[MARINE TANK] Custom made sump

above: before and after filling of water

above: Sump

above: filtration - live rock and marine pure block

above: sump diagram and picture

Sump modification
Hence with Brett's help (credit to Brett from MASS) we have come up with a highly efficient sump that will have a DSB and refugium. The modified sump has a second area for live rock beneath the skimmer (will show some pictures of this later) and is designed to route water from the skimmer compartment in a 90 degree bend to the return pump chamber. There will also be 3x baffles before the water enters the return pump to remove micro bubbles.

Sump took a couple of days to make. I let the silicon cure for 4 days (although i hear 48 hours is adquate).

For sump filtration and denitrification I have heard good things about Marine Pure Ceramic Media Blocks (see the pic above). It is a very porous block that greatly increases surface area for filtration. Since it is thick as well, it is also great at reducing nitrates. I have placed the largest portion on this block beneath the skimmer in the skimmer compartment.

The other portion will be placed in the refugium.

Substrate
For the substrate I used Caribsea Arag-alive Oolite sand in the refugium as the Deep Sand Bed and Caribea Reef Sand as the substrate in the display. I will still be fiddling around with this until I learn more.
I hear a 4-5" DSB is ideal, but there is some argument that 5" is too deep. For myself, I have used a 3" DSB for two reasons. Firstly, I am out of Oolite sand. Secondly, the sand I use is SUPER fine and hence I think 3" will be enough.

Tank Filling
This was the hardest and most tedious job! I used Coral Pro Reef Salt mix to make up the water to 1.020 but will gradually increase the SG to the recommended parameter. Water ended up all cloudy, but i think this is the combination of unbalanced parameters (calcium precipitation) and substrate disturbance. It should clear up in a few days.

TIP: I am just learning Saltwater so although these tips will be obvious to some reefers, these are mistakes that I have made and may come in handy for those following my footsteps in future. Firstly, make sure you rinse the oolite adequately before you dump it into the tank. This stuff clouds the tank like crazy! Secondly, I used tap water to rinse my oolite and I hear Prime is still effective for removing chlorine. Salt water Chloride is apparently not affected by this product. Thirdly, Never go stingy with your live rock. I am 100x happier that I got a better looking piece than my previous piece (even though i paid 3x for it).