grassy_noel
Active Member
- Joined
- Oct 26, 2017
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- 278
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- Location
- Evanston, Illinois
- What state or country do you live in
- Illinois
Love it! I will have to spend some time studying this, later. This might be just what I'm looking for...
Right now I have two AIO tanks--an IM Nuvo Fusion 20 Display, and an IM Nuvo Fusion 10 Refugium--sitting next to each other (same arrangement as yours). The refugium tank sits about 6" lower than the display and I'm dabbling with two ideas:
1. Plumb the two tanks together directly, with no sump. This would require an HOB overflow on the 20 gallon display, draining into the refugium, and then a return pump in the refugium bringing it back up to the display. In this case, I'd continue to use the filter compartments of the two tanks for all the equipment (mechanical filtration, skimmer, heater, ATO sensors, probes, dosing lines, etc.). Advantage would be I'd only need one of each piece of equipment, instead of two of each when the systems are separate. Major downside is that the rimless AIO tanks run with water level so close to the top, I'm not sure I could keep the refugium from overflowing in a power outage situation.
2. Plumb both tanks down into a DIY 10 gallon sump I would make. In this case, I'd need two HOB overflows, one for each tank. I'd move most of the equipment down into the sump (skimmer, heater, ATO sensors, probes, dosing lines, etc.) and leave only simple mechanical filtration (filter socks/pads) and media in the AIO chambers. Advantage is that I could have much more available volume in the sump for excess water when the returns are off. Major downside is having two overflows and return pumps to worry about, and a lot more stuff to buy (2 HOBs, plumbing, 2 return pumps, sump, new skimmer...).
Don't mean to hijack your thread, I've just been thinking a lot about this lately, and then you showed up with a similar problem and interesting solution, so I thought I'd throw it out there.
Right now I have two AIO tanks--an IM Nuvo Fusion 20 Display, and an IM Nuvo Fusion 10 Refugium--sitting next to each other (same arrangement as yours). The refugium tank sits about 6" lower than the display and I'm dabbling with two ideas:
1. Plumb the two tanks together directly, with no sump. This would require an HOB overflow on the 20 gallon display, draining into the refugium, and then a return pump in the refugium bringing it back up to the display. In this case, I'd continue to use the filter compartments of the two tanks for all the equipment (mechanical filtration, skimmer, heater, ATO sensors, probes, dosing lines, etc.). Advantage would be I'd only need one of each piece of equipment, instead of two of each when the systems are separate. Major downside is that the rimless AIO tanks run with water level so close to the top, I'm not sure I could keep the refugium from overflowing in a power outage situation.
2. Plumb both tanks down into a DIY 10 gallon sump I would make. In this case, I'd need two HOB overflows, one for each tank. I'd move most of the equipment down into the sump (skimmer, heater, ATO sensors, probes, dosing lines, etc.) and leave only simple mechanical filtration (filter socks/pads) and media in the AIO chambers. Advantage is that I could have much more available volume in the sump for excess water when the returns are off. Major downside is having two overflows and return pumps to worry about, and a lot more stuff to buy (2 HOBs, plumbing, 2 return pumps, sump, new skimmer...).
Don't mean to hijack your thread, I've just been thinking a lot about this lately, and then you showed up with a similar problem and interesting solution, so I thought I'd throw it out there.
leak testing the plumbing and everything looks good.. surprised how much water this little pvc overflow will move.
low light easy to maintain and it already looks better with more polyp extension in my tank than it did in theirs 
it looks a lot nicer in person but just can’t get a good picture with my iPad.. going to order some filters for it soon, I do use a camera filter app that’s better than nothing but the adjustments are so touchy and it doesn’t focus very well.
