in my cabinet. Probably not as big as it should be for my 72. Please tell me it will still be better than the Fluval!