New 55 gal FOWLR and sump questions

Hello everyone, this is my first post. I have been reading this forum for about 3 weeks and have spent alot of time researching sumps. I had a FO about 5 years ago and boy have things changed since then.

I aquired a 55 gal tank and have my old 30 gal as well. I want to set up the 55 as a FOWLR and add a sump. I am planning for a sand bed and starting off with 15 to 20 lbs LR and add about another 50 lbs of lace rock.

Because my Bio will be low to start off I am going to use my Emperor 400 in addition to a skimmer, two Aquaclear 402 powerheads and a pump for the sump return.

Any suggestions on a clean up crew? I am thinking of some snails, a crab or two and some shrimp. As far as fish go I have not yet decided, they must fit in with my plans, need to do some reading on that.

I want a refugium in the sump but am not sure how big to make it, lighting required and how to start it. Do I just put in sand and some LR and let it take care of itself or do I need to add macroalgea?

What benefits are there to building an acrylic sump versus modifying the 30 gal tank I have?

I am not too keen on the idea of using siphon overflows and am probably going to drill the back of the tank real low for bulkheads. What size piping is used? 1 or 1 1/2 inch?

My brain is going into aquarium overload.

Thank You in advance,
Brian

 

I know the feeling. This can be overwhelming for sure!

For clean up crews check this poll out for ideas.

Why do you want to drill the tank near the bottom for bulkheads?

My bulkhead is a few inches down from the top for the durso pipe I have.

For refugium ideas I'd go with macro algae. There are some threads in the refugium board that will help as well as an article on it in the site articles area (left nav).

Karma for joining 3reef!

 

May I advise AGAINST lace rock (tufe type).

It often has high levels of phosphate and sometimes iron.

It will be a magnet as well as a continuous source of nutrients for hair algae.

 

I would just use the 30 u have. It will save u some money. Good plan on drilling the tank too. In the fuge you can make it as big as u want and i just use a clip on shop light from home depot. I also have some macro algea in mine. It looks like your off to a good start. Dont get too overwhelmed. you can always ask someone. Good Luck!!

 

You don't need to get too fancy with your sump container. Basically, anything that will hold water and fit under your tank. You can use your 30G if you want or get whatever shape rubbermaid tub will fit and hold enough water for your needs. There are some areas you don't want to go on the cheap (lighting, filtration) because it will bite you later, but the sump is definately an area where you can save some money. I agree w/ NHUTTY about the rock. I would stick with live rock. Remember, you can add LR in stages as long as it is cured.

Hope this helps

Aaron

 

Thank You all for your help. I think I am going to use thr LR reccomendations from NUHTTY and alaruel.

I might get a rubbermaid container to use as the sump and use the thirty as another tank later on, still not sure how I would divide the sperate areas in the rubbermaid sump for the reutrn, intake and refuge. I guess more research and reading, oh great!

I read somewhere, not sure where anymore, that the Durso pipes will work fine if the side is drilled low. I am not sure why, as long as the bulk head is lower than the intake elbow it should work. Water flows down.

Igotworms Thanks for the refuge advise.

Matt Rogers thanks for the link, I will check it out and report back when I make my decision. Even more reading!

Thanks again,
Brian

 

If you use a rubbermaid tub you can sit a 10g tank inside it as a separate compartment
or use a smaller tub.