Bio Balls or Refugium??

[youngreefer]

I have a 75gallon tank with corner overflow box and drain into my small prolly 5 gallon sump. Currently I just have the drain going into the sump with a filter pad and bio balls below it, then a return pump in the bottom to pump it back into my tank through clear tubing. I am wanting to put a in sump skimmer and a small maybe a 10 or 20 gallon refugium. How can i accomplish this? Should i ditch the small sump all together and just drain it into a 20 gal tank with filter sock, skimmer, refug, and return pump. Or side drill into the acrylic small sump and gravity drain it into the refug, skimmer, and return pump tank. Any advice and comments are greatly appreciated. I need the help

 

[Charlie Brown]

I would ditch the small sump you have and go with a 20 gallon if you can fit it.

This will allow you to have your refugium, and a larger skimmer.

If you are only going to have fish in your setup the Bio-Balls would be OK. If you are going to go Reef you need to ditch the Bio-Balls.

 

[molsen187]

+1 on dumping those bioballs. they will just become a nitrate factory. the bigger the sump you can do the better. more water volume never hurt.

 

[youngreefer]

thanks guys.. i think im going to ditch the bioballs and small sump. The dimensions beneath my tank are 48x18x28, but the doors in the front where I would out the refug in from is only 18 height and 12 width. I figured that a 20 gallon long would be the easiest and smallest to get in the front doors. I don's want to remove the support brace in the center, but would not be against cutting out another door on the side of the stand to fit a much larger refug. Has anyone ever done this with success and does it weaken the stand at all? I would be doing all this with my 75 still running above with water and everything.

 

[jayman10134]

a 20 high will probably be easier to fit in there. the length would be an issue with the 20 long

 

[youngreefer]

true.. does cutting a hole in the side of a stand weaken the stand at all?

 

[SteveDola]

when I had my 75 i had 2 - 20g tanks plumbed together to act as a sump/fuge. It was really easy DIY project but youd have to drill (or have someone else drill) one of the 20g tanks for 2 bulkheads to flow into the second 20g tank. I built a 2x4 box to raise up one of the tanks so that gravity would drain the fuge into the sump area where the skimmer and return pump were. Had a glass cutter cut 2 panels of glass to fit inside eaech tank to act as a chamber seperator for the drain to go into and the return pump to go in (to cut down bubbles back to display).

Or if youre not to handy try looking in the equipment sale forum for a nice sump refuge combo. Either way, the tank can benefit greatly from added water volume and added sandbed/macro algea for denitrification.

 

[youngreefer]

that is a great idea. I am pretty handy and have a glass cutter that has offered to drill tanks for me. Did you have the refug in the first tank and gravity drain it into the second with skimmer and return pump? or other way around. I think this idea is perfect for 75 thanks

 

[SteveDola]

i used the fuge as the first tank. i used a glass panel to divide a chamber for the drain water to bubble into and then had a filtersock on the end. its much better than just having a open fuge with a sock stuck in the middle of the tank...trust me.

 

[SteveDola]

ill draw you a diagram when I get home...this winpaint bites.

 

[youngreefer]

awesome thanks this is a huge help before i go on with this endeavor

 

[SteveDola]

very rough idea but you get it

 

[SteveDola]

the height of the glass insert will depend on where you want the water height to be in both tanks. might want 2-3 baffels (glass inserts) in the sump for better bubble trapping.

 

[youngreefer]

awesome thats a perfect diagram.. I will keep you updated when i proceed with this set up.

 

[SteveDola]

cool. thx

 

[youngreefer]

are all 10 and 20gallon tanks tempered? I want to side drill like the (diagram shows), prolly a 10gallon tank (easier to fit), but at my LFS they only had marineland all tempered glass tanks. Is only the bottom tempered or the whole thing? Anyone know if a 10g can be side drilled? Where can i get a untempered tanks

 

[Takara]

Don't you think that is a little too much flow for a refugium?

Here is my setup I got off another member, and I can't be happier with it. Sump is on far right, both have valves for control.
Should have insump skimmer, but I just "run what I brung"