Refugium space worth it or not? Please look!

MasterBacon · Oct 26, 2016

So I bought the Icecap 36 Reef Sump going under my 150 DT. It has an ATO space of 8 gallons.
Question is, if I drill a hole and use a small pump to pump water from the skimmer compartment with extra holes between the return pump bulkhead's adjoining wall for overflow, does it make sense?
Is an 8 gallon area going to get any results?
I would remove the blue lid and add a light, but is it worth the effort?

Joey waid · Oct 26, 2016

That's exactly what I did with my ice cap, but I used the hole in the lid and ran the pipe off of the return down to the bottom of that area and let it run out of the holes they have in there for overflow.

Joey waid · Oct 26, 2016

Here's mine.

Joey waid · Oct 26, 2016

You can hang a light on the side where the clear glass is.

MasterBacon · Oct 26, 2016

I gave myself a few extra outputs, so I could bypass the extra pump. But they are from my return pump?

Joey waid · Oct 26, 2016

MasterBacon said:
I gave myself a few extra outputs, so I could bypass the extra pump. But they are from my return pump?

I ran mine from the return. I know it's not what most do, but I just wanted a little extra bacteria with space I did not need. I am using a external ato as I'm sure you are.

MasterBacon · Oct 26, 2016

Joey waid said:
I ran mine from the return. I know it's not what most do, but I just wanted a little extra bacteria with space I did not need. I am using a external ato as I'm sure you are.

I Will be using an already purchased ATO reservoir.
Just didn't know if 8 gal space was worth the effort .

saltyfilmfolks · Oct 27, 2016

Yes. Do it.

Awesome Dennis · Oct 27, 2016

I am considering doing almost the same thing. I currently have a 21x21x16 custom king sump which has a smaller fuge area 8g and an ATO space 8g right next to it which I don't plan on using. I want more fuge area in my sump and was considering repurposing the ATO as more fuge space. I was going to use a small output from my manifold to feed the new fuge and cut holes on the wall between the 2 spaces which would double my fuge space. The only thing I'm trying to decide is if I should cut most of the dividing wall out or just overflow slots at the top area.

MasterBacon · Oct 27, 2016

Awesome Dennis said:
I am considering doing almost the same thing. I currently have a 21x21x16 custom king sump which has a smaller fuge area 8g and an ATO space 8g right next to it which I don't plan on using. I want more fuge area in my sump and was considering repurposing the ATO as more fuge space. I was going to use a small output from my manifold to feed the new fuge and cut holes on the wall between the 2 spaces which would double my fuge space. The only thing I'm trying to decide is if I should cut most of the dividing wall out or just overflow slots at the top area.

I would go with overflow slots so if you had to change something out it wouldn't disturb the whole setup.

Awesome Dennis · Oct 27, 2016

If I made the 2 areas into 1 it would make a vary nice size fuge otherwise I'll just have 2 smallerfuges

MaddyP · Oct 27, 2016

This is an interesting concept! I have a Icecap sump on my 40 breeder and love having the built in ATO reservoir, but the lack of refug space is annoying. I don't mind having a ATO reservoir sitting next to the tank if it means I could have space for a refugium...