Sump thoughts

[Seggsy]

I have a 75g display and a 30g, 3 chamber sump.

Sump right now has:
chamber #1 - overflow comes into it, heater, skimmer
chamber #2 - 1" of sand, rubble, cheato, phosban reactor, (lots of hair algae), clamp on 6500K CF bulb
chamber #3 - return pump

I was thinking a couple of things:
1 - should I get rid of the sand in chamber #2?  I have read a few people suggesting that now
2 - if I stuff the phosban reactor in chamber #1, could I get a better light over chamber #2 and make a mini frag tank?

 

[marks69]

i would get rid of the sand.  if your trying a deep sand bed it's probably not enough area.

 

[Seggsy]

Nah, it's like an inch of sand (same as in the display).  I will ammend my original post to include that info.

 

[pulpfiction1]

too shallow for dsb and not enough area as well,i would use the second chamber for refergium,skimmer internal or external?

 

[Seggsy]

Skimmer is external, phosban could be either, but is external right now.
If I remove the sand from the second chamber - can I leave in cheato, get better lights, and grow out some frags in there?

 

[pulpfiction1]

Skimmer is external, phosban could be either, but is external right now.
If I remove the sand from the second chamber - can I leave in cheato, get better lights, and grow out some frags in there?

thats what i would consider,been runnin dsb here a few years in my display  31x31x6 deep,im still vodka dosing to keep nitrates under control but i have a fairly heavy load and feed quite heavy as well,there will be no dsb in next setup,gonna go with bio pellets so sump will be for more water volume,live rock,mech filtration(sock),drilled for skimmer and reactors etc... i kept as much out of the sump as possible to make the most room for other things like cheato,frags

 

[Seggsy]

I think I might give it a go.
What kind of light would be OK for a 12X16" section of sump?  Probably 8-10" of water.  Not going to have SPS in there, likely just softies.  Are there 12 - 16"  T5 set ups???

 

[pulpfiction1]

the current sump i am building will only have 4ft ,2 bulb T8's with grow bulb and a 6500k bulb from canadian tire,ran this on an earlier sump and things like frogspaen and a couple of leathers done ok,im new to the coral thing since rick introduced me to them about a year or so ago so i really cant advise you on the light requirements for softies,but cheato and other alges like a lower temp of light

 

[Seggsy]

OK - sand is gone, fuge is clean and even clear of equipment.
I assume that the 6500k spiral light bulb won't be enough for coral.  I will need to find a light - hopefully to only focus on the middle chamber.

 

[Seggsy]

???
Hmmmm, did some calculations - the 12X12X12 area that I want as my fuge/frag area is exactly 1/10 the volume of my 75g display (like exactly 1/10, it was weird).

I know watts is not the best comparison amoung, lights.....but if I have 300W of T5 in the display, I wonder, could I just get 2 of the spiral CF bulbs and throw them over the fuge???  I think I can find 13W 6500K bulbs.

 

[shayneh]

You can buy actinic CF bulbs....I would use a combination of 6500k and actinic.

You'd be surprised what you can keep under them.

 

[Seggsy]

Wow - where do I buy an actinic spiral CF?  Cool to hear that - I will have to look around the couple of stores in Windsor.  Maybe even Petsmart?

 

[shayneh]

I would think it better to save yourself the gas and time as I highly doubt petsmart will carry them although it would be great to see the person working there scrunch up their face when you ask about an actinic CF bulb. Better to ask one of the many stores on the forum if they can send you one. Another thing to look for is the small little coralife light fixtures that come with 2 9w linear pc bulbs (one 6500k and one actinic) or you could also use LED. Lots of options available LOL!

 

[Seggsy]

Thanks for the advice - Pro Fish had a 50/50 cf in stock, so I grabbed that.  Will have to get/make a better reflector at some point, but no rush.

All the sand is gone, and frag-fuge is in effect!  Hopefully I will have some frags up in a month or so.

 

[pulpfiction1]

"small little coralife light fixtures" i have one of these little fixtures,bulbs are probably 7 months used,ill sell it cheap if your interested

 

[Seggsy]

\"small little coralife light fixtures\" i have one of these little fixtures,bulbs are probably 7 months used,ill sell it cheap if your interested

Lemme see how the $25 cf bulb works out!

 

[pulpfiction1]

[quote author=pulpfiction1 link=topic=759.msg5276#msg5276 date=1302547043]
\"small little coralife light fixtures\" i have one of these little fixtures,bulbs are probably 7 months used,ill sell it cheap if your interested

Lemme see how the $25 cf bulb works out!
[/quote]

you bet,id let you have this for $20

 

[Seggsy]

DOH!