Nano Reef Concepts

[Pandapuffer]

As i am beginning to upgrade my nano i am looking at a few new possibilities!
though these concepts will change i want to try an get anything up and running from the word go
without having to add stuff as i go along! i did these concept skecthes while i was sitting very
bored in a Autocad lecture! i used good old sketchup 5 for this but i couldnt work out how to
create bends in cylinders for the pipe work so any advice would be appreciated!
THE PLAN[U]
Main tank will be either a 18" cube or 18x12x18 (LxWxH)
i want to add a sump but i dont have the room to place it underneath the main tank so i
would like to know if it will be possible to place it next to the main tank via a over flow
is this possible? whats the min height required between them the two tanks for this too work?
The sump will be something like 18x10x10 (LxWxH) and will be positioned by the side of the main
tank! the sump will be diveded into two sections the first section will recieve the water from a
over flow and will contain a MM base with some rubble and cheato, the second section will contain
the heater, the return pump and i am looking and researching into the new mini fluidisers by
cleartides as i would like to run two, one will run calcium and i am undecided on what to use for
the other either phos/carbon or something else any suggestions would be apprieciated!
the reactors will be dosed by a peri peri pump to control flow!
lighting will be hopefully 70w hailde for the main tank and the two 18w power compact T5 i am
using on my nano at the moment will light the sump!
i am hoping to create flow via the return pump which will go back into two different sections at
the rear of the tank but may be supplemented by a MJ 1200 powehead.
any thoughts, ideas, advice or comments would be apprieciated!

[Pandapuffer]

Plan view

[Pandapuffer]

Front View

[Pandapuffer]

Right Hand side view

[instantsquid]

Firstly, superb drawings! Are they done in Sketchup? Why can't I get my drawings to look this good??? :angry:

Anyway, I like the idea of the sump next to the main tank - the over flow will work fine. There is no real minimum height difference - even a few millimetres will allow a syphon to operate, however I'd have thought that to get a decent flow of water through the syphon there should be a minimum drop of 6" or so.

I don't know if a MM sump will work in such a small space - I seem to recall reading that they need a specific surface area to operate efficiently. I'd be inclined to treat that section as a live rock/algae section and fill with Caulerpa, etc.

Look forward to seeing how this progresses - get some pics up!

- Ian.

[Pandapuffer]

Thanx ian i have now thought about putting in a wier instead of a overflow, as this will also be a cheaper option

i have seen th e sump used as a showpiece on another system and i loved the idea of it!

i did use sketchup 5 for the drawings and i use this program alot for my course but what i have done is very simply to do, you just have to play around abit with it!

[trev]

you may find it cheaper and easier to get an 18*12*12 tank for the sump

in theory the drop from tank to sump can be mm, you need atleast a couple of inchs for it to work properly and to get a good flow into the sump.
hth

[tuan]

I might be missing something here.. but why would you have a "sump" as such? why not just make the tank a bit larger and partition off a rear section as your 'in tank' sump. You just need to add a pump into the rear section, pushing the water out to the front, which then overflows back again.

You can arrange this rear section in anyway you like, either as a mud/ecosystem or fit skimmer etc, as well as hiding more circulation pumps/ heaters etc...

The whole point of under tank sumps is that the space taken by the tank is just that, the tank, making use of all the space people have available. Your design is based on the sump taking space anyway so might as well make it internal to the tank and you don't have the hassle of overflow or risks of leaks/flooding.

[Pandapuffer]

Thanx for your input and advice guys! points noted!

Tuan - i want sump by the side so i can make a feature of MM/algae section ans possibly house a mantis shrimp for a while

its from another user of this board (russell) who uses his sump as another feature.

i have thought about just attaching the filteration to the back of the tank but the position in which it wil be going in is very difficult to access from the rear and a sump next too the main tank would allow for easier access which would please my Girlfriend who has to do the basic maintenace to the tank every few days while i am away!

thanx for the comments guys! and keep them coming :dance: