New forum member - Frag Outpost Forums - Coral Propagation and Reef Aquarium Forums

FragOutpost · 02-22-2006, 10:49 PM

Definitely want to upgrade your skimmer if you are going to start keeping sps corals. You may want to look into a refugium as well.

It is possible to go sumpless and run a closed loop and an external skimmer but if you have the space then I would recommend a sump. Having a sump will increase your water volume and increase your water surface area which will increase your evaporation rate to help cool the tank. Not to mention give you a good place to house extra equipment.

How big of a sump are you thinking about getting?

salazar · 02-23-2006, 12:32 AM

Dont really know im gonna do some reading.Ithought a sump and refugium were kind of the same.

FragOutpost · 02-23-2006, 01:05 AM

If you add some macro algae and create an area for pods to reproduce then you basically have a refugium. A sump can be as simple as a container of water that the overflow from the tank is connected to and a return pump that pumps water back into the tank.

A popular design is to have something like an acrylic sump or glass aquarium that is sectioned off with baffles where the refugium can be contained within a compartment within the sump.

D12monkey · 02-23-2006, 11:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FragOutpost

It is possible to go sumpless and run a closed loop and an external skimmer but if you have the space then I would recommend a sump. Having a sump will increase your water volume and increase your water surface area which will increase your evaporation rate to help cool the tank.

Or you could always buy a big oversized chiller to cool the water down and prevent too much evaporation.