Quote:
Originally Posted by TripleT
Hey, thanks...
I like the idea of redundant heaters 
Can you tell me why no egg crate for sand. My reasoning, to stop goby from displacing all sand from open spaces in tank.
I am reading this thread: http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1541946 right now. And it is long...
Terry |
Because you'll end up seeing egg crate when the goby and powerheads blow the sand off, leaving bare patches. Unless your sand bed is quite deep, having bare patches with visible, unsightly egg crate is very likely.
I would also plan on using as big a sump tank as can fit in your stand, which would allow you to have one section set up for your skimmer & other equipment and a second section for a refugium and a third section for a return pump. A large sump tank has the benefit of giving you more "wiggle room" in case of power outage cause your sump can hold more water draining from your display tank without overflowing. A small sump makes fitting a good sized skimmer a potential issue, as well as increases the risk of overflowing if power is shut off and water drains down.
For instance, if you use a 50g breeder (36" x 18" x 18"), you could have a skimmer section (set up by siliconing a baffle 8" or 9" tall to the bottom and sides) that is 18" x 18" (which is big enough for any size skimmer you would ever need for your 90g). Siliconing the first baffle to the sump bottom creates a stable water level for your skimmer to improve overall skimmer efficiency.
Then on the other end of your sump, about 6" from the end, you could silicone another baffle raised about a cm or two off the bottom and only attached on the sides. This would serve as your return pump section (18" x 6" which is again bigger than any return pump you would need for this tank). This then creates a middle refugium section that is 18" x 12" where you could grow your cheato or other macro-algae. If using a small return, you could even leave that space only 4" wide, leaving you with a 18" x 14" refugium section. The refugium section in the middle, along with the raised second baffle also helps eliminate any microbubbles from your skimmer in the first section (known as the skimmer box).
Hope this sump design explanation is understandable. Having the refugium separate creates another potential point for failure or leakage, so incorporating a refugium section into a bigger sump tank eliminates that risk and your need to have a separate pump to feed your "remote" or separate refugium.
Alternatively, if you could fit an even bigger sump tank inside your stand, you could add one full size baffle and create a reservoir for freshwater for your auto-top-off in a fourth section.