Cycle sump/fuge? (1 Viewer)

[Guest]

I have had my tank up for about three months now. My husband decided he wants to build a 10 gallon sump/fuge. I am going to put sand (not live) and macro algae in it. Do I need to cycle the fuge before I hook everything up to my 55 gallon? I have been in this hobby off and on for about 8 or 9 years, but during our moves we had to take the tank down. I have never had a fuge, so I want to be sure. I have fish and coral in the tank already. I just do not want to trigger another cycle in my 55 gallon. Thanks for any help.

 

[chriskb3]

I think you will be fine just setting it up and run it with the main tank. As long as you are using dry clean sand, the most you will get is a mini-cycle while bacteria colonizes the new sand. If you havent already bought the sump, I would recommend larger, if it will fit in your alotted space. 10 gallons really isnt much room to work with if it's going to be divided into refugium and return sections.

 

[Guest]

Fuge

Thanks. I may just run a powerhead in it for a couple of weeks then. I don't want anything contaminating my main tank. Unfortunately that is all that will fit under my tank though. The stand is divided underneath. We plan on upgrading to a bigger main tank in the future, and will definitely do a much bigger one then. This is just a project my husband decided he wants to do. I always have done okay without a fuge but I know it can be beneficial.

 

[flexrac]

if you are going to run a power head in it, make sure it's one suited for a nano tank, or else you will stir up the sand and get it into the powerhead.
also take some live sand from your main tank and put it on top of the sand in the fuge to seed it.

personally i would do like suggested and connect it to the main tank and let it go thru the mini cycle, won't hurt anything. just monitor parameters.

 

[Guest]

sump

Thanks for the tips.