We then set to work planning an install that would use as much existing equipment as possible, to minimize cost but incorporating some very different methods in sump design along with well known methods in tank design.

Here is the original tank and sump setup.

In order for us to design a system which would maintain a variety of coral and fish in excellent health, as well as finishing the woodwork to complement the surroundings of the pub we had many questions to ask the owners.
First off was to find out the level of experience the owners had between them.
As it turned out they where novice hobbyists with a keen interest in learning the marine side. They had much difficulty keeping coral in particular in the previous setup and where thinking about a FO (fish only) tank.
We then explained that in contrast to what we had seen from the existing tank that it would have been almost impossible to maintain healthy and thriving corals without constant care and maintenance procedures in place.
They said they would prefer a 'reef' if it was possible to keep maintenance low due to the pub being very busy.
We then went away to ponder on what was discussed at the 'meeting' and come up with some ideas to show them on our return.

It's quite small for what we hope it can achieve and was a logistic and expensive nightmare to get the glass cut.

However, we prevailed in the end and below is a description in what we hope it will do.

On the back section of the sump is a glass panel which houses the DSB (deep sand bed) and the SSB (shallow sand bed). This is separated from the main sump and overflows from the right hand side at the top corner.

One third of the overflow in the main display is returned to this area giving much needed O2 to the benthic (surface) layers of the sand. This will promote and enable reproduction in the pod population as well as absorbing Nitrate and phosphate when matured.

When placing the media in the DSB we tried something a little different than the norm by layering different sand grain sizes. (Well two to be precise)

We used 'Kent Marine Bio Sediment' and 'Caribsea' sugar sized sand. I placed a half inch layer of sediment and a half inch layer of sugar sized sand all the way to the surface of the bed and topped off with live sand from the Atlantis coral farm. This is a mixture of different sized sands with some small pieces of reef rubble to maximize pod diversity.

Why did we do that?
I'm hoping that when the bed starts to mature, the burrowing critters will slowly move the larger grains toward the surface of the bed and maybe help the maturing process by speeding it up a little.
It will be difficult to measure the extent of maturation using this method as we are not at the location on a permanent basis, but we will do our 'very, very best to spend more time there.'

The remaining part of the sump incorporates fast flowing ‘raceways’ light and dark areas which will house various filter feeding animals, namely sponges, tunicates etc as well as a dedicated living rock chamber for extra high impact filtration.
Because the flow through the raceways is very rapid the rock housed there will benefit from highly oxygenated water maximizing the filtration capacity from relatively small amounts of rock.

Step 3:

We had to move the remaining animals from the existing display in order to strip it down, there wasn’t much life left to be fair but a Clam, 2 Clarkii’s and a Toadstool along with some small critters had to be housed while we built the new setup. All the inverts where taken to the Atlantis coral farm but we where worried about the Clarkii’s as we probably wouldn’t catch them again without disturbing many corals in the process. So we decided to keep the fish in the old tank, running on a skimmer and powerhead.

So then we where left with ripping out the old frame, sump and the electrical nightmare. This didn’t take too long and we where ready to prep the site for the new cables and woodwork. Before you start on something like this the electrical work needs to be sorted out first. A qualified electrician is a must!

Step 4:

Now came the passive smoking part. We decided that as the new tank was set against an outside wall a small powerful fan would be a good idea to create positive pressure behind the completed structure. This would act as a cooling device as well as an air barrier. The sump section is covered with a seat for the customers and the airflow generated by the fan would exit through a small gap under the seat thus keeping toxins away from the main display. Here’s the hole drilled for the fan.

The lighting unit used was an Aquabay 400 watt with internal ballast. complete with CoralVue 12k lamp. The internal ballast would be ok, as the fan would be blowing over the light unit constantly, hence heat transfer at the water surface was deemed un-problematic. Temperature has prved not to be a problem during the hot weather whilst writing this feature. We used a Blagdon Powersafe 5 outlet switchbox for safety. The Blagdon is a waterproof switchbox normally used in pond applications and provides the utmost safety compared to conventional plug bars. This was also installed above the water line for ultimate safety. Here is a shot with light, fan, switchbox and electric's all fitted.

Trial fitting of sump and external pump with pub lounging seat back in place. The best advice we can give to anyone building the ultimate system is to buy your intended equipment first. After dry fitting the equipment to the plumbing on a mock footprint, you are then able to determine final sump size and hole positioning.

Yippee!, the tank has arrived. In the far right hand corner you can see a single Durso standpipe enclosure and a durso, main feed pump enclosure. The overflow compartment is in place, the tank base drilled to accomadate two 1 1/2 tank connectors for the durso's, plus one 1 1/4 for the main feed.

Now we’re in the position to get the new framework up. The wood we used was 1.5 by 2.5 inches. At the sump area interior, space was an issue. If we had not had the luxury of three supporting walls to screw into, the timber would have needed to be more heavy duty for a free standing display.
This frame was heavily braced with halving joints, scribed to the uneven floor. 12mm Ply was added at the tank base, then the whole construction bolted to the wall for extra stability. One inch polystyrene was used over the plywood. It was weight tested by myself and proved to be solid.

Note the overflow is split into two parts, one of four inches to go direct to the sand bed section of the sump and one of eight inches for the raceways. This gave us twelve inches of linear surface skimming overflow for maximum protein removal. To the left of the weir is a vertical 21.5mm pipe with complete with Eheim inlet strainer. This is to facilitate an easier water change. Installed on the drain line are two 3/4 ball valves beneath the display. Why two valves? What if one leaked! This saves labour at water changes. On opening the valves and switching off the main pump, system water is dumped to waste. This is then replenished by hand into the sump and hey presto! Water change done. A fully automated change was not possible on this installation as there was nowhere to mount a header or pumped water tank in the vicinity (but you can’t have it all, all the time!). The feed from the main circulation pump enters the weir from the bottom through an Ocean Runner 6500, softlinked to a 1 1/4 solvent weld hose tail, then 1 1/4 pipe to the surface. At the water surface, the pipe is reduced to 21.5mm and has two 21.5mm outlets through the weir glass at low and high levels which provides excellent water circulation. The outputs are 21.5mm tank connectors, sealed with silicon to stop any leaks through the weir. A 2mm anti syphon hole is drilled into the 21.5mm at the water surface. This is very important if you want to keep your carpets dry as the whole tank volume will empty into your sump without the anti syphon hole when the electricity supply to the pump is cut! Here is a pic of the tank filled with water to flush the pipe work and remove any residue created during the building process. Note the floss in the sump to catch the particles in suspension.

Step 6 Now we had to finish the rest of the woodwork. In order to keep with the surrounding theme the panels had to be chiseled on the edges and flash burnt to remove the sawn edges and to give it the ‘oldie worldy’ look in keeping with the rest of the pub. The timber was then stained a few times to match the older beams surrounding the display.

A large door at the top for access was installed, again inkeeping with the decor of the Rumbold Arms .The door had a lock installed to stop the smart asses pouring beer into the tank. (You always get one). Again, to keep with the theme, some neat little sawing and a little artex made this fit quite nicely into the surroundings. The hinged door was lined within with ‘foamex’. This is a foam based product which is inert when soaked in water. Doesn’t look too bad me thinks?

Now for the tricky bit! Aquascaping? 60 Kg of living rock and about 10 Kg of the existing rock in the old display was washed, picked clean, and soaked before being stitched to the framework. Note the pipe work we began to construct for the left hand feature. A pipework frame for stitching live rock is an alternative to traditional eggcrate, and makes for a very sturdy framework. We are moving more and more towards this method. Egg crate is good, but takes some hiding from visibility.

	The time had come to let everything settle down. The skimmer was put in place, hanging on the sump (Deltec MCE600), but left off while we waited.

The Rumbold Reef Cam