Sump advice

[Newbie66]

Hi All,

I have a 45 gallon cube tank that I bought 2nd hand off somebody a few years ago which came as a full set up with tank, sump, filter equipment and some fish & coral. The guy clearly hadn't been looking after it properly as it wasn't very clean and I had non stop problems from day 1 so eventually after about a year and a half I gave up with it sold the fish as it was costing me so much money trying to sort it all out and its been in my garage ever since. I now find myself in a better position financially and would like to give it another go starting from scratch this time.

I have cleaned up the tank and the sump and want to buy all new filtration equipment but I'm not sure what to get. Below is 2 photos of my sump with dimensions to show the size.

Is this sump ok for a 45 gallon cube tank? The pipe from the tank to the sump goes in to the 4" square section on the left hand side of the sump, is it just a filter sock I need in that section? I believe the next section should have a protein skimmer, I have been looking at these online and it sounds like it is worth spending a bit of money on one of these, i do have one but its a very old aqua one G220 which kept overflowing last time I had the tank running. Been looking at reef octopus but they are very expensive, can anyone recommend any good skimmers that aren't cheap but not massively expensive ? As for the rest of the sump I know the return pump will go in the last section on the right hand side but not sure what goes in between.

Any advice would be much appreciated.

 

[Doctorgori]

Is this sump ok for a 45 gallon cube tank?

yes, I’d bet that opinion is probably universal

is it just a filter sock I need in that section? I

looks like it but I don’t see anything purposefully designed for it…are there round holes cut anywhere? you got a view from the top of the sump looking down? btw they also make a rectangular sock so maybe that’s what goes there….

can anyone recommend any good skimmers that aren't cheap but not massively expensive

Yup, in fact I’d wager EVERY input from any poster will serve you justice…
Bang for buck IMO is Nyos or any of the Curve series…I’d do a Curve 5 on that tank …but again anything anymore built after 2020 (amongst mid level name brands) will absolutely work

 

[twentyleagues]

I agree with @Doctorgori . The pipe in area could build or buy a media caddie put filter floss at top and any media in bags on shelves under that. I have really come to like using floss over socks easier to just pitch it out then wash socks. I also only use mechanical filtration for a couple days after coral snow.

 

[Tcook]

As Doc said the 4” opening is for your drain/ sock. Maybe put your skimmer in there. The 6” compartment is your return pump area and maybe heater and carbon. The water is going to move fast through that narrow 1” weir. So you may consider putting some live rock in the center compartment as a bubble trap and maybe refugium. I did that in my larger trigger sump.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Hi All,

I have a 45 gallon cube tank that I bought 2nd hand off somebody a few years ago which came as a full set up with tank, sump, filter equipment and some fish & coral. The guy clearly hadn't been looking after it properly as it wasn't very clean and I had non stop problems from day 1 so eventually after about a year and a half I gave up with it sold the fish as it was costing me so much money trying to sort it all out and its been in my garage ever since. I now find myself in a better position financially and would like to give it another go starting from scratch this time.

I have cleaned up the tank and the sump and want to buy all new filtration equipment but I'm not sure what to get. Below is 2 photos of my sump with dimensions to show the size.

Is this sump ok for a 45 gallon cube tank? The pipe from the tank to the sump goes in to the 4" square section on the left hand side of the sump, is it just a filter sock I need in that section? I believe the next section should have a protein skimmer, I have been looking at these online and it sounds like it is worth spending a bit of money on one of these, i do have one but its a very old aqua one G220 which kept overflowing last time I had the tank running. Been looking at reef octopus but they are very expensive, can anyone recommend any good skimmers that aren't cheap but not massively expensive ? As for the rest of the sump I know the return pump will go in the last section on the right hand side but not sure what goes in between.

Any advice would be much appreciated.

You can place a filter scoc adapter with a sock , Ice Cap skimmer which is not fat like some skimmer chambers and a SICCE return pump and some rock rubble

 

[Newbie66]

yes, I’d bet that opinion is probably universal

looks like it but I don’t see anything purposefully designed for it…are there round holes cut anywhere? you got a view from the top of the sump looking down? btw they also make a rectangular sock so maybe that’s what goes there….

Yup, in fact I’d wager EVERY input from any poster will serve you justice…
Bang for buck IMO is Nyos or any of the Curve series…I’d do a Curve 5 on that tank …but again anything anymore built after 2020 (amongst mid level name brands) will absolutely work

The second photo is the view looking into the sump from the top. Ill check out the skimmer you recommended. Thanks a lot for the advice!

 

[Newbie66]

As Doc said the 4” opening is for your drain/ sock. Maybe put your skimmer in there. The 6” compartment is your return pump area and maybe heater and carbon. The water is going to move fast through that narrow 1” weir. So you may consider putting some live rock in the center compartment as a bubble trap and maybe refugium. I did that in my larger trigger sump.

Thanks! I think It had live rock in the middle section when I originally bought it like lots of little rocks in there. I still have all that and some bio balls in a bag from when i took it all down. Could I reuse the old live rock or would this cause problems ?

 

[Newbie66]

You can place a filter scoc adapter with a sock , Ice Cap skimmer which is not fat like some skimmer chambers and a SICCE return pump and some rock rubble

Thanks for the advice, ill take that onboard.