planetg

yup. wait till all parameters are clear! that's what i'm doing now but it's hard to be patient ya?

i get stuff from www.marinedepot.com before. the support is good and it's rather safe. i paid with credit card. some of the stuff can be cheap there. but do take note of the voltage. 110V or 230V

yup. give it some time and once it acclimatises, it shd open up. how's your placement like. not too much flow or stagnant water.

Any other comments? especially the new layout?

dunno abt others but my skimmer went nuts after i introduced the contraphos and the last time i measure, the level of phospate was down 50% just monitor your phos levels with a reliable kit and if it's undetectable, why worry or ponder over rinsing it or not earlier

fully agree with the guys. dun save on return pump. the cost of failure, current leakage, low flow rate, etc.. is not worth it.

yah man. the more i think about it, i'm gonna dedicate a pump for the chiller. Question: if i have a pump at the intake chamber, shd i tee-off to feed skimmer and ca reactor as well since it's slow flow for both? or shd i tee-off the return for the ca reactor? actually it's a 'waste' to tee-off return for ca reactor right? that will mean i'll have only one pump submerged in the intake chamber. i've rearranged my proposed set up with the following in mind 1. reduce elbow for return pump. it's possible becoz i have access via the side snap door 2. increased the size of return chamber to hold more water 3. reduced size of refugium as compensation to have larger return chamber 4. place top-up reservoir for easy top up and nearer to kalk reactor. there's also a possibility of a larger top up container if necessary. what do you guys think?

thanx you joe, chanbi and bawater on the top up issue. it looks like i will continue to use my plan but the backup will be a temporary big toyogo which can be placed outside for top up if my entire family is away for long trips. return reservoir wise, i'll go as large as my mesaurements can hold, of course with some space to spare here and there. thanx for the tip on the measurement from bulk head to pump. i will definitely not get this wrong! cheers.

Hi CC, i've mentioned earlier in my description that i will tee-off my return to feed the refugium. joe suggested tee-off the input drain but i'll have to see if it's possible cos it's a modification, not a brand new setup.

didn't read thru the entire thread but did someone advice any strong circulation. it's impt to do that.

thanx ian, i understand your description. cheers

haha. your judgement call after reading the entire thread. it sounds like you'll rinse away the good stuff. I've done it without rinsing but be prepared to get a shock from the rusty looking water for a while. after that sit back relax and measure your phospates 3-4 days later. mine dropped by at least half i think. all my livestock are smiling at me! cheers

roget that tanzy. thanx for the info

wow ian, 2000+ l/hr is almost like the max for a 1/2 hp. maybe yours is a 1.25hp i thought of plumbing it exactly like you with the idea that most of the water gets to the tank anyway but i do understand the points that other reefers brought up about efficiency of chiller. have you got pics of your setup, typically the return tee-off and the output of chiller to tank? thanx a lot

hi ian, where exactly in the sump do you return the output of chiller to and may i know what you use for return pump? do you measure your flowrate to chiller? thanx

hi tanzy, 1. i've already kept in mind to install true union values at the input and output of pump. one question though, what happens if i change the iwaki pump for some reason? how to ensure the input and output fits the union fittings? 2. pls enlighten me why it's better to keep the CO2 out of sump? is it becoz of rust? thanx

hi birman, i'm using the reef relief 1/2 hp chiller. not sure abt the min and max flowrate. i intend to tee-off my returns to feed the chiller with a valve of course. please take a look at this discussion for more details Sump Design and Chiller Stuff thanx for your input

what do you mean by rewash? hope u didn't take it out and run thru the tap water and clean it till no smell!

Added new pic with equipment out of tank. Another question. Are 2" baffles good enuff to counter the microbubbles?

haha. i know! What if i have no choice but to utilise my sump for chiller input and output? what shd be my best plan? A. Use a little pump to feed the chiller from the intake area and then output to the return reservoir. Shd be the ideal way right? B. Tee-off from Return to feed the chiller and output to the return reservoir. Because majority of the water is pumped up the tank, it shd be ok. However, Morgan mentioned that it may cause a frequent chiller on/off *arghhh*

AT, Chiller is just beside the tank and it has to fight almost 5+ ft up. Is your chiller intake pre-drilled? or something like a drop-in pvc pipe with strainer? If not pre-drilled, quite troublesome right?

Joe, how often do you see that i have to top up my reservoir? If it's like every 2 days, then it's really troublesome but it won't be that bad right? The option of placing a larger reservoir now is not possible due to space constraints ard the tank. *sigh*

AT, If I feel that drilling additional holes on the canopy wouldn't hurt the support structure, I will consider a closed loop for chiller. How do you set it up? A little pump shd be good enuff right? I'm usuing a Reef Relief 1/2 hp

dear shifus, thanx for your comments. MG, AT and JP (Chiller Return), 1. I would like to return my chiller output to the main tank but i will need to drill holes on my canopy and I do not know if it'll affect the support structure. Maybe I'll take some pix when I'm back home for advice. But in the event I have to return somewhere in the sump, where shd i return it to? Or is it totally disastrous to do that cos I dun wanna trip chiller on/off. What is the best way? AL, AT and JP (Equipment out of Sump) 2. I have now decided to move Ka and Ca Reactor out of Sump. Hopefully the eventual footprint will not be too large. AL and AT (MX70 or MD55) 3. Sounds scary and I may have to use an MD55 instead. JP (Reservoir) 4. Becoz I'm moving the CA and Ka Reactors out of sump, I think I'll increase another 2 inches for the reservoir. The top up reservoir on float switches will ensure water level in sump. Only trouble is a rather small top-up reservoir but have to make do with such constraints. All (Microbubbles and Flowrate) 5. How to ensure that my system can handle microbubbles from the drain? Are the baffles and larger area in sump as pointed out by Alvy for bubbles to settle enuff? Thanx for all inputs. Very helpful

Hi, First of all thanx to all the help I got from guys I PM about my design. I've decided to make some changes and post in here for others to comment. Pls add on if there are any other tips. I've custom made my tank 2 months ago, was too busy and let the man design my sump/fuge for me. Needless to say, I regretted and come up with my design after lots of gd reeading. Please feel free to ask question and give your comments. 1. My cabinet is 48"(length) by 30"(width) by 36"(height) and I would like to house all equipment in the cabinet except my chiller. 2. It will be a 3 piece set-up, Sump, Fuge and Top-up Reservoir 3. First the 1.25" input drain will enter into the box which will flow to the sump area 4. The sump area will house my H&S Skimmer, DIY Ca and Kalk Reactor. I intend to tee-off a small pump to input to skimmer and Ca reactor. 5. Output of Skimmer will go to the baffles area with activated carbon and phospate remover. Output of Ca and Kalk Reactor will go to the return reservoir.hah 6. There will be 2 bulkheads installed in the return area. One for spare and one for an Iwaki MD55 or MX70. 7. The return will be split into 3 (chiller, refugium, return to tank) 8. The refugium will overflow to the return area. It will bypass the baffles area to allow pods to return to tank. I dun think there'll be lots of bubbles from the fuge since it's low flow. 9. The top-up reservoir will feed the Kalk Reactor and will be controlled via float switches. (maybe a Tubby! Cookie are u listening? ) 10. Lastly, the chiller output will be fed back to the return reservoir. I hope this will not cause a 'short circuit' cos i feel that majority of the return will still pump up to the tank. Thanx for reading my lengthy description. Now please give me all the input and advices. All info will be greatly appreciated