Around a year ago I started a build for my 12' tank (see build thread for details). My existing sump though is woefully inadequate for the size of the display. It doesn't even come close to being able to hold the 70+ gal of backflow if the power goes out.
Another primary goal is that I want to have a low-maintenance massive pod population, so I can add pickier fish like Mandarins to my system. My understanding is that to get massive pods, you need to not just have a place for them to hide, but they need phytoplankton. Adult pods hang out on the bottom, but juveniles are free swimming and feed on floating phyto.
I stumbled on this video by Reefgrrl where she simplifies that process by freezing small cubes of phyto and dosing them every so often. But my system is so large, it would be cost prohibitive to dose that much phyto, and it would get filtered out by my drum filter. So that got me thinking a good plan would be a separate low-flow section of my sump dedicated to dosing phyto and raising pods, where adults could eventually graduate and make their way to the DT.
Here is a sump design I have come up with, which incorporates a bypass. I plan to have it made by advancedacrylics.com. I am just wondering if anyone out there has any thoughts on this setup or if I should just go for it?
Another primary goal is that I want to have a low-maintenance massive pod population, so I can add pickier fish like Mandarins to my system. My understanding is that to get massive pods, you need to not just have a place for them to hide, but they need phytoplankton. Adult pods hang out on the bottom, but juveniles are free swimming and feed on floating phyto.
I stumbled on this video by Reefgrrl where she simplifies that process by freezing small cubes of phyto and dosing them every so often. But my system is so large, it would be cost prohibitive to dose that much phyto, and it would get filtered out by my drum filter. So that got me thinking a good plan would be a separate low-flow section of my sump dedicated to dosing phyto and raising pods, where adults could eventually graduate and make their way to the DT.
Here is a sump design I have come up with, which incorporates a bypass. I plan to have it made by advancedacrylics.com. I am just wondering if anyone out there has any thoughts on this setup or if I should just go for it?