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Hi...I'm new. Setting up a 250 Gal with 350 Gal Sump


N70SJ

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Hi all! I'm a old fat guy that just finished hand digging 35 cubic yards of dirt (3 dump-truck loads) from under my house in the crawl-space to have room for a Sump/Mechanical room for my tank. I know with that much digging In tight places I could of dug out of almost any Prison. 5c2c9a0b379d008faa260620327f0983.jpg

 

 

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Hi all! I'm a old fat guy that just finished hand digging 35 cubic yards of dirt (3 dump-truck loads) from under my house in the crawl-space to have room for a Sump/Mechanical room for my tank. I know with that much digging In tight places I could of dug out of almost any Prison. 5c2c9a0b379d008faa260620327f0983.jpg

 

 

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0f6b8ed18a67f56d256946a44cf719cb.jpg

 

 

 

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After I dug out the dirt I:

1. Put 6 concrete blocks on the ground with PT 4"X 6" 20 foot posts sideways on the blocks and then built a floor and framed walls and cut out a door opening through the concrete foundation wall to get in from out side and built a window to outside and a window to the crawl space and a little 1/3 door into the crawl space.

 

 

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Sorry Now i cant figure how to post a pic on taptalk?

 

 

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4d0ee24b53cf888846ade8cd3b91a680.jpg

I enter from this door. I cut out the concrete foundation and put this door in. Only way in is from outside.d7011a77d5ab249c7d8991e911293420.jpg

This 1/3 door goes into the rest of my crawl space.b7e68c0aa13d9973051a28544ec093eb.jpg

I put this little window in my sump room so I could see into my crawl space.52cfb7a1ba58bbf77f07a6c09a5bb892.jpg

My water is pumped out of my sump in a 1-1/2" pipe then is Teed into 4 separate 3/4" lines to return to the tank.eabb9b0c9974a62af9c4d386489e2549.jpg

3b55dc55c80cfce435378447d933df3b.jpg

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86e9ed41e86d96fc7e4795d09b47b6e5.jpg

Then the water returns through four 1" pipes and to the 1st 50 gallon container with only my skimmer in it.

 

 

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4d0ee24b53cf888846ade8cd3b91a680.jpg

I enter from this door. I cut out the concrete foundation and put this door in. Only way in is from outside.d7011a77d5ab249c7d8991e911293420.jpg

This 1/3 door goes into the rest of my crawl space.b7e68c0aa13d9973051a28544ec093eb.jpg

I put this little window in my sump room so I could see into my crawl space.52cfb7a1ba58bbf77f07a6c09a5bb892.jpg

My water is pumped out of my sump in a 1-1/2" pipe then is Teed into 4 separate 3/4" lines to return to the tank.eabb9b0c9974a62af9c4d386489e2549.jpg

3b55dc55c80cfce435378447d933df3b.jpg

c71099c6a07fada90f2eaa96afbd91f6.jpg

86e9ed41e86d96fc7e4795d09b47b6e5.jpg

Then the water returns through four 1" pipes and to the 1st 50 gallon container with only my skimmer in it.

 

 

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f7cd3f1e2c5554ad142c47618e829f72.jpg

I was also able to cut in a small window to let a little more fresh-air and light into the Sump Cave.40be305855d51d3858606f4913a1291c.jpg

I realized I need some more room for my RODI water so i just got out the ol shovel and dug out a spot at the end of the room.

 

 

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Yea, I'm thinking of changing my Forum name to "The Mole".

I was asked "Why such a big Sump?"

 

Well, Some times I leave my tank un-attended for 1 or more months at a time.

I left my last tank for over 3 months.

My last tank, the one I'm up-grading from, was 120 gallons with a 540 gallon sump. I had it running for 17 years. It had a 300 gallon rubbermaid tank as the sump which had 6 - 40 gallon tanks looped into it.

I experimented for years with the 6 - 40 gallon tanks, ie:

One had soft corals, one LPS corals, a couple with SPS corals. All 660 gallons was the same water quality. The variables over the 17 years was:

1. Water flow rates through the tanks, (turnover).

2. Water movement in the tank,

3. Lighting

I was amazed how differently the corals reacted in the SAME water but different flow and water movement amounts.

Slowing items 1 and 2 caused:

1. Cyanobacteria

2. Heavy growth of different kinds of hair algae

3. Eventually death of all corals.

 

 

 

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I was asked "Why such a big Sump?"

 

Well, Some times I leave my tank un-attended for 1 or more months at a time.

I left my last tank for over 3 months.

My last tank, the one I'm up-grading from, was 120 gallons with a 540 gallon sump. I had it running for 17 years. It had a 300 gallon rubbermaid tank as the sump which had 6 - 40 gallon tanks looped into it.

I experimented for years with the 6 - 40 gallon tanks, ie:

One had soft corals, one LPS corals, a couple with SPS corals. All 660 gallons was the same water quality. The variables over the 17 years was:

1. Water flow rates through the tanks, (turnover).

2. Water movement in the tank,

3. Lighting

I was amazed how differently the corals reacted in the SAME water but different flow and water movement amounts.

Slowing items 1 and 2 caused:

1. Cyanobacteria

2. Heavy growth of different kinds of hair algae

3. Eventually death of all corals.

 

 

My water goes through 7 stages:

1. Skimmer

2. Refugium

3. Tank with 30-40 Mangrove trees

4. Settlement settling tank

5. Calcium Reactor

6. UV light

7. Final 150 gallon sump with one 300lb piece of live rock with many 1" holes drilled through it.

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7a317a07ef752c07c57686605f57bdb4.jpg

 

 

 

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7a317a07ef752c07c57686605f57bdb4.jpg

b3baf87962d18378faf159444834a3ce.jpg

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I have high-hopes for my new skimmer. I don't know how others estimate the potential effectiveness of their skimmer but I use flow-of-air through the skimmer which determines the amount of bubbles being made. The more bubbles the more waste removed from the water column. This one is pulling 34-40 liters per min. Thats almost 10 gallons of air per min. It has been best for me to have ALL the water flowing out of the show tank flow 1st into a skimmer. I don't use any socks or filter pads. Would you take a bath with your grand kid if their diaper was loaded? That how I feel about 100-300 micron socks.

 

 

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After the Sump the water goes back to the tank through four 3/4" rotating Sea-Swirls.14a95fb551820d72c3eae3b2f3def049.jpg

b0bcaea42cfb2308bdb86f1807399845.jpg

It makes it really easy to adjust your over-flows if you can see the amount of water going down each pipe. Two are constant flow and 2 are Just-in-case-the-main-ones get clogged.

9714b68d47dbacff5774e26ab0cc47ee.jpg

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31b96e090608f60c6ecaad910b1470e8.jpg

 

 

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If skimmer over-flows

1. The air is cut off

2. When the over-flow device gets full with skimmate and the little float rises the power to skimmer pumps us cut off.

 

 

 

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260b9d8388c23254a0cc14f7963afdc5.jpg

If skimmer over-flows

1. The air is cut off

2. When the over-flow device gets full with skimmate and the little float rises the power to skimmer pumps us cut off.

 

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Due to my Flow experiments I do not place piles of small rocks in my display tank. It works best for me to only put in individual rocks that don't touch each other and that have a perfectly flat bottom, (you just saw the bottom off with a hand-wood saw). This way the rock sits directly on the glass bottom of the tank with no sand under it.

This works good for me because:

1. No detritus gets stuck under them,

2. Flow rate in the tank is MUCH better everywhere,

3. All the bottom of the tank where sand is can be vacuumed free of detritus.

4. If for some reason a piece of coral grows into the glass or another coral you can very simply slide any of the rocks any direction.57224334e929ac07ed9064deffc5f752.jpg

b70286f5b21518ac9f60f454482ae70a.jpg

I also cut the front of rocks off and epoxy them to the rear of the tanks glass for added bacteria and looks.

 

 

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Due to my Flow experiments I do not place piles of small rocks in my display tank. It works best for me to only put in individual rocks that don't touch each other and that have a perfectly flat bottom, (you just saw the bottom off with a hand-wood saw). This way the rock sits directly on the glass bottom of the tank with no sand under it.

This works good for me because:

1. No detritus gets stuck under them,

2. Flow rate in the tank is MUCH better everywhere,

3. All the bottom of the tank where sand is can be vacuumed free of detritus.

4. If for some reason a piece of coral grows into the glass or another coral you can very simply slide any of the rocks any direction.57224334e929ac07ed9064deffc5f752.jpg

b70286f5b21518ac9f60f454482ae70a.jpg

I also cut the front of rocks off and epoxy them to the rear of the tanks glass for added bacteria and looks.

 

 

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