Pszemol wrote on 10/31/2006 12:16 PM:

Using seaweed requires the sump to be lighted.

Yep, and many people are liking the benefits that
refugiums provide.


Not using baffles you are dealing with air bubbles
going into the return pump and geting into the tank.
How do you deal with air bubbles?

Live rock rubble in the sump takes all the bubbles out.


Also, occupying sump with live rock you have no room
there left for placing skimmer, phosphate reaktor
and other devices people normally put in the sump.

I have room for a 1,000 gph protein skimmer in my sump,
and room for carbon and any other bags of media I may want
in there, currently experimenting with a bag of sulfur.


Having 90' elbows on your plumbing you waste the
pump power - each elbow is like a foot hight, so
the flow rate you get from the pump is much lesser...

I use 2" thin wall pvc pipe.

I also do not drill the sump, but I use internal pump
like quiet one 3000 which has enough flow for my 58 g.

I like external pumps because when the electricity comes
on they kick on, as they are real motors, and not vibrator
pumps. Also less heat transfer.

Wayne Sallee
Wayne's Pets