The Dromaeosaurus 30 gallon tank

[Dromaeosaurus]

Hi All:
I now have my 30 gallon with 10 gallon sump up and running. The DT has a Coralife compact fluorescent lights (65W actinic and 65W 10K). I installed a Glass-Holes nano overflow that runs down to the 10G sump. The sump has a sock filter, Tunze skimmer, and an Eheim 1048 pump for return. My plan is to create a refugium area in the sump at some point. Any ideas on how to divide it up?

The flow through the sump is fairly low. But I have a Koralia 3 that really creates a typhoon in the tank when it is on. The Koralia in the pic is a nano, which does not do much.

I ordered 45lbs live rock from LiveAquaria that should be arriving next week. The sand in the pic is dry, so there is nothing alive in the aquarium yet.

The water is deionized and then I added Instant Ocean salt. Does the salt mix include the alkalinity I need or do I need to add a marine buffer? And if so can I use my Seachem alkaline buffer or do I need to get the marine buffer?

Also I'm concerned about spills, of course. Did I do anything dangerous in my setup? I have a one-way valve on the return flow, although as it is setup now the return line is above the water line anyway. I tried shutting off power and everything quietly shutdown. The only real bad possibility I think would be a blockage of the glass-holes overflow.

Thanks for looking. I'll post more pics next week when my rock arrives.

 

[Aquatic Life Direct]

for the sump... i would have one partition on in front of the drain and two partitions behind the return pump which would leave enough room for the refugium. I would also move the protein skimmer into the drain area. If you are worried about trace elements i would switch to reef crystals. The salt mix already has buffer but I would add the buffer to your top off water. I dont see anything wrong with the actual setup but I would make sure all the electrical stuff is not on the floor incase. If you search on refugium setups, you can get an idea how you want to create the partitions...

can you get any pics of the overflow? Just curious how its setup is..

 

[jadakiss]

Ur tank looks nice can't wait to c it with fish and rocks. But I think in the future ur going to get a new tank reef tank ready with the holes drilled . I was scared to death to get a over flow.

 

[Dromaeosaurus]

Thanks jadakiss. I wasn't too worried about drilling the glass. The only think that really scares me is water flooding my apartment.

 

[seascape]

put a check valae in also lower the level of water in the sump it doesnt need to be that full.you always want enough room for the tank above to be able to drain down pass the groves in the overflows and the check valve will go into the return line so you dont have back flow from siphoning.

 

[dubs]

even tho u have a check valve for extra security i would drill a small hole just below the water line just in case ur check valve get jam if u ever get power out other than that ur setup look nice good luck

 

[rookie07]

Also, you dont want the towels under the tank/sump. They will get wet, and very smelly!
If you want to reduce noise from vibration, they sell a black rubber mat in chinatown

 

[Dromaeosaurus]

My live rock arrived today from Pacific East Aquaculture. It looks great, and exactly as advertised. It looks a little bleached in the photo, but theres a lot of colorful coralline growth, mostly purple. It doesn't smell at all, so I imagine it will not need to cure for long.

I need to work on the aquascaping this weekend. I want to try to stack it so it looks more open.