Hey Reefers,
Thinking about a partially-DIY system for my new DT. Here's what I'm thinking about doing:
DT (200g) outlet flows directly into an Aqueon 40g. The Aqueon 40g will be nothing more than a fuge, housing a variety of macro algae, live rock, and detritivores, no socks or anything like that. The outflow of the fuge will be two 2-inch bulkhead-attached pipes set at about 3/4 up the tank wall so the fuge operates at about 30g.
The 40g fuge will flow into an Aqueon 30g that will be divided approximately in half with a bubble trap. The first half will be a sump with skimmer (and waste collector), the second half will be the return chamber; two heaters also will be in the sump. The 40g and 30g will have a divider between them to keep the fuge light on the fuge side.
All in all, I should have about 20g of overflow capacity for system outages.
I'm also going to run some other things (CaRx, UV sterilizer, ATO), but those aren't particularly relevant to designing the sump/fuge as I should be able to work them into the stand pretty easily (ATO reservoir may go outside of the stand).
Questions:
Many thanks in advance for your support!
Thinking about a partially-DIY system for my new DT. Here's what I'm thinking about doing:
DT (200g) outlet flows directly into an Aqueon 40g. The Aqueon 40g will be nothing more than a fuge, housing a variety of macro algae, live rock, and detritivores, no socks or anything like that. The outflow of the fuge will be two 2-inch bulkhead-attached pipes set at about 3/4 up the tank wall so the fuge operates at about 30g.
The 40g fuge will flow into an Aqueon 30g that will be divided approximately in half with a bubble trap. The first half will be a sump with skimmer (and waste collector), the second half will be the return chamber; two heaters also will be in the sump. The 40g and 30g will have a divider between them to keep the fuge light on the fuge side.
All in all, I should have about 20g of overflow capacity for system outages.
I'm also going to run some other things (CaRx, UV sterilizer, ATO), but those aren't particularly relevant to designing the sump/fuge as I should be able to work them into the stand pretty easily (ATO reservoir may go outside of the stand).
Questions:
- Have you all built anything like this? If so, please provide successes, failures, do-overs.
- Do you see any issues with the design functioning properly?
- Should I keep the fuge and sump at the same elevation, with a straight pipe connection between them, or elevate the fuge so that it "spills" into the sump?
- Is 20g suffient space for outage drainage?
- Have any of you ever tried putting an urchin or two in an algae fuge? Idea being they eat the algae so I have to harvest less frequently.
- Any other input?
Many thanks in advance for your support!
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