need advice
Rachel,
First of all, let me ask you: What type of corals do you intend to keep in this tank? The reason that I ask is because a reef tank can be quite successful with a Live Deep Sand Bed, however, if you intend to have a predominantly SPS reef tank then my experience leads me to suggest that you not put a DSB in the main display tank, and instead put it in your sump. Granted, there are many successful reef tanks with DSBs that are SPS dominated, the problem that arises is that with the high laminar water currents that SPS enjoy for optimal health, the high degree of water flow tends to cause the unpleasant result of kicking up a lot of the fine sand grains and depositing them in the LR and on corals. Clearly this is not a "good thing" *in my best Martha Stewart impression*
Now, this problem can be compounded if you use a substrate as fine as crushed dolomite in the display and have high water flow. Ron Shimek and Rob Toonen both agree that DSBs may not be the best choice for SPS dominated tanks. In fact, Ron Shimek's tank(s) are predominantly LPS and Softies. Eric Borneman goes about solving this problem by having a rather complicated series of "filters" plumbed together. You won't really need to do this, and your solution could easily be to make sure that your sump (or possibly entirely separate refugium) is a decent size, and then place the DSB in there. This has the added benefit of leaving the majority of sand bed unobstructed by LR, whereas in your display tank, much of the surface of the sand bed is obstructed by the LR. Increasing the exposed area of sand aids in the DSBs nitrogen/nutrient fixing capabilities.
I also highly recommend you have the tank drilled. Seastar will drill tanks. However, they are supposed to be a wholesale company, so technically they're not supposed to do any business with you unless you're a business owner. But, truth be told, sometimes they'll ignore this formality [img]images/smiles/icon_smile.gif[/img]
Your UV sterilizer is a special case. (I won't comment on whether or not it's necessary) The wattage of your UV sterilizer will dictate at what rate the water should flow through the unit. So while the simple solution would be to plumb the UV Sterilizer on the output side of your return pump from your sump, it's likely not a reasonable one. If you really want the UV Sterilizer incorporated somewhere in the system, you're best bet will be to have it in the last chamber of your sump, hooked up to its own pump which is rated for the flow rate appropriate for your specific UV Sterilizer.
I apologize for the lengthy reply, but I've been catching up with what has been posted on a lot of the boards recently and I've noticed that there are a lot of inexperienced people espousing inaccurate advice ad nauseum. And seeing that you're intending to "restart" your tank with the intention of "doing things right" I thought I'd help you make an informed decision.
[ 20 January 2002: Message edited by: Canadian ]</p>
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