whats in the sump?

**Hpimichael02** · 03-20-2013, 06:06 PM

good day,

im building a 25 gallon cube reef tank with a sump- my first sump. my end goal is to have a perfect reef 0 nitrate and 0 phosphate(most important) but still want to keep "slightly dirty" water

what do you all suggest in putting in the sump

miracle mud?
4-7" DSB
4" dsb with 20 lbs of live rock
Bare bottom with macro
bare bottom with just live rock
carbon in the filter sock,
gfo in the sock

what do you suggest?

i plan on keeping mainly LPS with some SPS

**Cliff** · 03-20-2013, 10:06 PM

I would skip the deep sand bed and go bare bottom with live rock and macro algae. You can always add some GFO, Chemi-pure or carbon in media bags inside your filter sock if you need them. This approach when combined with as much rock as practical & possible can give you the results you are looking for, as well as requiring the least amount of on-going maintenance. This approach has been maintaining my 120 gallon with nitrates that seldom hit 1 ppm and phosphates that remain undetectable by my Salifert test kit.

You also have to keep in mind, proper stocking and feeding also will play a role in all of this

**funkman262** · 03-21-2013, 04:25 AM

I agree with barebottom with macro (I've had great results with chaeto). Carbon may not be a good idea in a reef except for maybe 24 hour treatments (such as to clear the tank). A GFO reactor would be simple to add in if your phosphates are still high. You may also want to look into the "Hanna Checker Phosphorous Ultra Low Range". Before this newer, ultra-low range checker came out, I had purchased the normal low-range checker and I've been pretty satisfied with it.

**Hpimichael02** · 03-21-2013, 09:12 AM

so in theory if i placed 15lbs of pours live rubble rock that would be better that placing 1 15 lbs rock in the sump- when i mean better i mean that it would be better for anaerobic bacteria to grow due to lack of flow inside the rock pile and more nitrogen?

**Cliff** · 03-21-2013, 11:33 AM

you would still need pretty good flow in your sump. I have a powerhead in the live rock/macro algae compartments of both my sumps

**travie** · 03-25-2013, 03:07 AM

I concur macro algae only with small amount of live rock and sand for extra surface area and a place for copepods to live. I woud not put that much live rock into sump, because it would be a detritus trap. Also the room not being taken up by the LR will allow extra water volume and room for the macro algae to grow into.

Add GFO/carbon down the road if you find your tank needs it once it ages a little bit.