sump lighting

[willow75]

hi can someone please help, we are currently upgrading from a small tank to a large 5ft tank with sump, my question is do you need lighting on the sump? it has miricle mud and lr to go in it but no clean up crew, does it need one? the sump is in a cupboard, i have t5's for it so its not a problem,
thanks
denise

[KeithM]

Will you be growing algae in your sump? If you will, then yes you will need lighting! if you don't plan to grow any...then you dont need lighting and you might as well get rid of the miracle mud or replace it with fine sand (DSB)

[instantsquid]

Typically, Miracle Mud is used in conjunction with algae such as Caulerpa, Chaeto, etc. If you do go down this route, you will need a light or the algae won't grow.

I wouldn't mix live rock with the Miracle Mud. You could create a live rock area in your sump however - that would be an alternative. Another, as Keith says, would be a Deep Sand Bed (DSB) using very fine Aragonite substrate.

There are many variations on the sump theme, but to answer your original question - if you're going to have algae in the sump, you'll need light. :D

- Ian

[willow75]

thanks for that guys it makes more sense now, wasnt keen on the look of the miracle mud anyway lol, i think ill stick with the live rock for now as im just starting up and see how it goes i havnt even started cycling yet as im trying to get around the idea of all that ro water and how long its going to take, if i start the cycle from scatch with tap water and not ro i cant put the lr in yet is that right, i can home the lr in a small tank ive cycled and been running for 2 months now with a clean up crew of mostly snails and one perc clownfish, and loads of lr already, can you also tell me the main purpose of algea in the tank, i bought a small bundle from the lfs and put in the small tank but it hasnt changed much

[instantsquid]

Hi again,

A few points, if I may.

1. Don't use tapwater - use RO from the start. Tapwater is full of all sorts of undesirable stuff including Nitrate, Phosphate and so on. Added to which, most salt mixes on the market are designed to be added to RO water, not tap water. There are some people who will tell you that they set their tank up with tapwater, but IME the majority use RO - and for good reason!

2. Once your tank is filled with RO water, add the appropriate amount of salt and mix with a pump or two. Once the water is up to the correct salinity and temperature, you can add your live rock - this will start "the cycle". Test daily for Ammonia, Nitrite and Nitrate. It's possible that if the rock is well cured, you won't see any of the first two, but you shouldn't assume that's the case. If in doubt - test, test, test!

3. Once your tank has "cycled" (i.e. Ammonia and Nitrite have both stayed at zero for at least a week) you can add your clean-up crew.

4. Regarding algae - many people grow different types of algae in their sumps as a way of extracting nutrients from the water. Caulerpa and Chaeto, etc. are very good at absorbing Nitrate (amongst other things) and so help to reduce the levels in the tank. Periodically, the algae is harvested to encourage it to grow.

Feel free to ask as many questions as you like - it sounds like you're relatively new to all this (apologies if I'm wrong!) so take your time, and do as much research as you can.

Cheers for now,
- Ian.

[willow75]

thanks its a great relief to know i can ask, as i said we only have had the small tank for 2 months now, we did start that on tap water and it took along time to cycle(about 5 weeks) only then did we get down to 0 ammonia so i would prefer to use the ro water, i appriciate what your saying regarding that, the live rock is all from established tanks and looks good with mushrooms etc, i did a fair bit of reading before starting out with the small tank but somethings l didnt consider atall, eg algea and corals i read you should wait for at least 6 months before adding corals and 1 year for anemonies so in all fairness i dont know much atall about them, ill post some pics as it gets going, thanks again for the help its much appriciated,
denise and neil.