Hello everyone,
I will be setting up my new Redsea Reefer 425 xl in the not so distant future and I am trying to make plans for my sump. FWIW I am hoping to do a LPS heavy reeftank with a medium-high bioload. I will be running a Nyos 160 skimmer with a CO2 scrubber and have yet to decide on a fuge (thinking no, but I plan on letting my system's nutrient load decide for me as I get the tank established).
My question for now relates to some basics - the filter sock/media cup setup. It is my understanding that my sump comes with 2 filter socks and 2 media cups which can all be run at once. I know socks can be a huge pain to some and I also don't think I need to run GFO/Carbon for the first couple weeks until my tank is more established. As such, I planned to turn the 2 media cups into ad-hoc filter socks/bio filtration for the first couple weeks, to run in parallel with the filter socks, to see what I like the most.
The plan is as follows: bag of bio-filtration at the bottom of the filter cup (K1, seachem matrix, etc. - you tell me, I haven't settled on a specific media yet) then rolled up polyster batting as mechanical filtration at the top. I figure I can cut the batting into strips all at once and replacing the batting should be much easier than cleaning filter socks every 2-3 days.
In a couple weeks I can see what works best for me, and if I am liking the Filter Cup setup buy two more filter cups for use with GFO/carbon/additional biofiltration. If not, I can just buy more filter socks and go that route and clean using my washing machine every so often (no wife for me, but I would still prefer to not have to use my washing machine for this).
Does anyone have any thoughts on this plan or does anyone have experience using filter cups similarly? I have been out of reefing for far too long and am now dipping my toes back in the water so I want to make sure I get things right. I'm also open to any other thoughts on sump design (i.e. fuge, other forms of filtration, etc.) or really anything in general - I definitely like to learn.
Thanks again to all for your insights/input!
EDIT: I probably should have said this originally but the 425 xl is an 88 gallon DT with a 24 gallon sump.
I will be setting up my new Redsea Reefer 425 xl in the not so distant future and I am trying to make plans for my sump. FWIW I am hoping to do a LPS heavy reeftank with a medium-high bioload. I will be running a Nyos 160 skimmer with a CO2 scrubber and have yet to decide on a fuge (thinking no, but I plan on letting my system's nutrient load decide for me as I get the tank established).
My question for now relates to some basics - the filter sock/media cup setup. It is my understanding that my sump comes with 2 filter socks and 2 media cups which can all be run at once. I know socks can be a huge pain to some and I also don't think I need to run GFO/Carbon for the first couple weeks until my tank is more established. As such, I planned to turn the 2 media cups into ad-hoc filter socks/bio filtration for the first couple weeks, to run in parallel with the filter socks, to see what I like the most.
The plan is as follows: bag of bio-filtration at the bottom of the filter cup (K1, seachem matrix, etc. - you tell me, I haven't settled on a specific media yet) then rolled up polyster batting as mechanical filtration at the top. I figure I can cut the batting into strips all at once and replacing the batting should be much easier than cleaning filter socks every 2-3 days.
In a couple weeks I can see what works best for me, and if I am liking the Filter Cup setup buy two more filter cups for use with GFO/carbon/additional biofiltration. If not, I can just buy more filter socks and go that route and clean using my washing machine every so often (no wife for me, but I would still prefer to not have to use my washing machine for this).
Does anyone have any thoughts on this plan or does anyone have experience using filter cups similarly? I have been out of reefing for far too long and am now dipping my toes back in the water so I want to make sure I get things right. I'm also open to any other thoughts on sump design (i.e. fuge, other forms of filtration, etc.) or really anything in general - I definitely like to learn.
Thanks again to all for your insights/input!
EDIT: I probably should have said this originally but the 425 xl is an 88 gallon DT with a 24 gallon sump.