Ok, so we have gotten some experience after a year of keeping the 20g nano. The main experience is we need something that looks good on the outside as it does on the inside and need more room but not that much. So I am looking to have a new tank built. The tank is in a corner that would nicely house a 24x24x?h tank. I know there are cubes that are h=24 but a tank builder said 24 takes quite a bit of power on lighting to hit the floor as well as requiring thicker acrylic were if I did h=20 lighting would be ok with DSB to the bottom and cost less on acrylic. He is thinking 3/8" for h20 and 1/2" for h24. (ok if you haven't caught on h=height just in case). Anyway the corner is up in the loft overlooking the great room. So I am thinking have it built with the overflow in the corner so it has 2 nice viewing sides. I will custom build the cab 3/4" ply so the base is 30 to 36" high. Will check asthetics of that soon. I will have all equip in the cab (vs HOT) so it doesn't look like trash as now it does and is sitting on a heavy duty 1" MDF microwave cart. After I build the cabinet he will custom build the sump to fit the cabinet. I will make the cab a couple inches extra wide each side. Also I will have the sump on the top side with a supply drawer below. So tell/share thoughts. PS. I used to build kitchen cabs so I will be adapting my knowledge from that and likely put one cross bar going at the mid section mortised with the top flush.
ok, so im going to forget you even spoke then, as im too d@mn drunk to comprihend those words..lol
Questions:
Can I use the Seaclone HOT Prot Skim as a sump skim by replacing the "piping" to allow in sump placement? Does the PS need to pull from the main tank or can it pull from the sump tank?
if your going hang on, without a sump, no, it doesnt have to pull from the sump, cause what sump..lol
Heater will go in the sump right?
yes if you have a sump, yes it would. a sump is to hide equiptment, increase total water volume, & put simply, make your life a hell of alot easier than controlling everything from the DT
What is the diff between sump and refug? Can I have a part of the sump be refug for macro's? Guess this will require lighting right?
fuge is a safe haven, nothing more. little tiny animals that you dont notice untill you take the time to seriously look at the minor details of your tank generally show in a fuge. to be honest, sections of your DT can become a fuge of sorts, they are safe havens or slower dead spots.
In the american sence of a fuge, anything that can grow animals & plants alike in a controlled safe environment is a fuge.
To aussies, a true fuge is twice as big as the DT. But we know what true reefing is all about..lol
Also, phos reactor. Will need to step this up. Right now using HOT Magnum to do this. Will need to replace with something that can work in / with sump. Is this something that should be inline with the sump or work from the sump water? Can I have a reactor do phose and calc in one unit? What would be recommended with the limited space and needed for the tank size which is likely between 50 and 60 gal plus about 10 to 15 in the sump.
gal is still alien for me, only cause im no good at converting your age old maths 
let get the reactor thing under control. ..... a reactor is nothing but a housing in which to flow. example is a typical PO4 reactor- is nothing more than a sack of medium in a womans stocking material in the dirrect flow of something flowing. reactor this & reactor that means sh^t ok. and
yes, it can be deployed in the sump
Water changes..... What is the best way to do a water change on a tank this size? Should I have a side pump to pull out/in water? Right now I use my HOT magnum to extract water when doing changes. Do you do water changes into the sump rather than into the main tank?
what is a HOT mag. in my years, ive never heard of such things. water changes can literally be done anywhere. having a sump bu very definitgion means the DT will remain constant, and the sump will wear the brunt of the water levels. Typicly id perfor everything in the sump. gives greater flexability not to mention time to reach some sort of an equilibrium before it hit the DT
New main tank lighting will be T5 and PC. I will likely have a setup of 2T5-1PC-2T5-1PC-2T5 if I can make it fit the hood I build. That will be 165Watts of T5 and 130Watts of PC. Plus a single center mounted moon LED. With 24 Inches of depth it should work. I have found that with my nano their are some things that have grown better once I have put in the PC and look better while my loan Hynophora SPS has done well under the DG Powerchome/UVL AquaSun combo. Don't need no stinking MH. The PC is a 10kK/Actinic. Once I burn through those I will use those as pure actinic only.
High output T5 with a suplimental household HQI bulb on one side is all you need in most cases. Ity gives the correct ligting with the illusion of the shimmer effect of MH - PC i cant comment on, your ameroican counter paryts will im sure!
Anyway, I will put a draft pic together soon. Give me thoughts so far though.
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Originally Posted by PapaMcEuin
Ok, so we have gotten some experience after a year of keeping the 20g nano. The main experience is we need something that looks good on the outside as it does on the inside and need more room but not that much. So I am looking to have a new tank built. The tank is in a corner that would nicely house a 24x24x?h tank. I know there are cubes that are h=24 but a tank builder said 24 takes quite a bit of power on lighting to hit the floor as well as requiring thicker acrylic were if I did h=20 lighting would be ok with DSB to the bottom and cost less on acrylic. He is thinking 3/8" for h20 and 1/2" for h24. (ok if you haven't caught on h=height just in case). Anyway the corner is up in the loft overlooking the great room. So I am thinking have it built with the overflow in the corner so it has 2 nice viewing sides. I will custom build the cab 3/4" ply so the base is 30 to 36" high. Will check asthetics of that soon. I will have all equip in the cab (vs HOT) so it doesn't look like trash as now it does and is sitting on a heavy duty 1" MDF microwave cart. After I build the cabinet he will custom build the sump to fit the cabinet. I will make the cab a couple inches extra wide each side. Also I will have the sump on the top side with a supply drawer below. So tell/share thoughts. PS. I used to build kitchen cabs so I will be adapting my knowledge from that and likely put one cross bar going at the mid section mortised with the top flush.
Vquilibrium Productions
make your tank 24 inches or 2 ft high. then given your talking typical reef setting - you have the standard oz / world spec for reefkeeping. 
A meter is about a yard. I'm 5' tall which is 152 cm and my skis (back when I could ski) were 175 cm. A liter is little more than a quart. To roughly go from degrees C to F double it and add 32. From F to C subtract 32 and divide by 2. 
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