Here’s a long one so take your time...
I take care of an aquarium at my Dad's office, but as I will be leaving for college after the summer he will have to take care of the tank. I'm currently redesigning the tank with a basement sump sump system. The following is an explanation and diagram of the sump system design. I would appreciate any suggestions.
The goals of the new tank are to:
*Simplify topping off to a weekly valve turning
*Simplify water changes to a monthly valve turning
*Increase biological nutrient export
*Eliminate the possibility of a wet floor
Here's an explanation of the system to-be.
The tank is a 55-gallon All Glass Aquarium with a built in Megaflow overflow. The overflow runs in 1” flexible PVC pipe into the sump in the basement below. The water runs first into a 30-gallon Rubbermaid tub with an 8” Southdown sand bed. The tub has an emergency overflow a few inches above an overflow into a 45-gallon, 2’ by 2’ clear acrylic refugium with a 65-watt compact fluorescent bulb above. The refugium has a 5” sand bed of Caribsea Seaflor Special Grade Reef Sand with a 1” plenum. It has an emergency overflow; a bulkhead to the return pump, an Iwaki 30rlt rated for about 300 gph at 12 ft head; and a drain with a ball valve for water changes. It has three float switches: high, low, and topoff. High and low both turn off the return pump and keep it from running dry, keep the main aquarium from overflowing, and prevent problems in the case of many different leaks or malfunctions. The topoff switch activates a dual channel peristaltic pump that pumps equal amounts of topoff water from the two 4-gallon reservoirs: calcium and carbonate. The calcium reservoir contains fresh RO water with the calcium part of a two-part dosing additive. It has an emergency overflow in case the bulkhead from the reservoir above leaks. The carbonate reservoir contains fresh RO water and the carbonate part of a two-part additive. I will probably use Seachem’s Reef Builder and Reef Advantage Calcium. We fill the two reservoirs weekly from the RO reservoir above and add the appropriate additive. An air pump keeps the water in the reservoirs fresh and mixes in the additive.
The 10-gallon RO reservoir on the top shelf also serves as a saltwater mixing container. It has an air pump and a titanium heater. Usually this 10-gallon reservoir is filled with freshwater – it is emptied weekly to fill up the 4-gallon topoff reservoirs and then fills to the top until the shutoff valve stops the inflow from the Kent Maxxima RO/DI unit. Every month, we add a few cups of salt to the reservoir, let it mix for the day, empty ten gallons of aquarium water from the refugium and then add the freshly mixed ten gallons. Then the reservoir fills up again and we use it for freshwater. There is an electronic float switch near the top of the reservoir that turns off the heater as the water level drops to keep the heater from overheating when we empty the reservoir.
The return pump returns the water to the tank via ¾ inch PVC. There are true union valves on either side of the pump for maintenance. There is also a ball valve on the piping from the aquarium overflow and on the return line. There is a pipe between these two lines that is usually closed with a ball valve. However, in six months we will be moving the tank for a few days while we renovate the office. This pipe will allow us to run water through the sump system and deep sand bed while the tank is disconnected.
The tank itself has a wave2k unit for circulation, a hang-on Remora Pro protein skimmer, a titanium heater, a very shallow sand bed for appearance, and manmade concrete rock that is currently curing in a stream behind my house.
I take care of an aquarium at my Dad's office, but as I will be leaving for college after the summer he will have to take care of the tank. I'm currently redesigning the tank with a basement sump sump system. The following is an explanation and diagram of the sump system design. I would appreciate any suggestions.
The goals of the new tank are to:
*Simplify topping off to a weekly valve turning
*Simplify water changes to a monthly valve turning
*Increase biological nutrient export
*Eliminate the possibility of a wet floor
Here's an explanation of the system to-be.
The tank is a 55-gallon All Glass Aquarium with a built in Megaflow overflow. The overflow runs in 1” flexible PVC pipe into the sump in the basement below. The water runs first into a 30-gallon Rubbermaid tub with an 8” Southdown sand bed. The tub has an emergency overflow a few inches above an overflow into a 45-gallon, 2’ by 2’ clear acrylic refugium with a 65-watt compact fluorescent bulb above. The refugium has a 5” sand bed of Caribsea Seaflor Special Grade Reef Sand with a 1” plenum. It has an emergency overflow; a bulkhead to the return pump, an Iwaki 30rlt rated for about 300 gph at 12 ft head; and a drain with a ball valve for water changes. It has three float switches: high, low, and topoff. High and low both turn off the return pump and keep it from running dry, keep the main aquarium from overflowing, and prevent problems in the case of many different leaks or malfunctions. The topoff switch activates a dual channel peristaltic pump that pumps equal amounts of topoff water from the two 4-gallon reservoirs: calcium and carbonate. The calcium reservoir contains fresh RO water with the calcium part of a two-part dosing additive. It has an emergency overflow in case the bulkhead from the reservoir above leaks. The carbonate reservoir contains fresh RO water and the carbonate part of a two-part additive. I will probably use Seachem’s Reef Builder and Reef Advantage Calcium. We fill the two reservoirs weekly from the RO reservoir above and add the appropriate additive. An air pump keeps the water in the reservoirs fresh and mixes in the additive.
The 10-gallon RO reservoir on the top shelf also serves as a saltwater mixing container. It has an air pump and a titanium heater. Usually this 10-gallon reservoir is filled with freshwater – it is emptied weekly to fill up the 4-gallon topoff reservoirs and then fills to the top until the shutoff valve stops the inflow from the Kent Maxxima RO/DI unit. Every month, we add a few cups of salt to the reservoir, let it mix for the day, empty ten gallons of aquarium water from the refugium and then add the freshly mixed ten gallons. Then the reservoir fills up again and we use it for freshwater. There is an electronic float switch near the top of the reservoir that turns off the heater as the water level drops to keep the heater from overheating when we empty the reservoir.
The return pump returns the water to the tank via ¾ inch PVC. There are true union valves on either side of the pump for maintenance. There is also a ball valve on the piping from the aquarium overflow and on the return line. There is a pipe between these two lines that is usually closed with a ball valve. However, in six months we will be moving the tank for a few days while we renovate the office. This pipe will allow us to run water through the sump system and deep sand bed while the tank is disconnected.
The tank itself has a wave2k unit for circulation, a hang-on Remora Pro protein skimmer, a titanium heater, a very shallow sand bed for appearance, and manmade concrete rock that is currently curing in a stream behind my house.
