Refugium and sump

[1bigstud]

any and all advice on how to set them up and what the main elements of succesful ones are would be great.
Parts and compnents I'll need.
for the sump I have a general idea
but totally clueless for the refugium.
I have a 70 gallon tank with 100 pounds of live fiji rock.

[Sushiman]

Here is what I'm looking at for my next sump, now you saw the set-up I currantly run, I want to clean it up.
Overflow from display into chamber #1: this will house my skimmer. I want to skim before the refugium so I don't reduce any critters trying to migrate from the sump to the display.
Water flows through a baffle to chamber #2: refugium + heaters: deep sugarsand bed mixed with a layer of mangrove mud. Live rock, greens, peppermint shrimp, etc.
Water exits through another baffle to the main pump return. great place for carbon as required.
I'm planning to have Canreef build me this one. plumped for an external return pump. I'm going to take my currant return pump (a Mag 7) & make a closed loop system with a "squid" director/wavemaker from J&L.

[1bigstud]

how much live rock?? and greens?? I was thinking about running a fluval in my sump yay or nay??

[1bigstud]

also what about a uv sterilizer and calcium reactor??

[Sushiman]

Now we're talking!
The size of your refugium & contents should be dictated by the space you have to work with. Bigger is better, but anything is better than nothing. If that means a little 5 gal like mine so be it, if you want to go nuts, make a room in your basement, make it your filtration room & plumb it to the livingroom upstairs, rubbermaid makes great 100gal feed sumps...
Decide what you want the fuge to do; nutrient export? breeding ground? denitrification? is it the sole form of filtration for your system or just supplimental? calurpa is the standard "green", but you have many choices out there, mangroves are great but large #'s are needed, I've heard 1-2 per 5gal is a good rule of thumb, but again is this your sole means of nutrient export? If you have a ridiculously huge bioload you will need a ridiculously huge filtration system. Thats why there are no hard and fast rules that work for every tank as every tank is different.

UV is a great add on provided you don't undersize, & you realize it will also kill benifitial organisms as well. One solution is to only run the UV a couple of times per month.
Ca Reactors are great, costly initially, but the method of choice for Ca & Alk. If you are going LPS, SPS & Clams it is a must, but if your only doing softies you certainly won't need one.

Why would you want a fluval? what are you using it for?

Set up should be organized, efficent, not redundant & cluttered. It will just make maintenace chore a big hassle. If something goes wrong, servicing equipment has to be easy to do, did you remember those union valves? You'll find out the day your pump fries & you need to get it serviced!

[1bigstud]

the reason I would run the fluval is to take out larger particles and for charcoal filteration.

[1bigstud]

I would use the refugium for nitriates and I dont know what you mean by exportation.

[Sushiman]

You want to remove waste from your system, not just move it from one place to another. Cannisters are great vacuum cleaners, but I think they're completly unecessary in a reef set up.
large particulate can easily be removed by the following:
1) tank turn-over. 10-20x per hour, or greater! the more the better.
2) a decent skimmer. Most skimmers are overated on the tanks the can handle. Overskimming your system will strip all sorts of crap out of the water colum & give you crystal clear water.
3) put your carbon in a media bag, toss it in your sump near your return pump & relax. It will clean your water just fine in this method.
4) If you still have particulate, buy some bulk filter floss. Stick it in your sump where the h2o comes in from the display. Change it frequently as it will quickly be filled with detris that will just pollute your tank.
Also, anything trying to migrate from your refugium to the display will have a hell of a time getting by this barrier. Buy a big ass skimmer & increase your tank turn over & you'll be fine. Try an Aqua C 180 or a PM Bullet 1.

Think of exportation of waste as simple math: there has to be at the very LEAST a balance between the producers of waste (fish, corals,etc...) & consumers of waste (live rock, deep live bed, clean up crew...). If there are more consumers than producers you are giving yourself a safety net.
By over sizing your filtration componets you guarantee that if anything goes wrong, your system can hopefully handle it, & that your everyday tank conditions are prestine, not just adequate. By using natural methodology, your tank will stabilize & your required maintenace chores actually will be less. The more biodiversity the better. at least 1-2x/week. There are better ways.