I think I stole this 93G Cube

[G2theRam]

I would redesign the sump a little bit. To help you follow lets call the current fuge chamber 1, the current pump section chamber 2 and the intake chamber 3.

I would plumb the system to have your intake lead into chamber 1 then it will flow into the second chamber. I would house the fuge here in the second chamber. This will make the baffles separate the previous two chambers from 1 and 2. Baffles should always be at the end of the sump as they are designed to remove micro bubbles. With your current configuration the fuge will be dumping tons of these bubbles in the system. Lastly I would use chamber 3 for the return pump.

To accomplish this you might have to raise or lower the baffles between chambers 2 and 3 but probably not. It should be as simple as just reversing the flow of water. Also it would be nice to add a filter sock into chamber one where the intake water comes into

 

[G2theRam]

Bump

I'm curious to see what others think of this sump and possible redesign.

I'm an engineer nerd and like to see other ideas besides my own.

 

[kes]

very nice catch! lol

 

[Jakemac]

I just cleaned her out, sump and tank were setup running full with freshwater and 2 gallons of vinager for about a week, just emptied and gave it a full whipe down so i think im good on the cleaning. Just need to figure out the sump

 

[Jakemac]

very nice catch! lol

Thanks! Cant wait for it to come to life!

 

[McAllyn]

As mentioned above, use vinegar. Cheap white distilled vinegar from WalMart. Plumb everything up like you were going to run the tank, fill it with hose water and put in about 2 gallons of vinegar. Fire it up and let it sit for 36-48 hours. EVERYTHING will wipe off.

Check out my build thread here: https://www.reef2reef.com/forums/member-tanks/112674-smiths-reefs-90g-rescue.html My experience with vinegar in our 90g is on page one.

Mac

ETA: I my haste to assist, I missed that you've already cleaned it out, lol. Sorry. FWIW, I concur with G2, reverse the flow through the sump, put the fuge in the center, put the return pump after the bubble trap baffles. However, think ahead on what type and size skimmer you're going to use. I like my skimmer in the sump input chamber so that it's getting raw tank return water. If you use a unit with the pump attached, you might be tight on space.

 

[Jakemac]

As mentioned above, use vinegar. Cheap white distilled vinegar from WalMart. Plumb everything up like you were going to run the tank, fill it with hose water and put in about 2 gallons of vinegar. Fire it up and let it sit for 36-48 hours. EVERYTHING will wipe off.

Check out my build thread here: https://www.reef2reef.com/forums/member-tanks/112674-smiths-reefs-90g-rescue.html My experience with vinegar in our 90g is on page one.

Mac

ETA: I my haste to assist, I missed that you've already cleaned it out, lol. Sorry. FWIW, I concur with G2, reverse the flow through the sump, put the fuge in the center, put the return pump after the bubble trap baffles. However, think ahead on what type and size skimmer you're going to use. I like my skimmer in the sump input chamber so that it's getting raw tank return water. If you use a unit with the pump attached, you might be tight on space.

yea i do plan to make the sump the center, the input chamber has perfect amounts of space for the skimmer, If not i can always move stuff around, And the vinegar worked like a charm...

I have scape plans setup so i can get my rock cured before the cycle. What do you all think? It a lagoon inspired look with a tall back wall to cover most of the overflow box (there will be space behind the rock) with a nice place for monti caps on top to branch out and a nice montipora on top with maybe a birdsnest. Im not huge on sps, im more an LPS or softie kinda guy, but i do want at the top a couple sps pieces or maybe a really nice rittori nem (if i know i wont kill it lol)

Heres my professional paint scheme or the scape i created in 10 min at work

 

[650-IS350]

Awesome deal and sweet tank. Considering upgrading to a large cube myself. Congrats on the find.

 

[Duffam3434]

Still Following!! Cant Wait!!

 

[G2theRam]

yea i do plan to make the sump the center, the input chamber has perfect amounts of space for the skimmer, If not i can always move stuff around, And the vinegar worked like a charm...

I have scape plans setup so i can get my rock cured before the cycle. What do you all think? It a lagoon inspired look with a tall back wall to cover most of the overflow box (there will be space behind the rock) with a nice place for monti caps on top to branch out and a nice montipora on top with maybe a birdsnest. Im not huge on sps, im more an LPS or softie kinda guy, but i do want at the top a couple sps pieces or maybe a really nice rittori nem (if i know i wont kill it lol)

Heres my professional paint scheme or the scape i created in 10 min at work

I really like this scape idea for a cube. Hurry this process along so that we can see it with rock.

 

[Jakemac]

Dry rock ordered! about 20lbs of fiji rock from BRS and 10lbs of some nice mixed pieces from macro rocks to get the base started, from then on i'l be hunting the local shops and looking on here for some nice show pieces for the rest, If i can get a nice large piece for the back "wall" i'll be a happy camper

Let the lurking begin

 

[Jakemac]

I really like this scape idea for a cube. Hurry this process along so that we can see it with rock.

Thanks! I saw one similar to this on youtube but it lacked depth... i feel this will be a good scape because its going to be a cube, but a corner cube... I need to have this appealing to the "main" side that will be seen 80% of the time and still appealing to the "weak" side that will be seen about 20% of the time. Plus as much as i like the bonsai look, i feel its unfair to the inhabitants, gives them less caves to play and hide in, and my pods will freak out with the lacking live rock in the display.

 

[Jakemac]

Little teaser, 30lbs of dry rock for the base came in.

Just washed em off a little and tossed them in the tub for the curing and seeding proccess!

If anyone has tips on the best way to cure and seed id take all the help i can get.

Right now they are in a 30gal tub with my pump running on full and a t-joint pushing water up and then down as well, seems to circulate perfectly.
Also there is a basic florescent light lighting them for 24hrs

Its just a teaser but you'll get the idea

This side is the "main" view that you will see most of the time

This is the "back" view that you will see only when checking out the tank

The level that you see it right now will be the same scale but just a little taller and a little wider

 

[rworegon]

I know I'm a little late to the party but re: sump, I understand the fuge being kind of seperate. I tried setting up a refugium in a center section of a sump but there was just too much flow through it to make it a productive refugium. With that much flow your pods and other mirco fauna just dont have a chance to grow and reproduce. They just get swept through and back into the display. Before you know it you have a sterile refugium. You want just enough flow to keep your macro algea sort of tumbling. Your pods need to be able to grab onto the macro and eat and lay eggs. I added a plastic tote next to my sump, set it on some blocks so that it was above the level of the sump and put a bulkhead in the side, plumbed an overflow through it and extended the plumbing past the skimmer chamber directly into the return chamber. This gives the critters a fighting chance to get to the display without getting dispatched by the skimmer. I feed the refugium with a valve on the manifold i built with just enough flow dialed in to create a slow flow through the refugium. Once a week or so I "feed" the fuge with some micro vert of oyster feast of anything else i have sitting around just to make sure fuge critters have something to eat. Its amazing how much diverse life has grown in it.

 

[Jakemac]

Little update on the build.

Currently have all 90lbs of rock being seeded and will be sitting in that until november Hopefully that will be long enough to seed and grow some nice bacteria. Durring that proccess i will be trying to scape out the tank. Not sure how im going to get the scape to hold up but i have a lot of expoxy and a lot of trust it will hold lol.

Anyone have any suggestions? I was planning on doing a mock setup where i could figure out what i need to get attached and glued now so that when i go to setup the tank Im not fusing around to get it all setup spending hours on something i could have had done already. IE. acrylic rods?

 

[G2theRam]

I know I'm a little late to the party but re: sump, I understand the fuge being kind of seperate. I tried setting up a refugium in a center section of a sump but there was just too much flow through it to make it a productive refugium. With that much flow your pods and other mirco fauna just dont have a chance to grow and reproduce. They just get swept through and back into the display. Before you know it you have a sterile refugium. You want just enough flow to keep your macro algea sort of tumbling. Your pods need to be able to grab onto the macro and eat and lay eggs. I added a plastic tote next to my sump, set it on some blocks so that it was above the level of the sump and put a bulkhead in the side, plumbed an overflow through it and extended the plumbing past the skimmer chamber directly into the return chamber. This gives the critters a fighting chance to get to the display without getting dispatched by the skimmer. I feed the refugium with a valve on the manifold i built with just enough flow dialed in to create a slow flow through the refugium. Once a week or so I "feed" the fuge with some micro vert of oyster feast of anything else i have sitting around just to make sure fuge critters have something to eat. Its amazing how much diverse life has grown in it.

Next time I'm down south I wouldn't mind seeing your set up

 

[rworegon]

Next time I'm down south I wouldn't mind seeing your set up

You are welcome most any time. Just let me know when you will be down this way and we can work something out.

 

[pam0630]

that is a nice setup...you did get a great deal....as far as cleaning it. like everyone else said Vinegar...will deff get that funky smell out also

that sump is configured weird......yes the refugium should be where the pump is...is it really that small where the fuge is....couldnt fit anything in there??? what to do

keep us updated on the setup....will deff follow

 

[Reefer82]

Looks like you've got a good start. I'm in the process of setting up a 60g cube myself and have a similar scape in mind. Mine is viewable from 3 sides however so I won't have an extension come out quite as far as you do on the left. You'll have to give R2R a Christmas present with a thread full of pics.

Just my .02 on cleaning. If you have a large scale cleaning job like this and you don't have all the time in the world Muriatic Acid works great and at $8 a gallon is cheaper than vinegar along with being a much faster reaction. You MUST to take proper precautions such as eye protection, long gloves that are rated for HCL exposure, and the like. It's VERY, VERY strong compared to vinegar and will make short work of a tank. We cleaned out my friends 58 rimless that was caked in coraline in about an hour the other night. It wont affect the glass or your overlflows or anything, even at full strength. We had to run a steady light stream onto the teeth of his overflow to get it cleaned out and it looks like a brand new tank now. Less than two gallons has cleaned a 75, 58, 28, 20, and some random equipment.

At full strength it will etch concrete, dissolve LR, burn your skin and in general isn't something you want to come into contact with so I recommend diluting it until you are comfortable with use. A lot of people recommend a 1 part acid to 10 parts water ratio. Use baking soda to neutralize and you'll be safe to toss it out in the yard at that point. It will fizz and give off CO2 during the neutralization so don't have your face right above the tank or whatever as to avoid a splash or a lung full of something you don't want. I do this outside generally and stay up wind of course It's probably good practice to check the PH of you're "neutralized" solution before discarding but I've pretty much gone by the reaction of the baking soda no longer fizzing and had no problem pitching it in my back yard. Grass is green as you can expect in indiana with not much rain for the past 2 months.

 

[Jakemac]

I would redesign the sump a little bit. To help you follow lets call the current fuge chamber 1, the current pump section chamber 2 and the intake chamber 3.

I would plumb the system to have your intake lead into chamber 1 then it will flow into the second chamber. I would house the fuge here in the second chamber. This will make the baffles separate the previous two chambers from 1 and 2. Baffles should always be at the end of the sump as they are designed to remove micro bubbles. With your current configuration the fuge will be dumping tons of these bubbles in the system. Lastly I would use chamber 3 for the return pump.

To accomplish this you might have to raise or lower the baffles between chambers 2 and 3 but probably not. It should be as simple as just reversing the flow of water. Also it would be nice to add a filter sock into chamber one where the intake water comes into

Been pondering and re-reading your idea. I like it, i think im going to go one step above that after looking at my current tank with micro bubbles everywhere.

I think im going to make 2 sets of baffles one at the beginning and one at the end. I just need to remove the old wall and re-make that. Save me a little time and get it right