Plumbing/Overflow Questions

[philg3]

Some of you may remember me asking some questions regarding overflows and beananimals and internal weirs etc. a couple of months ago for an upcoming 58 gallon Oceanic tank that i had picked up.

I took some advice given here and decided to cut a notch in the back of the tank and an external overflow running along the back. The Tank is at the local glass shop right now getting Return holes drilled and the notch cut. They're also going to euro brace it for extra support (not sure if this is necessary - Oceanic = 1/2" glass)

Now i've got some new questions that you guys will hopefully be able to help me with.

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Here is a diagram i drew up while at work (MS Paint FTW!!)

Most of it is labelled pretty well, i even included a legend (way too much spare time last night...).

My first question is regarding the Refugium. Does the plumbing make sense to you veteran guys out there? I was trying to make a combo Refugium and Quarantine Tank, where i can remove this tank from the system by flipping a few valves, and then have a safe place to keep new or fragile frags and fish. This seems like a good idea but I havent really come across this setup, and experience says usually there is a reason it isnt used that I never even considered.

I havent even bought this tank yet, but i recently moved my sump to the new stand and found there was some extra room, enough to fit a 12x12 cube pretty nicely. Ill have to raise it up to fit it correctly, but that will work since I can drill it and gravity feed to the sump.

The Live Rock section that the Refugium overflows into was my old refugium, and i figure ill just load it up with live rock rubble and some Pod Condo's (http://www.thereeftank.com/forums/f76/diy-pod-condos-92373.html?highlight=pod+condo) I think the pod condo's are genius, and am doing my best to make this tank Mandarin friendly. The tons of Rubble should be a great place for pods to breed, and the condo's will let me rotate between the display and the Pod orgy to keep the Mandarins nice and fat.

And here is another question that has been floating around in my head while planning all this. If i culture Phytoplankton to feed the Pods, can i just add the Phyto straight to the tank? As far as i can tell it should act as another food source for the Filter feeding corals as well, but i havent been able to find anything about feeding the copepod production inside the tank, and dont want to dump a whole bunch of algae into my tank without knowing the full consequences.

Deep Sand Bed in the Refugium? I havent used a DSB before, and would like some thoughts. Mud? Bare Bottom? what do you guys think for the Quarantine set up? which would work best? It would be nice to have some space in there for fish, instead of 5 inches of sand.

Next is regarding Flood protection. I want this bad boy safe, like fail safe never get my floor wet again safe. Im still fairly new to the hobby (ie. 8 months - this will be the third tank.) and my last set up seemed less then bulletproof with the CPR50 Overflow and no safety's. When i went away earlier this summer my roommates didnt top off the water enough and eventually the pump started running dry, and then flooding and then i was getting crazy calls in europe.

So since the third pipe in the overflow box is emergency only, i was wondering if i could set up a bucket or something to drain for emergencies only. Maybe a small hole in the top corner of the sump could gravity feed the bucket as well. This could help stop the Sump from overflowing as well. The Overflow from the Fuge to the Sump will probably be two 1/2" pipes in case one of them clogs/fails. Usually this wouldnt be an issue but im worried my Sump is undersized and may not take The full Overflow Box and all the water up to the returns. Hopefully someone has dealt with this before and has a clever solution.

Lastly i wanted some feedback on the return pump Size for this tank, and whether i should add a SCWD between the two returns for more random flow. Hopefully i will only have to add a Vortech MP10, but eventually might need an MP40 or two MP10's. Vortechs are definately the way to go, but daaamn i could buy a decent LCD TV for the price of a 40.
Here is some info on the SCWD, it basically would just switch the flow back and forth between the returns Mechanically. Does anyone have any experience with this product?

http://www.marinedepot.com/SCWD_Wavemaker_Switching_Current_Water_Director_(S quid)_1_inch_External_Wavemakers_for_Aquariums-3IQ_Ventures-3Q1111-FIWMEW-3Q1113-vi.html


So to Recap:
-Refuge/Quarantine Plumbing
-Phytoplankton dosing
-DSB/Mud/BB?
-Flood Protection
-Return Pump/SCWD

thanks alot in advance guys i appreciate any and all feedback!!

[Lampshade]

The link didn't seem to work for the picture.

[philg3]

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[philg3]

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[philg3]

Okay... I'm home now, ill post some pics that work


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I gave these to the Glass Shop

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[syncro]

DSB: I did some research on DSB and found two schools of thought. The Anthony Calfo 'DSB in a bucket' used purely for nitrate reduction. He still recommends aggressive skimming and I believe other filtration - live rock, carbon, etc... My feeling is this is an option to consider once a tank is running for a while and still has high nitrates. The other school of thought is the Ron Shimek DSB which is intended as the primary filtration method. He recommends a DSB in the display tank so that it is large enough and is taken care of. There are some good examples of this type of tank but it seemed to me that a relatively small percentage of successful tanks are run this way. I think you have to stock lighter and at a slower rate.

Also here is some research that indicates deep sand beds are beneficial. http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2005/7/aafeature


I've decided to go skimmer + shallow sand bed. Take all this with a grain of salt, this is my first tank.

[syncro]

Bulletproofing:

- I figure it is safer to keep the water in the system. Can you run the sump at a lower water level so it can handle any extra water from the display tank? I've also read the beananimal overflow will sometimes use the emergency drain when starting up.

- Another option is an aquarium controller with a water level sensor or 'water on floor' sensor that will shut down the pumps. I'd prefer that to be a backup.

- Check valves might be an option. I've read they often fail so they should be used as a second or third backup.

[philg3]

I'll read some more about Calfo's DSB bucket and see if i can make it work for this system.

Although i have never seen a Bean in real life, i wouldnt be surprised if the emergency standpipe overflowed a little while the water level was stabilizing.

Check Valves seem like the simple answer, but I have read about them failing as well, so that isnt exactly bulletproof. I have a DA RKL controller, and have been looking at programming some float switches, but they arent really fail-safe either. I guess noones setup is ever really bulletproof, but it would be nice if i could shoot guns in my living room without worrying about getting my feet wet, or at least go away for a day or two without stressing.

Currently i have my pump in sump, but if i drill the tank for an external pump it might make more room for Water Volume as well as allowing me to run the return chamber less full without the pump running dry. There are some space restrictions that I might have to work out.

The pump I currently have is a Sedra 7000, but I think that will have to be upgraded for this system. Anyone have any recommendations as far as Pump brand and size?