Reef nutrition

PLEASE HELP ME! in building a 20 gallon sump please im desparate

im desperate of building a sump or something the one i have right now is not cutting it.
please let me know if u can help me out please..thanks im in sf
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its a 55 gallon tank....what i dont like about it is that is not the same as others. and its not working as good as a sump would. i just need a real one... and im trying to grow natural food for the corals too and people have told me that they wont do as good in there... so i need a new one used or if somebody could help me built one...
 
I happen to know just a wee bit about growing natural food for your tank....that sump is just fine for that. I think a bit of tinkering with what you got will be just fine. Gimme a day (work is killing me) and I'll post what I think you could do on the cheap that would improve your current sump :)
 
i wish i can make something like that i want to....but there is alot of space in my tank for maybe even a 30 gallon tank with the witth of 12', but man that would be great...!
 
I've made them out of 10g tanks :) Your current tank is just fine if it's a 20g.
 
well i want something that looks like the picture that elite posted....i want a nice tank so people that are older than me wont dought me...you know how many people have said that its too much for someone my age to handle...i just want to prove them wrong and i want the right stuff. do you by any chance send me a pic of your 10 gallon sump?
 
I've long since ditched the 10g sumps but between your work and the parts I get to you, you'll have a sump just like what Elite posted.

Do not let your age get in the way. I know numerous reefers that started out at a very early age with less, like Max of The Aquarium Showroom. He started at like 12 and by 14 was blowing away people 3x his age. I was "bashed" myself for how young I was while working in wholesale and getting deep into industry issues. Age is meaningless.

One important thing I can pass to you is do not get caught up in all the "best equipment" trends or just getting things people say. I've rigged tanks with less then you have currently :)

I gotta run, but be watching for a PM later this week :D
 
yea it just feels wierd because at the local fish store they say that my sump and my skimmer wont do the job... so that brings me down more....
 
Not that all stores are just out to get a sale, but some are. Times are tight for the LFS, every sale counts.

Not only that, but don't take what anyone has to say as gospel and definitely do not let them get under your skin.

Seriously, what you have can be made to work.
 
You can get the glass cut at any glass store. Just measure the inside of your tank and tell them what you need. Use silicone to glue the glass. I'm sure we can help you do that if you bring the stuff to our meeting. Glass and silicone will cost you about $30. Depending how much bubbles you have in the sump, you might not need as many baffles as I have in that pics.

In this hobby, age doesn't matter but $$ does. If you can't afford expensive equipment, try to keep something that is low maintenance such as softy, macroalgae. Keep up with the maintenance on your tank like clean the glass. Do WC weekly or at least every two week. Keep your equipment clean. When thing dirty, they don't work well. Attack the problem before it get worse. I manually remove hair algae in my tank every week. It's just a small patch but if it's not taken care, it will spread. Don't get too many fish.. Go slow, making sure thing is happy before adding new stuff.. Everything in this hobby cost $$$...
 
I do not concur. This hobby does not need to be about $$$$ and $$$ do not need to regulate your choice of corals if done right!
 
Wanna give an example Gresham?? Show me a tank that cost very little to setup, low maintenance and look nice. Just want to learn more :D ..
 
[quote author=Elite link=topic=4575.msg55714#msg55714 date=1221546050]
Wanna give an example Gresham?? Show me a tank that cost very little to setup, low maintenance and look nice. Just want to learn more :D ..
[/quote]

My tank wasn't expensive................but I don't know if you like it
 
[quote author=GreshamH link=topic=4575.msg55708#msg55708 date=1221545504]
I do not concur. This hobby does not need to be about $$$$ and $$$ do not need to regulate your choice of corals if done right!
[/quote]I agree 1000%, I can give you an example Phong. 20 years ago, there's your example, NO fluorescent (VHO if you're lucky), no Ca reactors, Hagen powerheads, Kalk for supplementation. I had a display reef at a store I managed that blows away most modern reefs using that type of equipment because that's all we had back in the day.
 
Phong, My first tank was a standard 10g AGA tank, no starfire, rounded corners or any of that, with a bag of "live bio active sand" (yeah I fell for it), a plastic piece of "driftwood" with a coral or something on it, and an in tank air pump driven skimmer, tank was perfectly nice looking with 2 fish and some crabs/snails in it.

Now yeah as complexity increases of what you want in it, the cost value tends to increase as well, but there's no reason you HAVE to have the "expensive stuff". Funny though I was thinking the other day about all the "fish per gallon" rules I remember when I started out, and right now I'm pushing about 1 fish per 25 gallons.. and the larger I go in tanks the less fish per X gallons It'll have :D
 
The internet is full of them Phong, cluttered in fact :)

55g
New Bak Pak (with new pump)
20g sump
150w MH retro
2x t5 retro
mj1200 return
4x mj1200 w/ mod
1 heater
50-100 lbs rock

that is the exact system a friend of mine has been sporting for years now. He drips kalk and uses two part.
 
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