Need help starting my Sump/fuge

[MikeDeL]

Ok so I have my sump/fuge built now and put together a light for it. I stole the 24w PC out of my stock nano cube hood when I bought the quadlight. Here is my shoping list.
CPR BakPak
PanWorld 30px return pump
SCWD
Any suggestions on differant equipment would help.
Now come some more questions. Im fixing to set up the fuge and get it cycling. Im going to order 5 pounds of garf grundge from GARF, find someone with some sand to trade and buy one of these refugium kits from florida pets. http://floridapets.tripod.com/refug.html
Im not sure if I should buy the "Booster Mix" the "Starter Mix" or the "Macro Booster" and buy my own snails and stuff. Which do yall think would be best? What other critters should I stock my fuge with? should I keep any astreas of hermits or anything in there? Should I build a plenum for the sand bed?

Now for plumbing. Havent done much plumbing before so I have a million dumb question on it.
-What size bulk head should I use for the overflow?
-I want the use vinyl hose instead of PVC for my plumbing, so what size tubing should I get?
-What do I need to get to connect the tubing to the PVC.
-I would also like to run my lines through the top of my stand behind my tank. I was thinking if taking a hole saw and cutting holes in the top of the stand and getting something I could mount to the top of the stand and attach vinyl tubing to it on top and bottom, that way I have something like a water fixture behind the tank instead of hoses hanging there.
-Also thinking of drilling holes for the returns. what size bulk heads would I need for these holes. I was thinking one on th left and one on the right.
-Is something like this MPPC2, seen here http://www.premiumaquatics.com/Merc..._Code=lockline, what I would need to connect the return nozzles to the bulkheads?
Like I said before I have never done anything like this before, but if yall help me figure out what all I will need for this project Im sure I can figure out how to put it all together. I will just need to make sure I add a mop and a few extra buckets to the shopping list before I turn everything on.
Im sure I will have lots more questions during this project, but this should get me pointed in the right direction.


Thanks,
Mike

 

[sawyerc]

I just skimmed cause i don't have much time. A few quick answers with more on the way. I just finished plumbing my own tank for the first time so i know that it's a little scary. Go to www.savko.com. They are an online plumbing place and have really cheap bulkheads. Each bulkhead says the diameter tubing that it accepts and then also the diameter hole that you need. Make sure you get slip/slip if you want to put PVC into it. The light duty ones are more than sufficient for tanks. You should consider using flexible PVC. It has the advantage of being flexible like vinyl, but it's easier to incorporate into bulkheads and valves and such. You glue it with PVC glue which is very easy to use, just follow the instrcuctions on the package. Flexible PVC is also harder to kink, opaque so you don't have algae problems, and relatively cheap. Only disadvantage is once you glue it, it's there for good. Therefore you must put unions before and after your pump. These allow you to remove the pump without destroying the plumbing. Savko carries flexible PVC as well as all sorts of PVC valves and unions.

One inch tubing is supposed to be able to handle about 600 gph as an overflow. I use my with about 400 gph with no problems. I use 3/4 inch for my return to my 55 gallon tank.

I have heard SQWDs produce a lot of head pressure so be sure to account for that when calculating pump size.

I just got a Wave2k wavemaker and I LOVE it. I would recomend it as an alternative if you have time/patiences/money.

GARF is great and they also have hermits and snails they sell for a dollar each. These are the best surviving cleanup crew that I've tried. With the grunge, you might not even need to order from anyone else and sometimes they'll send you a free coral frag :-D

Personally, I would omit the plenum and keep the sand bed but that's a whole 'nother thread.

Hope this helps.

Sawyer

 

[MikeDeL]

I guess I should mention, the sump fuge is a 10g tank and will be plumbed to my 10 gallon nano. So what types snails and crabs would be good for a fuge? Should I keep some feather dusters or xenia in there as well? are there any other critters that are a must for a fuge?


Thanks for the help,
Mike

 

[sawyerc]

Whaahhh!! We're talkin' tiny!! Okay that changes things a bit. Vinyl will probably work then. As for the organisms to in there, I guess it depends on what the purpose of the fuge is. If it's nutrient export then you don't want snails because they'll just put more waste into the water. If it's just for fun/looks, then do what you want. If it's for biodiversity and coral feeding (that's another thread as well) then you might want some snails and crabs to keep things moving and clean but not so many to signifcantly impact your microfauna. I wouldn't put xenia in a system so small personally because I think it would be likely to crash and kill everything, though it is a good nutrient exporter. Don't have much experience with feather dusters besides the little tiny ones that grow all over my rock.

 

[sawyerc]

The grunge has all the essentials: bristle worms, other worms, tiny star fish, copepods, amphipods,