My Tank Rebuild

DO, Dissolved oxygen is the "MOST IMPORTANT PART" of any filtration process. Without good DO your Berlin style system you are setting up is doomed. LR (live rock) requires "FLOW" lots of oxygen to do the "CYCLE" thing, as does the top of your DSB come refuge filter. Without a healthy supply of DO over the top of the DSB the filter will not work. OK, a low DO system will remove Nitrates in an anaerobic environment at the expense of available ammonia, this will always be present in this environment. The result is diatoms, hair algae and other Cyano issues.

This subject, filtration/support system, is as you are learning, huge.

Please do not be put off or discouraged by what i say, you are going in the correct direction. These issues are tec but things to consider as you move on.
 
Bioballs, when used in a wet/dry trickle system like this are ok imo, I am just anti them in-sump, under water as they tend to trap a lot of detritus, remember though that both use cases are aerobic, not anaerobic. Aerobic bacteria converts the NO2 to NO3.

You still need the LR and a DSB to do the anaerobic work (of converting the resultant NO3 to N)
 
Thanks guys, I am not discouraged - quite the opposite. The more info I can get the better at the end of the day. I would rather have someone tell me right up front that I am about to make a "b*** up" before I do it and find out later that I have done it wrong.

I encourage constructive critism on my system because without it, I could never advance properly in reef keeping. Thanks again for all the help thus far and the questions are certainly going to keep on coming
 
very nice i think i need to redo myne as well my tank is just simply to big something like yours i think is better maintained very nice job it is looking stunning thouhg
 
Here is an update on what it looks like now - added some more corals and things are setteling in nicely.

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Here is the sump in action, TS1 skimmer onto DSB with Chaeto, through bubble trap which contains some LR and bio-balls to help until the DSB settles in, into a 2nd DSB chamber with additional Chaeto and Calerpa and another type of large leaf algae and finally into return chanber. A second pump situated in the inlet chamber supplies the ATS which flows to the 2nd chamber.

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An auto-top-up system I put together, just a dark blue drum with a 400L/hr, 800mm head baby pump.
10mm piping used to flow back to the system

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The float switch held by a 3 sided glass bracket and an aditional piece of perspex to lower to depth.
Then by using simple irigation fittings, I cut a slot in the threads, half way through, to fit over the glass of the sump and the piece of perspex I siply made a clamp to hold it all in place and it works like a charm.

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looooking great ZC
 
The Cryptic zone is next on my "to do" list, I will mount this in a way such that it will simply gravity feed back to the DT - I am going to enjoy doing that one, fast, simple, yet effective...
 
Sounds Great Peter! I would love to see this! Just remember that you would want to "inspect" your cryptic zone every now and again - so - please remember to make this in a container which you can open at the top, every now and again.
 
I plan to use one of those black plastic "toy box" or what ever you call them, you get them almost everywhere. Game Stores, most hardware stores...I guess they hold about 50-80L. The specific one I have in mind has handles which clip over to secure the lid in place, this keeps it securely on and also allows for opening.

Assuming I can come up with a manner in which to keep it elevated to allow for gravity feed, it should actually be an easy build. My biggest problem I have for now is that my tank stands in my entrance hall, the room directly behind it is my dining room so I hardly want to mount a shelf with a black box on it - there is pretty much nothing you can do to a black box to make it look attractive - maybe I could make a wider shelf and put a load of ferns or something infront of it to make it look better but then I have the challenge of not being able to disguise the plumbing...

This is exactly why I want to rebuild my entire system, so that I can make provision for all of this and keep the asthetics in mind when I do the design. When I started building this tank, I was clueless to how much goes into getting a good reef tank together.
 
LOL! That sounds fantastic! It's just a shame that you cannot put your whole sump AND cryptic tank/container, in the garage!

You would LOVE my system! ;) (my whole filtration system is in my garage - with piping going from my tank's overflow, through a hole in the wall, to my skimmer, and then from the skimmer to my sump tanks - which are 6 seperate 90cm tanks (each being perhaps a wee bit more than 100 liters) - and then being pumped back through the wall, to my display tank, which is in my lounge - below me staircase (2 meter tank)! ;)
 
Hey, you know what - I was planning on re-tiling the house anyhow, and my house is elevated to the garage...hmmm, I could go with underground piping, or at leade a decent size "sleeve" in which to run the piping. I am having very expensive and unhygenic thoughts right now :p
 
No Peter. It would not matter. As long as your pump is strong enough to handle the "head" of the plumbing...... It just adds to your "water volume" (the piping! :)) LOL!

My filtration system is +- 4 meters (plumbing/piping taken into account - not direct distance) from my tank!
 
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