SW tank

[gandolf]

ok here is what I am doing after doing a lot of reading. I am going to have a 90 gal refuguim down in my basement were the proteim skimmer ,calcuim reactor going to run that with co2, heater and my pump. Have a 90 upstairs with overflow box build in it. So I hope this will work ok for me let me know what you think. thx.

[Loman]

Gandolf,
That would be a nice set up but it does seem like a long way to pump the water around. I would be concerned about being able to pump enough water with a reasonable set up. Depending on location I would also be concerned with things like heat loss in the pipe etc. I hope to eventually set up a 75 gallon tank in the basement with a refugium in a room behind it but that is a ways out so I am very interested in how this set progresses. I am still struggling to get my small tank setup where that I planned to use to learn a few things about saltwater care from.

[ahill3780]

Sounds like you have a great idea to me, and one that has been done in many successful setups. You can overcome the headloss issue by using a strong pump (2500+ GPH) that has a sufficient max head of 30 feet or more. Just keep in mind that any bend in the pipe is going to decrease the upwards pressure resulting in head loss. So plan for excess.

Keeping the sump/refugium in a seperate location from the tank is an excellent choice because it brings several benefits to the table. Such as alternate lighting (light the sump at night and the tank during the day) to keep pH stable, and it helps silence the noise generated by the tank.

Loman,

So long as the pump can move the water up the pipe fast enough (head loss) then heating will not bean issue. Still, I would always suggest keeping a backup heater in the tank just in case.

HTH,
Aaron

[Loman]

Aaron,
That makes sense regarding the heat loss not being too much of an issue if the flow is there. A backupheater in the tank can oviously fix any problem in that space.

I am actally envious of the set up you are describing. It sounds like it will be reall nice.

[gandolf]

Say i forgot tp tell you I was running a chiller on this to.