Hi All,
Any advice would be great.
have been battling nitrates for a while now - and i have accepted that despite decreasing feeding, water changes, low levels of fish, and wofting rocks and EVERYTHING else, i 100% need to install a sump, with a skimmer and run a NP bio pellet reactor..
So..background story over & onto the point of the thread..
I currently have a (around about) 100 gal acrylic marine system - been running about 4 months).. i have sourced and plan to install a sump below it (space is a non-issue for now).
So: Sump size is 30 X 18 X 12 inches (28 US Gallons) - big enough? also - are separators within the Sump 100% necessary (please let me know about this as I am planning to not install seperators)?
I plan on having - filter sponges, rowaphos, active carbon (these 3 I already have in the system), Bubble Magus Curve 5 Skimmer, Nutrifix Media Reactor (goodbye nitrates), and pump wise I will use my spare Eheim compact 3000. also I will run filter socks to collect large bits of debris. I will move some live rock from the DT into the sump too once it's all up & running.
So firstly - if anyone thinks my plan of the above is not good enough or is not going to work feel free to criticise - i want to learn!
But mainly, i have the drill i need and the bits... the only thing i am unsure about is the size of bulkheads i need.... i am not great with DIY but my dad is and is happy to help, providing i know what i need to do....
Am i correct in thinking that after drilling the holes, bulkheads are all i need? i've read that you dont even need to use silicon with them? (or is that not true?) What size bulkheads should i use? Based on my reading I think i need 1" for the hole which is going from tank -> sump?.. would the hole be the same size for the return side of the system?
Can anyone recommend what size both holes should be?
Done quite a lot of research into the equipment etc i'll need but this is more to do with my lack of understanding the real difference in hole sizes... the pump i have should easily handle the flow rate i require (or so the LFS told me..)..
If anyone could help that would be much appreciated... cannot wait to get nitrates down to a respectable level and start spending my savings on corals instead of nothing!!
1 - does the sump plan & equipment sound good/able to do the job?
2 - what size bulkhead should I use for the return pipe? what size for the outlet pipe?
3 - do I need to have dividers in the sump? are the 100% necessary?
Thanks in advance guys!
Calvin
