Setting up new Triton tank.

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Lucas in Alaska

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I'm upgrading from a 29 to a 180. I am going to set this up as a Triton tank and will document here. My 180 is a Marineland tank with 2 corner flos. I will be setting the tank up against a 4' wall between the living room and the kitchen so the tank will be visible from all 4 side. I am using 3 Radions and two MP-40's. My Fuge and sump is a 75 gallon tank. with an Eheim 1262 return. I haven't decided on a skimmer yet but will most likely go with an MTC 30" MVX skimmer.

I culture my own Phyto and am getting into pods. Right now I have Tigriopus californicus I'm growing out for the local shop but hope to get into Tisbe pods. I have cultured Rotifers in the past but right now they are dormant.

My question right now is I need partition my 75 gallon tank. The tank is 48"x18" with a brace right in the middle at 24". I want to set up the tank like this, the overflow goes into the first section which houses an elevated skimmer with rock underneath. The second section will be for additional rock and my Cheato and the third section will be my sump. I believe I want to make the first section 12" for the overflow to drain into and the skimmer. The second section is established by how big the sump is. How big do I want to make my sump??? 18"x10"???

I do want to keep the overflows in my sump high to keep rock in the bottom for pods and other life.

Any advise you can give will be greatly appreciated.
 
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Lucas in Alaska

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Another idea, I could just put an overflow for the sump on one end and leave the rest open. The overflow goes into one end with the skimmer next to it and the water flows to the other end where the sump is.

Any thoughts?
 
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Lucas in Alaska

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Here is a pic of the 75 sump I'm setting up. I'm using cardboard to mock up the baffles. The first area is the refugium 24" wide 18" high baffle making the fuge area about 33 gallons. Next is the skimmer section 11" wide 14" high baffle. My skimmer will be elevated. The return area will be 12" wide and with the 14" baffle it will give the volume of the return about a 13 gallon. I'm counting on a 7.5 gallon drain down from the tank.

IMG_2792.JPG
 
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Lucas in Alaska

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gpwdr,
The water will be flowing from right to left. I do believe I have follows the method for dummies plan for the sump.

Maybe I should turn the sump around and have it flow left to right.
 

gpwdr

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The water should flow over the first baffle and under the second baffle. You won't need the bubble because the refugium will fill with algae and dissipate the bubbles.
I would suggest you make the refugium as large as possible.
Your gonna love the Triton Method.
 
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Lucas in Alaska

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gpwdr,
I totally understand what you are saying with the baffle that allows the water to run under it. My problem with this is when I shut the pump off and if my skimmer stays on the increase in water level will flood my skimmer. That is why I put is the last baffle to keep the water level even in the skimmer area.

Now I believe if I go to the MVX skimmer the water level doesn't matter because it is a Venturi skimmer.

My last question is will I have problems with micro bubbles from the skimmer if I don't have the bubble baffle.
 
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Lucas in Alaska

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gpwdr,

Thank you for your replies, I like the viewpoints of others. I've been thinking about what you said and I could get another 6" added to the length of the refugium if I get rid of the last baffle and make the return area 7" wide.

Still the problem would be the bubbles from the skimmer. Any advise?
 

gpwdr

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We use a skimmer delay switch to solve the problem of the skimmer over flow.

http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/protein-skimmer-delay-timer-reef-octopus.html

You would hook up the switch to the same circuit as the return pump. When the return pump shuts off, the skimmer shuts off, and when the return pump turns on, the skimmer is turned on 5 minutes later. So, there is no high water level in the skimmer.

On my sump there is good flow going thru the bottom of the return pump chamber, thus no detritus build up.

If your skimmer produces so much bubbles in the water column perhaps you'll need a bubble trap.
 
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Lucas in Alaska

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gpwdr,

Thanks for the link. Right now I have a 29 with Prizm HOB skimmer. I always thought the bubble trap was to clear the bubbles the skimmer put out.

The skimmer I think I'm going to go with is the MVX 30". Water depth doesn't matter so that would probably be my best option.

I'll mock up my sump tomorrow with the cardboard and post another pic.

On a side note about Refugiums. I had a friend who just tore down his 300. He had a 55 gallon fuge and when he took his skimmer offline his corals went crazy with growth and there were tons of pods in his tank.

rboutin111, glad you're following along.
 

gpwdr

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In my opinion the bubble trap interferes with the flow of detritus thru the bottom of the refugium. I don't want detritus collecting in the pump area.
I'm not an expert with the Triton method. I have been using this method for a year with great results.
 
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Lucas in Alaska

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Here is the new sump layout. Water is now designed to move from left to right. The refugium baffle is 18" tall. Skimmer area 11" and return area 6".
image.jpeg
 

gpwdr

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Looks Good.

You can have the water flow from left to right or right to left your choice.

The height of the baffles from the top of the tank should be equal distance from the top of the tank.
The gap at the bottom of the last baffle on my set up is 1/2". This will allow a bit of forceful flow of water to keep the detritus suspended.

Lucas, You're doing very good planning. I custom built my sump too and made a lot of mistakes. I actually rebuilt the whole sump twice! Your smart and doing it right the first time.

Gene
 

gpwdr

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I made my return chamber baffle to low, limiting the water level possibilities.
PB170006_zpsgt1g3lh5.jpg


The skimmer is on a raised platform to reduce clogging from loose pieces of algae from the refugium. The water flows under neath it. The skimmer is up closer to the lighter than water substances the skimmer needs to clean up.

PB170007_zps5u7f8se3.jpg

PB170008_zpsif21naaj.jpg

PB170009_zpsot4gjxlb.jpg

PB170010_zpswnnxrcad.jpg

PB170011_zpsbr56zent.jpg
 

jetmaker

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I have a trigger ruby 36 I have the skimmer in the first section with the overflow center is fuge and low water end is return.
 

rockerboi09

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I set mine up exactly like yours is planned. The only difference is that I added one last baffle at the end to set a constant height in my skimmer section. I put my pumps for my reactors in my skimmer section too so that I could dose in my return section and not have to worry about anything being filtered out until after it had gone through the entire tank and refugium. You can do it the way you plan to, but I feel that one extra baffle will ensure that the dosing agents don't get filtered through the skimmer before going into the tank and that the water level is constant in the skimmer section.
 
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Lucas in Alaska

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gpwdr, Thanks for the great shots of your sump. I've done quite a bit of reading on your setup. Your display tank looks amazing with good color. How are the serpent stars working out? Also what other work do you need to do to your sump? I'll probably order glass for my sump sometime in the next week.

jetmaker, I originally wanted to do the skimmer section first then refugium and then return. There is a two fold reason I'm following the Triton Method recommendations. First, I have never followed recommendations, I have always done things my own way and sometimes I pay for it in the long run. Second, I want PODS lots and lots of PODS!!! I want the pods fed first before my skimmer takes their food away. Yes I know the skimmer will take some of them away but weather the simmer is in front of or behind the refugium some pods will be removed.

rockerboi09, I was going to add the additional baffle but for right now I'm just going to do the one where all the water will go under the baffle to the return section. I will be using a Venturi skimmer that isn't dependent on a constant water level. I will have a manifold off my return pump that will feed my reactors. the output will go back into the skimmer section.

As far as dosing, I believe if you dose anywhere in your return pump section you shouldn't have a problem with any of the elementz entering the skimmer section and being filtered out. If you have the baffle with water running underneath it one should never have water running from the return section to the skimmer section. Now if you turn off your pump that would be a different story.
 

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