Hi all! I finally bit the bullet and picked up a 40 gal IM Nuvo Fusion AIO on Craigslist. My previous tank was a 10 gal IM Nuvo Fusion Nanno AIO adopted from a friend who moved away last year so I'm still relatively new to reefing. But I'm hooked! It speaks to my inner chemist and my love of animals, both! It only took a couple of live sales to convince me that I needed a bigger tank.
I recently transferred my livestock to the new 40 gal AIO tank, and they seem to be doing well, but I have a question. My 10 gal was connected to a Skymz Sumpro Up18 sump. I didn't drill any holes in my tank, though, so I had a small pump that pumped water from the back overflow compartment to the sump and a second pump that brought the water back into the main tank. Unfortunately, we had a couple of episodes where the pump from the DT to the sump did not keep up with the pump from the sump to the DT. The DT would overflow and, since the sump level would decrease, the ATO would completely empty the 2 gallon ATO reservoir into the sump. Not nice for my wood floors but livestock did ok.
The sump currently has a Theiling Compact Rollermat, an IM Desktop Nuvoskim DC protein skimmer, a Tunze Osmolator Nano ATO, a titanium heater (don't remember which one), some Marinepure Gems ceramic media, and some chaeto and sea lettuce algae.
The overflow of the new 40 gal tank has a filter sock on one side and a filter chamber with filter floss balls and a bag of charcoal on the other. In one of the chambers, there is a glass heater and an IM Skimmate Ghost protein skimmer. I run the ZeoVit system so there is currently a bag of Zeovit in one chamber but this will be switched out with the Desktop Minimax Pro media reactor that had been running the Zeovit in the 10 gal. I've moved the Tunze Osmolator Nano ATO sensor to the middle chamber and connected to a 5 gal bucket with RO/DI water that I make myself. I use Tropic Marin Pro-Reef salt to make my salt water.
I have a Seneye Reefer sensor constantly monitoring the temperature, ammonia, nitrate, and pH as well as PAR/PUR light measurements. I use Hannah sensors for salinity, alkalinity, phos, and calcium and Salifert kits for magnesium and nitrite.
I've attached a picture of the current tank setup. I'm waiting to dismantle the 10 gallon until I'm sure I got all the snails out. Then I can work on some major cord management. Most of my coral is still on frag racks, waiting for me to decide their placement in the new tank. The ugly DIY rack in the middle of the tank is sitting on the rocks since it hangs too high in the bigger tank and the frags weren't happy there. That will be gone soon!
My question is: Should I keep the sump and connect it to my new 40 gallon AIO. If so, is there a better system for the overflow with this kind of tank, short of drilling holes for a bulkhead?
I can't wait to hear what people think and if there are some words of wisdom out there for this relatively new reefer! Thanks!!
I recently transferred my livestock to the new 40 gal AIO tank, and they seem to be doing well, but I have a question. My 10 gal was connected to a Skymz Sumpro Up18 sump. I didn't drill any holes in my tank, though, so I had a small pump that pumped water from the back overflow compartment to the sump and a second pump that brought the water back into the main tank. Unfortunately, we had a couple of episodes where the pump from the DT to the sump did not keep up with the pump from the sump to the DT. The DT would overflow and, since the sump level would decrease, the ATO would completely empty the 2 gallon ATO reservoir into the sump. Not nice for my wood floors but livestock did ok.
The sump currently has a Theiling Compact Rollermat, an IM Desktop Nuvoskim DC protein skimmer, a Tunze Osmolator Nano ATO, a titanium heater (don't remember which one), some Marinepure Gems ceramic media, and some chaeto and sea lettuce algae.
The overflow of the new 40 gal tank has a filter sock on one side and a filter chamber with filter floss balls and a bag of charcoal on the other. In one of the chambers, there is a glass heater and an IM Skimmate Ghost protein skimmer. I run the ZeoVit system so there is currently a bag of Zeovit in one chamber but this will be switched out with the Desktop Minimax Pro media reactor that had been running the Zeovit in the 10 gal. I've moved the Tunze Osmolator Nano ATO sensor to the middle chamber and connected to a 5 gal bucket with RO/DI water that I make myself. I use Tropic Marin Pro-Reef salt to make my salt water.
I have a Seneye Reefer sensor constantly monitoring the temperature, ammonia, nitrate, and pH as well as PAR/PUR light measurements. I use Hannah sensors for salinity, alkalinity, phos, and calcium and Salifert kits for magnesium and nitrite.
I've attached a picture of the current tank setup. I'm waiting to dismantle the 10 gallon until I'm sure I got all the snails out. Then I can work on some major cord management. Most of my coral is still on frag racks, waiting for me to decide their placement in the new tank. The ugly DIY rack in the middle of the tank is sitting on the rocks since it hangs too high in the bigger tank and the frags weren't happy there. That will be gone soon!
My question is: Should I keep the sump and connect it to my new 40 gallon AIO. If so, is there a better system for the overflow with this kind of tank, short of drilling holes for a bulkhead?
I can't wait to hear what people think and if there are some words of wisdom out there for this relatively new reefer! Thanks!!