Newtybar
Active Member
There's a lot of debate regarding sump design.
Some people recommend having a skimmer in the initial chamber, followed by a refugium, then the return. The argument against this is that the skimmer is pulling out the nutrients necessary to make the refugium inhabitants thrive (copepods etc).
The solution to this would be to put the refugium before the skimming chamber (my sump is designed like this). The main issue using this method is with the skimmer killing copepods before they can get returned to the display.
What if you had the two concurrent with different flow paths? One section would go through the skimmer and straight to the return and the other section would flow into the refugium and enter return without having to go through the skimmer portion.
To clarify, here's a diagram of what I was thinking:
At the end of the refugium section is a channel to slow the flow prior to entering the return. I believe this will allow the water height in the refugium section to be higher.
Some people recommend having a skimmer in the initial chamber, followed by a refugium, then the return. The argument against this is that the skimmer is pulling out the nutrients necessary to make the refugium inhabitants thrive (copepods etc).
The solution to this would be to put the refugium before the skimming chamber (my sump is designed like this). The main issue using this method is with the skimmer killing copepods before they can get returned to the display.
What if you had the two concurrent with different flow paths? One section would go through the skimmer and straight to the return and the other section would flow into the refugium and enter return without having to go through the skimmer portion.
To clarify, here's a diagram of what I was thinking:
At the end of the refugium section is a channel to slow the flow prior to entering the return. I believe this will allow the water height in the refugium section to be higher.
