Red Sea 250 v3 sump advice required

[Danny Harris]

Hi all, looking for some help & advice from my fellow reefers.

I have a new RedSea Reefer 250 v3 that I’m just about to set up and I’m trying to get my head around best sump design and equipment placement.

At the moment and with the equipment I already own I’m thinking doing something like this

1. Mod sump
1a. Gate valve mod
1b. Manifold mod
1c. Clarisea sk 3000 mod (remove filter sock compartment)

2. Refugium setup
Use the new refugium chamber in v3 sump with a spare Ai Prime 16HD light

Current list of equipment:
Deltec Skimmer,
Nyos Torq Reactor,
Clarisea SK-3000
Ecotech Vectra S2 pump
2x Schego Heaters
2x Ecotech Radion XR15w
2x Ai Nero 5 Powerheads
Koemer X4 doser
Reef Float ATU 3
Marine Pure Blocks
Triton Method Core 7

So if anyone can advise on the following

Would you use the box standard refugium chamber or make the standard ato into a refug or use a separate small tank next to sump as an external refug?

What lighting would you recommend for the refug?
I do have a spare AI Prime 16HD, would that be over kill? or was thinking of getting a Kessil H80 or a cheaper alternative?

Would the Clarisea sk3000 be ok to replace both filter socks?

To enable copepod growth/sustainability would the refugium have to be the last stage before the return pump?

Is a manifold a good idea and would spears compact ball valves be sufficient but still replace the main valve with a spears gate valve?

Any words of advice, help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated

Many thanks for your time if you have stuck by me and read this far

Dan

 

[Slingshot357]

I can't really help much but from what I've learned about refugiums they are supposed to be first, just after the filter sock section. And if they are going to be used as a main source of nutrient export they should be about 10% of your total water volume. I'm fairly certain Triton core method requires this. And I also think they want you to remove filter socks.

The refugium section of my sump (eshopps) was too small, but I gave it a shot. They say you can pretty much get away with a compact florescent bulb in a clamp-on shop light. I went with a Kessel H80 and it worked fine on grow mode. When first adding chaeto set the intensity to about 25% and turn it up little by little each night, otherwise you'll end up melting your chaeto.

But in all honesty I just ditched the whole fuge and I ended up filling that section with some Seachem matrix on the bottom and a couple Brightwell Aquatics BIO Bricks. It's probably a detritus trap but no more dirty then when I was running chaeto. Besides that I trust in Bio pellets and GFO for nutrient export and dose Nopox and Phosphat-e to fine tune my numbers. Also add a shot of Microbacter 7 once a week after water changes.

As for using an ATO container as your fuge, I don't see why not. When I had my sump plumed to my basement I used a 20 gallon brute container with some bulkheads as my fuge. Just need to figure out the plumbing. I would also black out the ATO container so you don't have light bleed hitting the rest of your sump. Otherwise you'll have algae growing everywhere in your sump.

Sorry I don't have any experience with the rest of your questions.

 

[powers2001]

@Danny Harris I don’t think you’ll have room for the Clarisea if you go with the ATO-fuge mod. Are you planning on a build thread for your reefer 250.?

 

[Danny Harris]

Thank you for the advice, much appreciated

 

[Chris Spaulding]

I have the same system 250 V3 .
I modded the filter sock holder and are to accommodate a Klir Di4 . Ditched the ATO and went with a IM 15 gallon ATO that sits next to the tank . Ditched the Fuge wall and run a Deltec 1000i skimmer . Was also using the Nyos Torqe but ditched it because it kept blowing the top off. Now I run just a bag of Carbon hanging in the sump. I added a CPR Small hang on Refuge on the side of the sump. This is primarily to help with Pods. In the Fuge part also run Cheto and Briltwell X Port Cubes.
Heater is in my Overflow compartment on the tank. Additional X Port cubes are in the small area where the water enters the sump below the gate valve.

 

[Danny Harris]

I have the same system 250 V3 .
I modded the filter sock holder and are to accommodate a Klir Di4 . Ditched the ATO and went with a IM 15 gallon ATO that sits next to the tank . Ditched the Fuge wall and run a Deltec 1000i skimmer . Was also using the Nyos Torqe but ditched it because it kept blowing the top off. Now I run just a bag of Carbon hanging in the sump. I added a CPR Small hang on Refuge on the side of the sump. This is primarily to help with Pods. In the Fuge part also run Cheto and Briltwell X Port Cubes.
Heater is in my Overflow compartment on the tank. Additional X Port cubes are in the small area where the water enters the sump below the gate valve.

Looks amazing! Thanks for this has given me more of an idea how I’m going to do mine.

Does the hang on fuge give you enough pods/filtration? Did the light come with it and do you run it in alternative phase to the tank lights?

I see you removed only one filter sock, do you have any media in the remaining sock and does this need cleaning a lot?

how do you find the stock Red Sea valve? (Quite a few people seem to have swapped it for a gate valve)

Do you dose? If so what and how

Really appreciate your time to help me get the best out of this confusing, expensive but amazing and rewarding hobby of ours

 

[Chris Spaulding]

The Fuge does give me enough pods. It supplies enough for One 2 spot Gobie , 1 Mandian and 1 Dragon Pipe Fish . It did take time to get it producing and I supplemented till the pods seam to be self sustaining. As far as the light it does come with it but I am thinking of upgrading it.

Fuge lighting runs opposite the main tank with a small plug in timer.

The filter sock area I plugged one hole with a Tupperware cup so all water passes through the Klir.
I go through 1 roll of fleece about every 6 to 7 weeks. I did have to modify the sock tray with a dermal to get the Klir to fit right, I also had to place a piece of Acrylic in this area to allow for the water to activate the sensor for the Klir. I will try to get a picture of this mod tonight and post tomorrow.

If I knew then what I know now about the Gate valve I would have replaced it before I got it up and running. Looking at still doing this soon.

I use Tropic Marin All-For-Reef for Doseing and I find it works great for me. I dose Currently 22 ml a day spread out over 24 hrs via a K more X1 pump. Been using All-For Reef for about 9 months now. My tank is mostly SPS.

 

[Danny Harris]

Thank you so much for giving me the breakdown of your tank, it has laid to rest some of the unknowns I’ve been scratching my head over in this sump design.

So now I think I’m going to:

do the valve mod (have the parts already), remove filter sock chamber (carefully), put my Clarisea in its place. Then Deltec skimmer, marine pure/maxspect blocks and seachem (all of which I already own). Buy a decent size (50L) hang on fuge for pod cultivation. After it cycles with ATM colony, bio sphera, Dr Tim’s ammonia, I will then try the Triton method with an ICP test and the corresponding dosing it recommends with my K X4 doser, do this once a month to keep me on the right path.

I’m going to also ditch the ATO (May use as a QT for new frags/fish) and use my new reefloat ATU3-30L (thanks Gordon) with Reefer sensor mod. This will go in my old RSR Max Nano cabinet that I still have and will put next to the Reefer 250 (same color luckily).

I’m not sure on the manifold mod yet but as I have ordered the parts anyway I might just do it now to future proof it.

It will eventually host fish and SPS

Does all that sound reasonable?

I’ll do a build thread I think, the more info out there and the more people like you guys show/talk about your experiences, the more it will help guys at my stage of trepidation that comes before a new build.

Can I just say thank you to everyone who read and(or) replied. Hopefully I won’t have to bug you so much.....hopefully, and can pass my experiences on to others on this forum in the future