DIY refugium question with pics

[stanleo]

Hey all. So I want to add a refugium for cheato and micro fauna to my tank. Its 120 gallon with a sump. The sump does not have space for a protein skimmer and a refugium so I want to make one out of a ten gallon tank I already have. My plan is to have a pump feed water from the sump's main compartment and another pump feed from the refugium to the return compartment of the sump. There is enough room under the tank to add this. My questions are will this work as long as both pumps have an identical flow rate and will the micro fauna find their way into the display tank when they have to go through two pumps? I want to eventually keep a mandarin and I know I need micro fauna for them. I have pics. The pic

of the ten gallon tank I am going to use has lines on it where I intend to put in the baffles.

 

[Sailingeric]

I don't have a pic but I use a 20 gallon long tank as my sump so I have more length and part of my sump has plastic weave basket I got from Target that I have my chaeto growing in. Seems to work fine as water gets to flow through and I can see a aquatic society swimming around and in and out of the chaeto.

I think if you are relying on two pumps to feed the fuge, you have a couple points of failure that could cause some flooding.

 

[Montiman]

I would never ever use 2 pumps. It is a flood waiting to happen. use a single pump and drill a bulkhead to gravity feed from the tank back to the sump.

 

[stanleo]

I take both of your points and agree, thank you. The sump is fed through an overflow box from the main tank. My next idea is to drill a bulkhead in the ten gallon fuge for the water to drain into the sump but still have a pump feed the refugium from the sump. Would that work do you think? I don't want to put another overflow box on the display tank.

 

[Montiman]

I take both of your points and agree, thank you. The sump is fed through an overflow box from the main tank. My next idea is to drill a bulkhead in the ten gallon fuge for the water to drain into the sump but still have a pump feed the refugium from the sump. Would that work do you think? I don't want to put another overflow box on the display tank.

This is what I was trying to describe. Ecosystem aquarium used to make a refugium similar to this.

Refugium System | EcoSystem Aquarium

“My family and Wet Pets and Friends feel that the EcoSystem Refugium is the best filter available, because of the unparalleled quality of construction and customer service! We will continue carrying, selling and recommending the EcoSystem Refugium as our favorite … Continue reading →

www.ecosystemaquarium.com

 

[S2G]

2 pumps you'll never get it ironed out. What I recommend is drilling the 10g and let gravity do the work

 

[S2G]

Here you go quick sketch. Run both drains to it Triton style or run a feed from your return. Im actually using a thick tote with uniseals lol I couldn't fit the tanks I wanted under my dang stand