In order to increase the load of fish and corals and in order to provide a more stable system in terms of water parameters, I have decided to add a sump with a refugium to my RSM 130D. This adds a separate tank below the aquarium that holds additional water volume. It will also hold some deep sand as a place for denitrifying bacteria. These bacteria convert Nitrate (NO3) back into nitrogen gas and water. The gas will then bubble out of the sump. I will also add some macroalgae (good info here:
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2007-01/sl/index.php). These sea plants consume nutrients that would otherwise contribute to nuisance algae and other instabilities in water chemistry.
Here is my my final design. I am having an expert cut the acrylic pieces for me and I will assemble the tank myself. Water flows into the right side through the middle part which is where I will put the sand and macroalgae and then out the left side. I will move the protein skimmer from the mini-sump in the back of my tank to the right side of the sump. An "overflow box" is used to get the water from the tank down to the sump and then a return pump will bring it back up again.
