Custom tank

[theclown]

Has anybody done a 3ft tank with sump, able to fit a Teco chiller inside the cabinet as well, thinking to have a Ca Reactor as well on top of the required Skimmer?

Any ideas are welcome!

Possible would want a 3ft tank for space constraint.

[R0B]

Space is always a premium and no matter what size tank you have you always need more haha. I would offer some of the following advice I picked up whilst building my own setups. Firstly if you can get the chiller outside of the tank/house that is always preferable. But assuming you cannot, and to answer your question, yes you can get away with a smaller sump thus creating room for a chiller. You can also think about removing some of the large footprint items from the sump too. But remember it is always a trade off. Here are a few ideas... firstly: Do you need a skimmer? No not always. Getting a roller mat instead of filter socks is a good start, the filter material on a roller mat is sometimes a low a 5micron (much better than a filter sock at 200/300microns) which would remove loads of particulate reducing the need for a skimmer. Also consider bioload, which is simple... Less fish produce less waste... Secondly Calcium Reactors: yes these are super cool, but using kalkwasser and dosing can add both the calcium (and with dosing) the trace elements you will need (the balling method may suit your needs). So you now have a little extra space so i suggest you use it wisely hahaha. Key is nitrate removal. An ATC is often smaller than a Refugium so would ask you to consider that. But even a small refuge is good if you give it the correct lighting. People often don't light this appropriately imho. The key is to grow grow grow the macro algae quickly so it absorbs nitrates and then you harvest it removing it and thus the nitrates from the tank. It's better to have a small area growing macro algae fast then it is a larger area where you just keep a huge clump of macro algae barely alive with a cheap light . So the money you saved on a skimmer can be used on a better light (and water changes). Other things to think about is tank turnover. You may want to consider feeding the chiller with it's own dedicated line and pump (as in a closed loop) Hence, you can keep you water cool, and not have to pump loads of water through your smaller sump. Nowadays you don't need to pump anywhere near the old school 10x through the sump and even 3x is enough.

Hope this helps Saying that smaller areas do cause a few more swings and less stability. Anyways hope this helps. Feel free to PM me if you need.

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