[Mirkle]

people with a 55 gallon what size is you sump/fuge... im lookin to get this one on ebay its 20"L x 8"W x 12"H.. just dont know if thats to small..

[ToxicDice]

I'm by no means an expert, but I've read enough experts to say that any sump and/or fuge will be beneficial and that the bigger the better.

[NATIVEVAMAN]

As stated above a sump/refugium should be as large as will fit under your tank.One reason is water volume the more water you have the more stable your tank will be.Second,having a large refugium will provide you with lots of free food for your tank,and if it has enough green biomass growing in it,it will remove nitrates from the tank that a protien skimmer might miss.A sump is a great place for the skimmer as well,keeping it out of sight.And if it is properly closed in it will reduce the noise volume.A 20long would be a good place to start but a 29 long would be better.In the 20 long slightly less than half the sump would be fuge.In the 29 long 2/3 would be fuge.The tank you mentioned above would be pretty much a waste of time and money.

[Mirkle]

ok i was able to get a 36" x 10" x 16" thats the biggest that would fit in my stand

[NATIVEVAMAN]

[NATIVEVAMAN]

OK,Mike look at the above drawing abd get busy lol.

[Mirkle]

hehe nice will do.. Mineral Mud comes with it i also have 5 lbs of LS left over .. should i put one of them in or use both in the fuge?

[NATIVEVAMAN]

I would use it all.

[stacef]

Dale,
Good drawing below! I like your setup, keep the refugium at a low flow that it needs to be, and everything else can be faster movement. Looks good! Great visual.

[reefcouple]

Hey Dale, what kind of skimmer would you reccomend? I have a 90g with two overflow lines coming down from the tank, perfect for your drawing. And would this skimmer be connected to a line or would it be a seperate piece of equipment? Thanks Dale, (or anyone else that can answer).

~Randy

[NATIVEVAMAN]

I have a preference for the ASM or octopus line.All of these skimmers sit in the bottom of the tank attached to nothing but there own pump.

[Mirkle]

should i mix them together or lay MM first then LS on top or reverse or just dont matter.. more living things the better hehe

[NATIVEVAMAN]

Some of the miracle muds look like natural sand so putting it right on top is a good plan.Some like garf grundge couldnt look worse if they tried.I would think covering these up with a thin layer of sand would be much better for esthetics.Becky thinks that putting them in the bottom layer will place them in the anaerobic zone.I have always been of the opinion that you could bury them completly and the different kinds of bacteria will seek there own level.