I am new to the hobby and have a few questions with regards to the setup. I am setting up a reef aquarium (220 gallons) from scratch. It is set up as an island where you see three sides. The reef aquarium is on the first floor of my house. The basement houses the Sump (150 gallons) which is directly below the reef aquarium on the 1st floor. The Sump is custom and sits on the top shelf. The bottom shelf has a 70 gallon custom tank for water changes which will be done in the sump.
The main pump is 6250 GPH (Dolphin). This is more than enough flow but I do plan on having it feed the charcoal and GFO reactors as well as the refugium. It also will pump water back to the 220 gallon tank which is 9 feet up.
The sump is set up the following way:
1) The over flow empties into the sump which flows to the socks and then to the skimmer section.
2) The skimmer section empties into the return section
3) Next to the return section is the Refugium section. The Refugium section fills up from the external pump which empties into the return section.
The first three sections (Overflow entry, Sock section, Skimmer section and Return Section) are opened so that they can be drained/filled for water changes. The Refugium was kept to the far right so that it would not be emptied during water changes.
I am currently doing the plumbing, curing rock and waiting on my custom holding tank.
Here is my questions:
1) I have read a lot about setting up a refugium. Would you recommend using miracle mud, Deep sand bed, Marine Pure Rock, Dry rock, Chaeto (or something else).
2) I have not started doing the initial cycle yet. BRS recommended doing a bleach cure but not an acid cure with Pukani Live Dry Rock which I am in the process of doing. Once it is cured and I start doing the initial cycling then I plan on keeping my skimmer off and lights off. Should the Refugium be set up during the initial cycling?
3) I have three overflows that are 1" each. Do I need to have one of them set up as an emergency overflow since my sump has plenty of room for any overflow. I am asking because if I can use all of the overflows then it will allow me to get 6-8 turns per house on my aquarium.
I had saltwater setups 20 plus years ago and wanted to get back into it. Things have changed a lot since the eheim cannister days. Is there anything else I need to be aware of or you recommend.
Thanks!
The main pump is 6250 GPH (Dolphin). This is more than enough flow but I do plan on having it feed the charcoal and GFO reactors as well as the refugium. It also will pump water back to the 220 gallon tank which is 9 feet up.
The sump is set up the following way:
1) The over flow empties into the sump which flows to the socks and then to the skimmer section.
2) The skimmer section empties into the return section
3) Next to the return section is the Refugium section. The Refugium section fills up from the external pump which empties into the return section.
The first three sections (Overflow entry, Sock section, Skimmer section and Return Section) are opened so that they can be drained/filled for water changes. The Refugium was kept to the far right so that it would not be emptied during water changes.
I am currently doing the plumbing, curing rock and waiting on my custom holding tank.
Here is my questions:
1) I have read a lot about setting up a refugium. Would you recommend using miracle mud, Deep sand bed, Marine Pure Rock, Dry rock, Chaeto (or something else).
2) I have not started doing the initial cycle yet. BRS recommended doing a bleach cure but not an acid cure with Pukani Live Dry Rock which I am in the process of doing. Once it is cured and I start doing the initial cycling then I plan on keeping my skimmer off and lights off. Should the Refugium be set up during the initial cycling?
3) I have three overflows that are 1" each. Do I need to have one of them set up as an emergency overflow since my sump has plenty of room for any overflow. I am asking because if I can use all of the overflows then it will allow me to get 6-8 turns per house on my aquarium.
I had saltwater setups 20 plus years ago and wanted to get back into it. Things have changed a lot since the eheim cannister days. Is there anything else I need to be aware of or you recommend.
Thanks!
