au01st

Got my chaeto in yesterday and just tossed it in the tank so I could watch football and not worry about it. Today I took the time to organize the sump and my little container for the chaeto, and everything looks great, if not a little crammed.

The light is on a reverse lighting schedule. It turns on 30min before the actinics turn off and it turns off 30min after the actinics turn on. I'm going to do some testing this week and see if there is a decrease in pH fluctuation at night. In my small container in the back of the sump (made of 2 corner shelves for a shower) I have about 1lb in live rock rubble and a baseball sized clump of chaeto.

Whatcha think?

nemo addict

Your sump looks nice and clean lol
Good job

Oil_Fan

What is the device on the right hand side just outside the sump? Is that phosphate reactor?

Mike

Looks good! Oilfan - that looks like a phosban reactor - you can use it for activate carbon too.

It will be interesting to read your results with the reverse lighting. Not sure a baseball size amount will affect the ph much but lets see what happens when it's basketball size. Check your nitrates and phosphates too if you can and see if you notice a decrease with those parameters that is if you can detect any trates in your tank right now. Since I've been using chaeto in an attached refugium I haven't had a reading on nitrates with three different test brands (API, salifert and red sea).

au01st

It is a Phosban reactor. I am using phosphate removing media right now, and plan to run carbon as well eventually.

I already have 0 readings for nitrates and phosphates.

The algea has already grown about 50%. It's really in a temporary spot for now. I was looking for a HOB refugium, but as I started designing a new stand, I think I figured out a way to incorporate a 10 gallon fuge beside the main tank in a cabinet.

First thing I notice is that my water in the display tank is definitely clearer. My roommate said it looks like the fish are floating, lol.

agsansoo

Good job au01st. Only thing I would suggest is to make the output hose on the protein skimmer pump a little longer. So the pump sits on the bottom of the sump. Other than that, it looks like my sump from about a year ago.

au01st

I tried that, got very few bubbles. Everything I read online said to try and get the pump as close to the top of the water without creating a whirlpool at the inlet. As soon as I moved the pump up, it started producing foam like crazy.

I'm planning to get another impeller wheel and do the enkamat mod, so maybe I'll move it back down then and see how it does. I may move it back to HOB style on the side of the sump, then run the drain hose to a gatorade bottle in the sump, so if it overflows, back into the sump (hopefully).

Either way, I'm designing a new stand to build this summer, and it will have a fully waterproof 6" lip on the bottom to collect water, should any accidents happen, which I can just shop vac out. Combine this with a water alarm that alerts when it gets wet, a little re-wiring to a relay for the main pump, and the pump will turn off if water is sensed outside the sump in the stand.


BTW, my Mag 9.5 pump should be here this week

Rbacchiega

I've used both lighting methods for my fuge systems and like both..so really, it seems to be personal preferrence depending on how much you use I guess.

On my 8 foot tank I have a 6 foot sump and my fuge takes up about 3 feet of it...you really notice a difference there with the reverse lighting...REALLY!