A few Q's for the more Knowledgable.

[HaZRaTTy]

Hey,

I'm farily new to CanReef and the SW world. I've been on the fence about setting up a smaller 20-30G Reef tank with a 10-15G Sump. I need a few quick questions cleared up.

First I was wondering what size over drain holes would be great for draining. It will be harder to explain without pictures but I"ll try. I figure I would make 1 Drain pumped up into 1 return. I also plan on having a power head to create flow against the return flow coming from the sump across my Nano reef.

Also what size sump pump would I need to look at? GPH? Min/Max? I plan on going with a Bio Filter w/ Live Rock and a Ref in the Sump.

Any tips on a great sump design, at this time I don't plan on going with a skimmer. I have a Sump in mind but I wouldn't mind some suggestions.

I believe i'm going to be purchasing a 1 250W MH 4-T5HO Lighting system.

Anyways that's all for now I appreciate any replies, feel free to PM me as well.

[ScubaSteve]

Hey,

I'm farily new to CanReef and the SW world. I've been on the fence about setting up a smaller 20-30G Reef tank with a 10-15G Sump. I need a few quick questions cleared up.

First I was wondering what size over drain holes would be great for draining. It will be harder to explain without pictures but I"ll try. I figure I would make 1 Drain pumped up into 1 return. I also plan on having a power head to create flow against the return flow coming from the sump across my Nano reef.

Also what size sump pump would I need to look at? GPH? Min/Max? I plan on going with a Bio Filter w/ Live Rock and a Ref in the Sump.

Any tips on a great sump design, at this time I don't plan on going with a skimmer. I have a Sump in mind but I wouldn't mind some suggestions.

I believe i'm going to be purchasing a 1 250W MH 4-T5HO Lighting system.

Anyways that's all for now I appreciate any replies, feel free to PM me as well.

Hey! Welcome to CanReef... and the new addiction MWAHAHAHAHA!

So to answer your questions in order of appearance....

For your tank I'd do two 1" drains (for redundancy) or do a beananimal-style over flow (google it for details). A single 3/4" or 1" return would suffice, but I'd be inclined to use two smaller ones.

As for your return pump, look up a program called "Pump Head Loss Calculator". It let's you select almost any pump on the market and will calculate the ACTUAL flow rate based on how high you are pumping, piping size, number of bends, etc. You can play with the different pumps for your design then go buy the one that works best. Don't go by the manufacturers rated flow as this is the flow at 0 ft of head. Pick your turn over based on what you plan to keep. I keep SPS so I have my turn over about 35x. Everyone has differing opinions on this but the rule of thumb is less for softies, more for SPS and LPS are somewhere in between... this is not a hard and fast rule. If your pump is strong enough, you won't need a powerhead in the tank.

Look at Melev's site (I think it's called Melev's Reef) for some good sump designs. I recommend making the sump as big as you can realistically allow and leave a spot to accommodate a skimmer. While I highly a skimmer, I'm not going to yarp at you about it. I know lots of people, including myself, who have kept nice reefs without skimmers. The skimmer definitely makes a difference though, so plan ahead and at least give yourself that option in the sump if you change your mind.

There are various schools of thought on sump design... some people like LR filled sumps, some like them bare, some people put sand beds, some people do refugiums... they all have their strengths. Go with the design that suits your needs. If you want to keep fish like mandarins or wrasses that love to pick at the copepods on the rocks, then a refugium is probably the way to go. Others may disagree with me but design your system to have a low flow rate through the fuge... too high of a flow stops a fuge from becoming a good, solid system and carries away to many of the pods to allow a good population to build.

Normally I advocate high lighting but that MH system might be a little overkill over a 20G... it'd be better over a 30 to 40G. I used 150W over my 20 and it was TONS of light. I now have a 250W over my 40G and it seems about just right... maybe even a little on the too much side.

[HaZRaTTy]

First thanks for the reply Steve. I must admit though this Isnt the start of an addiction to fish keeping as I have been a fresh water guy for a long time! Trying something new as I always wanted a reef and I feel confident enough to take on t he challenge.

I Definetly will look into that style overflow when I hit a computer, work is starting to get in the way of my research hahaha. I was thinking of doing dual returns but how well is one pump split between two returns? I was also trying to figure out how to maybe have a ref drain on return and it overflow into the sump and the other return gostraight to the sump. As you suggest a sump for such a small tank I'm throw. Inbetween yes and no, that I am going to decide later as I want to plan so I can make the addition later with no problems.

Now for lighting, do you think a single 4 bulb t5ho system will be enough for corals. Also would a single 250w mh do the trick alone? Lighting is the part I figured I would go bigger and balance height? What lighting unto would you suggest?

[whatcaneyedo]

Head loss calculator http://reefcentral.com/index.php/head-loss-calculator
Melev's Reef - Sumps http://www.melevsreef.com/links.html

"As you suggest a sump for such a small tank I'm throw." What?

A four bulb T5 would work well or I'd go with a 150W MH. Even a single 250W for a shallow nano-tank would be overkill.

Eheim pumps are an excellent small pump.

A two drain overflow is typically called a Herbie Overflow and will fit a 20gal tank much easier than a bean-animal which are pretty elaborate and require three holes.

[HaZRaTTy]

"As you suggest a sump for such a small tank I'm throw." What?

Sorry that was meaning to be **Protein Skimmer not Sump. That's what I get for not proof reading and the reply coming from the iPhone.

K so i'm not getting confused here

2 Drain overflow - 2 Overflow boxes and 2 Return holes?

or 1 Overflow box 1 Return?

[whatcaneyedo]

Herbie Overflow. Google image search it.

No need to drill for your returns unless you really want to. You can just have them curve over the back of the tank.

[HaZRaTTy]

Sounds good

Thanks for the information.

[RuGlu6]

http://www.melevsreef.com/links.html