Creating a new 72G system

[tmelhiser]

I would have tagged along KacyJ's thread, since a lot of our questions will probably be similar, but hijacking sucks. KacyJ, good luck and I'll be watching your thread as you move forward.

Any way, I'm just about to make a move to a 72 gallon system and have a few questions about plumbing and lighting.

I was wondering if there are any rules for the size of the sump and the size of the overflow/pump system?

I always hear that more flow is better, but is there a point where this is not true? I wanted to set up a 1200 GPH overflow. Does this mean I need a 1200 GPH pump, or can I get by with a smaller pump? What size Sump should I attach to this rig? I want something that I can house a refugium and a skimmer in. I was thinking of using my old 10g system and adding some glass inserts, but is this large enough for this volume of water?

Finally, lighting. I would love MH, but just don't know if my budget will allow it. I am looking at these T5's from FishTanksDirect.com.

Thanks in advance,

-Travis

[chrisfowler99]

10g would be really small for a sump, especially with refuguim.

I'm going with 29g for my 75g tank. I picked up the 29g for $20 from a member here, just keep your eyes open.

As far as T5s go, it really depends on what you want to keep in your tank.

I spent a lot of time reading the T5 thread on Reef Central ( http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.p...hreadid=1580726 ) and ended up spending a lot more than I had originally thought about spending.

[GKarshens]

You can use any pump you want as long as it has enough power to get the water up to the tank and is not more than 1200 gph. The overflow will only overflow how much water is going into the tank. So if you have a 900 gph pump it will do 900 gph. I like a slower flow rate through my sump so the filtration and skimmer have time to actually filter the water. I do about 500 gph on a 125g tank with a 50 g sump.

[subsea]

Travis,

I do not think it is necessary to have 1200 GPH flow to the sump/refugium. I do think it is important to maximaxe circulation in the tank, 10 to 20 volumns per hour is not too much.

Pat

[Entropy]

More flow is almost always better in the tank (within reason), but it doesn't need to all go through the sump. I run about 300gph through my sump (58g tank, approx 30g sump), but I have x40 turn over in the tank itself. One of the big issues with small tanks (definately anything under 100 gallons) is heat. Pumps add heat so you don't really want a huge Mag pump driving all your circulation. A couple of small power heads (I like Koralias) and a smaller return pump will generally add a lot less heat into the water than a single big pump.

For the sump I would go as big as you can possibly fit in the stand (or afford). I wouldn't have a problem if the sump was even bigger than the display tank. The more water you can add to the system the better, and the more room you have, the easier it is to place all your equipment, plus add other features like nutrient export, refuges, etc.

[GKarshens]

Good advice Rich!

[tmelhiser]

So if I can summarize what I think I hear:

1) - Slower GPH to the Sump/Refugium (let it percolate down there)

2) - Make up the difference in GPH with power heads

3) - Try to get the Sump/Refugium + power heads turn over to be 20x tank volume.

4) - Bigger the sump the better (it appears that about 45% - 50% of display size is what is common)

Does anyone have much experience with the SCWD device? I wanted to plumb this as my return device to give a bit of a wave to the system.

I guess the hunt for a 20" long 30 gallon sump tank is in my future... I want to use the CoraLife PC lighting that is currently on my 10 gallon, but if the 10 gallon tank is too small for a sump, then it's time to hunt for a 30g with the right width.

Thanks,

-Travis