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Anyone Use CPR Aquatics Products?

Keith

Vampyroteuthis
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Jun 5, 2008
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So i've been lookin at stuff for a new tank for a long time and I saw one of these set ups in a LFS today. They look pretty good, so I wanted to get an opinion from people that aren't tryin to sell me somthin.
Search results for: '' - Bulk Reef Supply
It's a CPR CY194. I've also been talkin to Jeff from lifereef for a while, but I just don't have the money to spend on custom made equipment. This looks like a good alternative if I can also find a good refugium to pair up with it. What do you guys think? Any of you have experience with these systems? Any info would be much appreciated.

-Keith
 
Keith,
What size aquarium? I have sworn never to have a tiny sump again since I put the older 35 gallon acrylic to use as a sump on the new 55. All my other sumps are 10 gallon (this is 12) and they just don't accomodate water changes (they go almost dry), evaporation (the skimmer is inconsistent) or power outages (I have to minimize the amount of water) well. The covered top might help with evaporation but takes away any cooling you may want to do at the sump. IMO, if you have the room, get the largest sump you can accomodate and put everything inside. I also took Thales and Paradox's advice and bought an inline skimmer that totally does away with water level fluctuation problems. I have converted all my sumped tanks to simple sock with a carbon bag initial filtration (skimmers are various, my favorite being the inline but the water that does not go directly to the skimmer is also socked) and am pleased with the results and maintenance improvements. If you can come up with a used tank (or go with a rubbermaid type container, the cost may even be less and more effective.
 
I forgot about that. It's a 75 gallon. I'm thinkin I might just get one of the megaflow sumps. They give a good amount of room to play with. Does anyone have anything good or bad to say about hang on the back refugiums? I'd like to just have the sump in the cabinet if I can. Also, this may sound like a dumb question, but what is an inline skimmer and what about it solves water level problems?
 
Keith - Some of us live on another coast and others not in this hemisphere :wink:

I found the thread where Thales and Paradox gave me info on an in-line skimmer. Basically, you can supply an in-line skimmer with your overflow tubing using a tee and valve to regulate how much goes to the skimmer and how much back to the sump (the skimmer cannot accomodate all of the overflow). Since the skimmer is gravity fed directly from the tank, there is no sump water level problem to deal with. The manufacturer will show a different set up using a pump but some will show this configuration as an option. The skimmer must be designed for in-line use, however. Mine is advertised for in/out of sump but when it arrived, we found that it is for in-sump use only. The actual design was for either but the materials used would likely cause a disaster if used outside the tank. By having it inside the sump, I don't bother to shut it down when I clean it :twisted:

You can get an idea of how we plumbed ours from this thread. I guess I should take a completed photo to finish it.

PS. I have never used a hang on fuge and have wondered how well they work. I know I don't like the combined sump/fuge and have removed everything but the hardware from all but one sump (my reef has a deep sand bed that is not practical to remove) and am happier with the maintenance and have better water than when I tried combining the two concepts.
 
I use a hang on refugium on two of our tanks and I like them. Just make sure the water flows freely through them. I made the mistake of putting some rubble on the return end of the refugium. Since the water flow is slow, it will allow for dead spots and I found a white "cloud" underneath the rubble. Once it was disturbed it smelled very strongly like sulfur and boom, cycle.
 

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