what should i put in my sump?

[PrettyBoy]

hey guys im about to create my sump and put my skimmer in it,im going to divid my sump in three parts im going to use a 20g long tank what should i put in the other two empty spot

 

[nanoreefer22]

Ok.
1 part for your skimmer
1 part for your return(The end opposite the drain)
1 part for a refugium(If you want)

My sump is 2 parts one for skimmer and 1 for return.

 

[PrettyBoy]

refugium should just be rocks and sand

 

[DEEPWATER]

refugium should just be rocks and sand

you should put cheato in your fuge.Live sand if you want

 

[PrettyBoy]

you should put cheato in your fuge.Live sand if you want

what are cheato and what would the sand do and should it go before the skimmer or after

 

[NYPDFrogman]

sorry I cant resist.... WATER

:joke:

 

[alistair]

any salt in that water?

 

[House of Laughter]

LOL
good one

Sand (if you want) helps denitrify
Chaeto (is a macro algae) helps to export unwanted nutirents etc (phosphates)
Live rock (very little - too much wohtout good flow is a nitrate trap) to help as filtration
Skimmer goes before fuge and return
Amphipods and Copepods - beneficial organisms to feed the tank
Heater and misc equipment (keeps them out of your display)

And a link from Deanos on the why to's of sumps/refugiums would really help you (read first) would really help.

House

 

[PrettyBoy]

where can i get cheato from, do regular pet stores have them?i would like to get some now

 

[nanoreefer22]

Most people would jsut give you some....

 

[PrettyBoy]

does anyone have cheatos i need some im trying to finish my sump by tomorrow or maybe after

 

[Tim]

I have some if you want to come over and grab some.....Tim

 

[Tonyscoots84]

sorry I cant resist.... WATER

:joke:

i was so gonna say that.. he beat me to it.. lolzz..




this is the setup that im gonna do.. left side is skimmer and intake from main tank. left is also intake from main and also were the live rock live sand and some cheato is gonna go... and the middle is the return.. drawing is not drawn to scale but it will resemble that....

 

[Pili]

Prettyboy, just remember that cheato is basically a plant and needs light so you will need a light over it. Small power compacts in the 18w-32w and 6500k-10000K work very well.

 

[Tonyscoots84]

oops yea good eyes pili.. forgot to mention about the light... i didnt include it in my drawing it would get to messy and not understandable....

 

[Tim]

Tony you might be getting too much flow like that.A refug. needs low flow in order to work correctly.Make one side the sump and the other side the fuge and you can feed it with a small pump attached to a phosban reactor going into the fuge than overflowing back into the sump.....