Refugium above dt

[Victoria M]

Ya I’ve been thinking about putting a pump in dt. Over time coraline will overgrow and make it blend in.

I would not be able to do this. It would drive me crazy. lol. But I have spent a lot of time dreaming of a display refugium above my DT. I decided if I did it I would place a small sized MJ pump or eheim inside the corner overflow of my DT to the fuge.
So what are the goals you hope to accomplish with adding a refugium? Are you wanting to add water volume, do you have a mandarin you are hoping to feed? or have algae for nurient export? Or all of the above. I can understand ditching the cannister filter. Many people get misdirected in their use when they are still new to this.
Also are you capable of drilling a smaller aquarium? I think this would be the best route to go. I had a refugium above my sump and it worked very well. I also once set up a small hospital tank above the sump and had some interesting challenges.

 

[Victoria M]

What would placing the pump in the display accomplish? The setup pictured works identically to an externally plumbed return pump.

As for the strainers on the drains, what critters do suppose would cover the outlets that would make these a problem over any other return system? The diagram above does have redundancy on the drains and operates in essentially the same manner a Herbie would.

This setup has no more risk than a Herbie.

I did not think this particular set up was more risky. I believe an above DT fuge is a bit risky and requires a good amount of back up systems or redundancy to make it less risky. The strainers should be placed to prevent critters or algae pieces from going into the pipes, not catching them after they are in. It also appears that the pump flow is backwards, atleast in my experience with external pumps, or I should say all my pumps. The inlet on the pump gets its water by gravity, and then water up to the tank. Perhaps there are systems I am not familiar with. It appears to be a home made siphon system. Not Either way...over flow siphons frequently fail. In my experienc... always fail eventually. lol. The 2 drain system is very smart. I am not critisizing the drawing. I just see opportunities for improvement, and to simplfy it.

 

[Andrew Mc]

Here is my Mr Aqua 12 Gal above a 33 Long DT which was then upgraded to a Mr. Aqua 22 Gal. However, I have a huge sump, which is actually two connected sumps. The only issues I have had was the overflow (upside-down PVC elbow) getting blocked by a Mexican Turbo snail, which resulted in the fuge overflowing and spilling onto the floor. Thankfully it wasn't much water. Hence my upgrade to a standard overflow in the 22.

 

[Victoria M]

I am not a very skilled paint user as you can see. I used this system as an above sump fuge. a submersable pump to send water to the fuge with a sipon break. The main drain from the fuge to the sump had a strainer to prevent snails and algea from blocking the drain line, and a secondary drain line with strainer, elevated with an albow as a back up. I had a few problems such as the line came off the MJ and the MJ sprayed water up the wall, but the siphon break worked. lol. and prior to the inlet being drilled too, the u return line sprayed up the wall when the MJ pump moved. I also think a heater in the fuge incase of a pump failure would have been a good idea. Each of the lines were securely plumbed with a bulkhead. It was a good system. I just got a good deal on a larger sump and made it all in one and liked that better.

 

[Victoria M]

wow Andrew that is actually quite pretty.

 

[madweazl]

I am not a very skilled paint user as you can see. I used this system as an above sump fuge. a submersable pump to send water to the fuge with a sipon break. The main drain from the fuge to the sump had a strainer to prevent snails and algea from blocking the drain line, and a secondary drain line with strainer, elevated with an albow as a back up. I had a few problems such as the line came off the MJ and the MJ sprayed water up the wall, but the siphon break worked. lol. and prior to the inlet being drilled too the u return line sprayed up the wall when the MJ pump moved. I also think a heater in the fuge incase of a pump failure would have been a good idea. Each of the lines were securely plumbed with a bulkhead. It was a good system. I got a good deal on a larger sump and made it all in one and liked that better.

This design actually eliminates redundancies and failsafes that were in place in the diagram posted. I wouldnt run a strainer on either end of the return to the display personally but that is all a matter of preference (both ends would suffice as well). The pump supplying water to the refugium is positioned and operating as it should in the diagram.

 

[Andrew Mc]

Thank you! I let the fuge get kind of nasty before a W/C. This pic was in the initial building of the system: Eventually the sumps were connected and an external Tunze 1073.05 DC was plumbed to run water from the sump up to the fuge. (sorry to highjack the thread!).

 

[Luna]

Why not go with a couple cpr aquafuge maybe fuge/skimmer combo?

 

[sfin52]

I would not be able to do this. It would drive me crazy. lol. But I have spent a lot of time dreaming of a display refugium above my DT. I decided if I did it I would place a small sized MJ pump or eheim inside the corner overflow of my DT to the fuge.
So what are the goals you hope to accomplish with adding a refugium? Are you wanting to add water volume, do you have a mandarin you are hoping to feed? or have algae for nurient export? Or all of the above. I can understand ditching the cannister filter. Many people get misdirected in their use when they are still new to this.
Also are you capable of drilling a smaller aquarium? I think this would be the best route to go. I had a refugium above my sump and it worked very well. I also once set up a small hospital tank above the sump and had some interesting challenges.

Im able to drill a smaller tank. I’ll keep the canister filter it does a great job. I want a mandarin and also I want some Fiji mud a refugium will accomplish all of this.

 

[sfin52]

@Andrew Mc you didn’t it. I’m looking for ideas and your set up is helping thanks.

 

[sfin52]

With a pump in dt running to refugium there’s been posts talking about siphoning. Can someone please explain this. I thought the pump would stop this from happing.

 

[ArcKatana]

When the power is turned off, water naturally wants to drain to the lowest level it can. Return lines (if submerged) can act as drains, causing water to reverse from the flow and drain into the lowest level (sump or tank or wherever). Some people go around this by drilling a small hole in the return neck (that goes into the tank), so if the power goes out, the hole acts as suction for air to interrupt the draining effect. Another method is to keep the return line above the water level, so it won't matter if the power does go out, it won't cause a suction and drain into the sump/tank. You can kind of work around the last part by making sure your return line is just below the water level in the tank, so if it does end up with some suction, only a very little will drain out.