10 gallon sump for a 55 gallon marine tank??

BTB0923

Candiru
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May 2, 2008
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Morrisville, North Carolina
I have an old 10 gallon tank I would like to use as a sump when I convert my 55 gallon over to saltwater. Is a 10 gallon big enough to hold enough media for a 55 gallon marine tank??

Thanks
 

swede

Feeder Fish
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Mar 26, 2009
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ןɟ 'opuɐןɹo ɹɐǝu
should be ok i think. i'm not very expirienced with salt, but that would be fine for FW. my uncle has a 125 gal reef tank and he gets by with a 30 gal sump on his.
 

adammreef

Jack Dempsey
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Jul 22, 2008
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BTB0923;3143729; said:
I have an old 10 gallon tank I would like to use as a sump when I convert my 55 gallon over to saltwater. Is a 10 gallon big enough to hold enough media for a 55 gallon marine tank??

Thanks
What did you plan on using as media in a sw tank? When you calculate you minimum sump size you want to take into account that if the power goes out will your sump be capable of holding enough water from your display from your overflow. The last thing you want is a flood when the power goes out.
 

BTB0923

Candiru
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May 2, 2008
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adammreef;3145850; said:
What did you plan on using as media in a sw tank? When you calculate you minimum sump size you want to take into account that if the power goes out will your sump be capable of holding enough water from your display from your overflow. The last thing you want is a flood when the power goes out.
A-ha, I knew there was something important I wasn't taking into consideration. I'm probably using bio-balls, or maybe live rock if that is the better option (still a newbie to sw). I haven't completed an overflow for the tank yet. I'm thinking about drilling a hole in the bottom in a back corner of the tank. If I put a wall in the corner to act as the overflow I think I should be well under 10 gallons. Thanks!
 

mach_six

Feeder Fish
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Aug 30, 2005
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In a 10g sump you'd just be able to filter for the tank. It would be best to go with a 20G L at least. That way you can put the heater in there, have more room for other things you don't need to hang on the back of the tank like protein skimmer.

I would rather have more filtration than too little because you don't want that to hold you back later on what you keep.

If you plan on keeping just fish then you can use the bio-medial, if you plan on keeping LR or want a reef set up ditch the bio-media crap.

Even if you don't use the sump for wet/dry filtration at least you'll be able to hold more water which should help in maintain stable water parameters. I'm not really sure if that small amount would help it much but doesn't hurt.
 

adammreef

Jack Dempsey
MFK Member
Jul 22, 2008
55
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36
New Jersey
BTB0923;3146120; said:
A-ha, I knew there was something important I wasn't taking into consideration. I'm probably using bio-balls, or maybe live rock if that is the better option (still a newbie to sw). I haven't completed an overflow for the tank yet. I'm thinking about drilling a hole in the bottom in a back corner of the tank. If I put a wall in the corner to act as the overflow I think I should be well under 10 gallons. Thanks!
I would try to stay away from the bio balls they will become a nitrate problem for you in the future. The only thing you really need is live rock, unless you plan to do a reef then it gets a little more complicated. I would try to get the biggest size sump that you can fit under your stand. Not only will it help and volume to your system it will give you a place to store filters, heaters, protein skimmer other reactors. if you do decide to go with a bigger sump then you should also consider reserving a spot for a refugium to grow macroalgae to help remove nutrients from the system and a safe spot to grow amphipods, copepods, and mysid shrimp
 

BTB0923

Candiru
MFK Member
May 2, 2008
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adammreef;3147447; said:
I would try to stay away from the bio balls they will become a nitrate problem for you in the future. The only thing you really need is live rock, unless you plan to do a reef then it gets a little more complicated. I would try to get the biggest size sump that you can fit under your stand. Not only will it help and volume to your system it will give you a place to store filters, heaters, protein skimmer other reactors. if you do decide to go with a bigger sump then you should also consider reserving a spot for a refugium to grow macroalgae to help remove nutrients from the system and a safe spot to grow amphipods, copepods, and mysid shrimp
I am planning on eventually turning this tank into a reef tank, what media other than live rock should be used? Is the refugium a seperate tank from the sump or do you mean reserve a spot within the sump? Is there any reason I can't start with a FOWLR tank and then maybe a month or two from now turn it into a reef tank?
 

julsy

Gambusia
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Jan 23, 2009
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you can more than easily turn a FOWLR tank into a reef tank. Just a precaution ahead of time is to not end up with tank inhabitants that are not reef safe, and trust me, there are a ton of reef safe fish that look amazing out there, and can satisfy your needs. as far as filtration goes, i have a 57gal fuge/sump setup for my 225 reef, i use sand in the fuge, which is inline with the intake and return, my intake of my sump is a tower of live rock, that drops into the next chamber that fources the water upwards to a skimmer, and then into the fuge, through a bubble trap to the return bank, i set mine up so if i need to filter i can simply lower in a media bag into the bubble trap and collect the "crap" before its pumped into the display. main things are some filtration (the live here), skimmer. i use my fuge to grow algae to eat phosphates, the only un natural filtration is the skimmer, hope that gives you an idea
 

yogurt_21

Feeder Fish
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Jun 5, 2009
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I am very interested in this as I am planning to change my 55g to salt next year. I want to do sump filtration with aprotein skimmer and a uv sterilizer (just put a sterlizer on the pond and it worked so well i can't imaging not having one now)

I have a couple of questions,
1. the 55g is long and skinny should I opt for dual inlets one at each end?
2. how many poweheads shoudl i go for? 2? 4?
3. Lighting I have a 48" floruescnet unit on the 55g right now. it currently has a 80w philips plant bulb and a 80w white bulb. it is capable of up to 660w total lights. what standard size 48" bulbs should I get for it?


I will going reef like the op and I will be doing my homework on compatibility. (hence the one year out planning)
 

julsy

Gambusia
MFK Member
Jan 23, 2009
143
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indiana
yogurt_21;3264302; said:
I am very interested in this as I am planning to change my 55g to salt next year. I want to do sump filtration with aprotein skimmer and a uv sterilizer (just put a sterlizer on the pond and it worked so well i can't imaging not having one now)

I have a couple of questions,
1. the 55g is long and skinny should I opt for dual inlets one at each end?
depends on if you decide to drill the tank or not, usually a good hang on overflow works great close to one end, and the return on the other end
2. how many poweheads shoudl i go for? 2? 4?
that all depends on what you want to keep, and how much flow you need, i ran 2 on my 55 with the return counting as the 3rd, kept everything in there
3. Lighting I have a 48" floruescnet unit on the 55g right now. it currently has a 80w philips plant bulb and a 80w white bulb. it is capable of up to 660w total lights. what standard size 48" bulbs should I get for it?
for the lighting you will want to look into a good white, i like the 18k's and a good actinic 460nm or so, the more watts the better, depends on what corals, sps like lots of lights, along with clams, lps/softies dont require as much light but still like a decent amount. 5w/gal is a good estimate


I will going reef like the op and I will be doing my homework on compatibility. (hence the one year out planning)
as far as a sterilizer with a good fuge/sump you wont want one, they can kill alot of the beneficial bacteria in a system, save your money for a good skimmer like a tunze, octopus, deltec, all great skimmers and you will get more from a good skimmer than you will a uv
 
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