Can somone tell me what exactely this is...

C

Ctimpson

Reefing newb
I bought my tank used from a pet shop across the street from me for $50.00... It is I believe a 56.1 gallon with built in overflow... I am going to post a pic of the back of it when I bought it... Can someone tell me if this is considered to be a wet/dry trickle or a back of tank sump... I am not completely clueless, but I don't know exactely what you call this... Also any opinions on how to utilize this or do you recommend build a sump in my stand... Right now I simply have large folded pieces of polyester filter floss in the top compartment... Thanks in advance!

P1000101.jpg
 
Well, to me, this just looks like a tall, thin, 'Wet-Dry' filter stuck on the back of the tank. Similar idea to the 'Nano' tanks you can buy (except those are inside the tank - but same idea).

If I am looking at this corretly, then the water would overflow through the Bio Balls, down into the bottomm comaprtment, under the first baffle to a free area (refugium perhaps/skimmer..) over the next baffle into the return section where it gets pumped back.

No reason why it shouldn't work, but one consideration might be the size of the return section: this is where any evaporation will be felt - too low and the pump will run dry. If all this is open, the water will evaporate quickly and you'll find yourself topping it up every other day... (there are solutions to this though - such as an external top-off reservoir..)

I would probably start this as it is, with the idea of upgrading to a sump at a later time - this could be done by adding an overflow onto the back of this 'sump' or drilling into the base (risky) and putting a bulkhead in, etc...

Not bad fo $50!
 
I agree with Joe.Use it a sump for now,then later on if you want a sump under the tank,turn the one thats built in into a fuge.
 
Ok... Thanks... A couple of questions though... First, what kind of media would you put in the 3 compartments... Also what is the difference between a sump and a fuge... I have heard lots of different definitons... CAn you clarify?
 
First off,what a steal really for a acrylic tank with built in filtration.It definitely looks like a wet/dry back of tank sump.If you can fit a skimmer back there,then I would go ahead and utilize it.If you are going to have alot of live rock and skimmer,then I would do away with the bioballs,either run it empty or some rock rubble thats sermerged or use that area for ocassional floss/carbon.
 
For the three compartments: I would start with the Bio Balls in place. I think they are good to start a tank with as they create a large, oxygenated surface area for bacteria to grow on. Once the tank has cycled and is established (up to 6 mnths) I would take them out and simply put a piece of filter sponge in the bottom of this Bio Ball compartment 1) to keep the noise down 2) as a simple mechanical filter that you can clean. Or you can use rock rubble as Reef suggests.

I would take everything out of the other compartments, then put a skimmer in / Hang On Back of the middle section. Get the best skimmer you can - worth waiting for - worth changing water more frequently until you can afford the one you want (if that is an issue...) - you can move this down to the sump if/when you decide to add one.

Sump / Fuge, here's my definition:
A sump is simply a seperate container linked in a closed loop to the main Display Tank. It can have many puposes, including: simply increasing overall water volume, a place to house equipment like skimmers, a place to house a fuge, etc
The idea of a Fuge (Refugium) is a 'refuge' for small critters to reporduce and grow in safety before (hopefully) finding their way through the return pump and up into the main tank as live food...
In addition though, they can be places to grow macro algae (seaweed) which will help reduce nitrates, be used as fresh food for vegetarian fish, and lots of other good things...

A Refugium can be a part of the sump (one of the sections) or a completely seperate unit to the tank & sump.

Hope this helps.
 
Easy now... I wouldn't go that far :shock:

Thing is, I'm a little hesitant about dishing out advice because I am still finding my own way through this hobby... but as you live through (painful) lessons or just plain figure stuff out, it's nice to be able to share that knowledge.

As long as everyone realizes that there are a few basics you need to get right then the rest is a matter of (educated?) trial and error!

Thanks
 
good advice, but Biff is still better looking, no offense Joe...LOL :bounce:

-Dr Marco :sfish:
 
Wow... you must think I am insane, a dead kitten... LOL... Well I did have my male show bunny die yesterday... It has been well over a 100 deg for two weeks... He wouldn't eat or drink and the vet couldn't do anything... Also I can't seem to keep my african tank below 88 deg sometimes goes up to 90... I have been doing everything I can to remedy this, I haven't loss any fish yet...
 
great buy on the acrylic tank! as far as the bioballs go, it shouldn't hurt anything to leave them in for now. if you start having nitrate problems you can pull them out. that would be a great place to run carbon or phosban. heck you could probaly toss in some chaeto algae in the last section before the pump. a small light (like the coiled flourescent lights from wal-mart) could be suspended over it. you wouldn't have to worry about light bleeding through to the display tank since the back glass is black. it's a really cool tank with lots of possibilities.
 

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