advice needed for 600 gallon beginner

[shark_curious]

thats what i was initially thinking, but looking back i may not have explaine myself very well.

yea i figured as long as the scrubbie container(s) is raised about 4 inches higher than the one with equipment id be ok. also. im not to sure if i just havent ran across this idea yet or if theres a reason. im not to sure what to call it, but the pvc run from the bottom of the overflow to the sump. could i branch it off into many tubes over the scrubbies and have holes drilled in it. then run the remaining water into the container with the pumps to rid any back pressure (vs the idea of expecting all of the flow thru the holes and into the scrubbies). or is this even making sense?

also my really bad drawing of what i was thinking is the last post on page 11 (sorry, can't reupload it here cuz im not on the same computer), that was the overall idea i was trying to get across though. multiple containers and using gravity to pull the water down to the equipment container.

 

[clekchau]

i currently have a large fowlr in the making a little smaller than yours and planning a bigger one. i wouldn't put a canister filter, scrubbies, bioballs etc

i would do live rock, big skimmer and carbon dosing if needed or a big refugium. bioballs are nitrate factories. not as big of a factor in a fowlr but live rock as a biological filter has always yielded good results for me, i had wet dry for years, my nitrates were always over 50 ppm, now its barely detectable.

let me know if you have questions, i've been thru exactly what you are going thru years ago.

 

[clekchau]

My husband and I are currently working on a 900 Gallon tank and for the sumps/refugium and what not I was thinking of VERY LARGE plastic tubs. Actually a horse troft is what I plan to use. I was reading on the DIY part here the other day about a 1400 gallon tank and this is what the guy used.

I thought about buying a used tank or making one, but we are building the tank and everything that goes with it (with in reason) ie not the pumps lol. And so building a sump was just not what I wanted to add to my to do list. I havent priced them at all so cost may be an issue however, it cuts out the leak factor and, for me, the worry over leaks... makes this opt a much more viable one. There is nothing like having peace of mind.

Sabrina Kelley Roschbach
Pearland Texas

rubbermaid stock tanks are great for this and sold at tractor supply. i have 3 of them.

 

[FLESHY]

Most of the time people do not use scrubbies on SW.

I wouldnt even use scrubbies on freshwater.

I have used scrubbies on large systems (640g, 5500g) but they were washed out bi-weekly, and I only used the plastic exteriors, not the sponge interior as I was worried that they would (and rightly so) trap detritus. Which, in a SW aquarium will give you the dreaded "Nitrate Factory"