If you don't want a lot of rock I would suggest adding some media to your sump like Matrix or the MarinePure bricks to house your beneficial bacteria since that's what the rock does.
Yes some sort of media was allready going to be in the sump. I havently really decided what I was gunna put in there but I also want to functionally use the refugium with chaeto so I'm thinking of a small layer of whatever media I decide in the fuge with chaeto growing on top. I think that should be ample filtration for me. I most likely will use some sort of bio ball, almost 40 dollars for one plate of marine pure is a little much for my taste. Im more on the economical (fancy word for cheap) side of reefing lol. Don't get me wrong I know it's probably the most surface area per inch of anything out ther but for me it's to much. However the matrix media doesn't look too bad possibly would be good to put it in between the baffles in the small spaces so its held in place nicely.
I don't know about salt tanks but in fresh tanks bio balls are pretty much crap. Go with Matrix instead! It's not that expensive. But if you really want bio balls I have a sack full I can sell you!
Ok! I'll keep that in mind, I'm gunna look at Matrix a little bit and do some reading on it some more. If I decide to go with bio balls I will deffinitely get back with you on that. I usually like just about everything Seachem makes so you may have talked me into it.
I just meant because it's a different shape therefore flow would be different. I honestly don't even know what my return pump is! Lol
No not at all. The pumps can be turned down by adjusting the flow coming in to the impeller. Flow is just as important as lighting when it comes to growing coral.
Ok plumbing is done im letting everything cure for a couple hours then im going to try to test this afternoon. So far I like it and I think it looks ok. I just wish I could scoot the sump farther away from the front of the stand, but the drain is farther forward than I would have liked. I couldn't swap the drain and return holes because the plumbing would have looked like a nightmare. Also I have a line that comes off the membrane of my RO unit and I have no idea where it goes. I have an in, out, and then a line off the membrane. Any ideas?
You should have one line that goes in to your sediment filter/carbon block, then one that goes from there to your RO membrane, then one that comes out of your RO membrane and goes to your DI resin plus one that is waste water and then one that leaves the DI resin and goes to your reservoir.
Well it has in and out written on it so I assume the one that comes out of resin is good water. That makes the most sense. But why have a waste. I just put a valve on the membrane to shut it off and force it through the rest and it runs fine and water comes out of the resin but i cant check the water my tds is out of batteries and I dont have any spares. Any Thoughts?
So the line in question is for sure the waste so now ill need to get a saddle fitting so i can let that run down sink drain. Right now the tank is filling with just tap water so i can get a test run to see how well this thing works.
From experience I wouldn't use tap water! I ended up with a huge algae outbreak because of high phosphates in the water. I then started using RODI from the LFS but the tank never recovered. Also, you can collect the waste water and use it to water plants or whatever. And if you upgrade your system to a double membrane you will decrease the waste water by a lot! I can't guarantee these results for everyone but I went from 1 75 gph membrane to 2 and went from about 1:4 clean:waste to 2:1 clean:waste!!
I filled it with tap for a test run. I wouldnt leave that in there. I wanted to check plumbing and such. It did perfect. Going to have to drill the air hole just a touch bigger its for sure searching for air. And i have one hole on the 90 for the return stand pipe. For some reason i guess when you buy the reef ready kits they have a hole in them. It makes a lot of noise and splashes water a lot.
Ah! I'm with you! I missed the part about it being a test run! I totally did that with my setup too. I actually ran vinegar water in mine for a few days while I figured out the apex system and got everything squared away. Figured it could help flush the system of calcifications and funk before I got it up and going again. And I'm not sure if this is normal or what but on the 75 I am trying to sell, the guy had a piece of tubing or something sticking out of the air hole. Maybe someone else can tell me if this is necessary or helps anything. My current system was already plumbed and I just had to hook it back up so I'm actually not sure how it's done in the overflow box. Guess I should check that out!
I have seen people put a valve on the tubing that way you cam get the perfect amount of air through the pipe and stop the siphon sound. That os most likely what i am going to do. Im actually going to drill the original hole bigger then put a new hose in because the original hole isnt big enough from the start.
This is actually how they did the one I was talking about. I haven't seen it hooked up though, so I don't know exactly how it works. There is a hole on each side then the hard tubing going up.
