Separate sump and refugium tanks

[Frogger19]

I am in the process of designing my sump and refugium for my 225 gallon mixed reef tank. I am going to have a 55 gallon tank for the sump and a 30 gallon tank for the refugium. My

tank has two overflows so I plan on directing one to the sump and one to the refugium. The refugium will feature an overflow which will return water to the sump. The return pump will be in the middle of the sump and will be connected to the return pipes of both overflows. I have included a diagram of what I have planned. Sorry if its difficult to follow, I don't claim to be a good ms paint artist.

 

[Planedoc]

You didn't ask any questions but you don't need a bubble trap before your skimmer and you don't need the first one in your fuge. You might want to plumb your drain to the fuge so some can go to sump. 50% might be to much flow through fuge

Sent from my galaxy s3

 

[Frogger19]

Sorry, my text got cut off. My question is "does this seem like a good design?"

 

[Bio-nut]

In general, I would say that your thought process is sound. However, the flow throught the refugium does need to be slow. so that being said I would make sure that the return on the left of your drawing can handle the majority of you overflow. I would plumb the drains off the tank together before entering the sump/refugium and then run a side stream line off the over flow line to the refugium to ensure that you do not change the flow in your tank. Good luck and have fun with it. looks like you have a good thing planned.

 

[Zack]

+ 1 on unnecessary bubble traps, besides that looks cool!

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[Frogger19]

In general, I would say that your thought process is sound. However, the flow throught the refugium does need to be slow. so that being said I would make sure that the return on the left of your drawing can handle the majority of you overflow. I would plumb the drains off the tank together before entering the sump/refugium and then run a side stream line off the over flow line to the refugium to ensure that you do not change the flow in your tank. Good luck and have fun with it. looks like you have a good thing planned.

That was my other thought. I think I will end up plum ing the drains together and teeing it into the sump and fuge. I could install ball valves to regulate flow.

 

[Frogger19]

Are filter socks required? If so, where should I put them?

 

[fragmatic]

I use a separate pump to feed my refuge, reactors, and a frag tank. The refuge overflows back into the mid chamber of my sump. Each item on that pump has a valve so I can meter them accordingly. You do not want heavy flow in your refuge. Be sure to FEED that tank if you have a separate refugium. I was not nearly as successful in years past because I was underfeeding my system. You can under feed or over feed. You must feed the system to have a healthy refugium in my opinion.

 

[Justunsmegareef]

I would get a sump with a refugium built in

 

[fragmatic]

I would get a sump with a refugium built in

Now that I recently added a separate refugeium, I am much happier with the ability to control the flow and isolation from the main sump system. However, I'd nearly kill for one sump tank with an isolated refugium in the same walls. I guess that will have to be a project for me some day, -> design and build a custom sump with isolated refugium. It would barely slide into my cabinet and have plenty of extra depth to cover any possible exaggerated tank overfill accidents better.

 

[Justunsmegareef]

i have a sump with a refugium in the middle chamber, way easy. i got a mangrove gracilaria and cheato growing in it. i only paid 300 for a 40 gallon sump/fug.

 

[Justunsmegareef]

here are some pictures.

 

[MLHoenig]

Before I post what sounds as uneducated as it truly is, I want to provide some background about me...

1) I've been an electronics technician since 1967; I was 12 back then.
2) I've jumped into and out of maintaining aquariums more than a few times over the ensuing decades.
3) My wife and I've been maintaining a healthy tropical aquarium for the past three years or so; selling off our 37g when I picked up a 75g marine setup for $200 back in April.
4) We jumped together into saltwater aquariums back in February with a NanoCube 29g; no significant problems with it, although we learned a good lesson about water changes the last two months and are now doing 5g changes every Sunday.

On to the subject now

The 75g includes a 10g dual-chamber sump; we recently inherited a 10g tank from my daughter-in-law and I found this thread when I had the incredible idea of using the 10g as a third-chamber 'fuge. One quick Google and here I am!

Because I have virtually no experience with plumbing, yet grok the basics like how siphons work and that water always seeks its own level, I'm having a good deal of trouble understanding how the plans here work and how to incorporate this into my plans.

My primary concern is, of course, preventing the newly-acquired 10g from overflowing.

The 75g has one overflow, so I know how to use that when plumbing just one tank (the sump). Splitting the flow between the two is a no-brainer, but how can I plumb the two together without trying to drill the second tank?

Is there some sort of siphon setup that will maintain a good water level in both yet leave enough room for the potential overflow from the 75g due to power loss?

I've set up the standpipe in the main tank such that it should never drain more than 10% but I won't know for sure until after I finish routing the complete plumbing arrangement and take it for a test drive. And I have plenty of time to spare...the work is a slow process at this time.

Does anyone here have pictures of a similar setup? And a good description of the fluid dynamics involved (I have a thing about understanding the hows and whys of anything I build)

Thanks in advance!

 

[ethridge78]

Should have started your own thread would have been easier .

 

[MLHoenig]

Should have started your own thread would have been easier .

I'll do it; thanks!

 

[Noremac]

Here is what I would do in that situation. If I get to move my tank to my bedroom, and get a larger tank for the living room, The bedroom sump will be designed similar to this. More or less, I am going to get a pre-fab entertainment center, and split the sump between the two cabinets. After some serious bracing upgrades of course.

 

[Jose Berry]

I use a separate pump to feed my refuge, reactors, and a frag tank. The refuge overflows back into the mid chamber of my sump. Each item on that pump has a valve so I can meter them accordingly. You do not want heavy flow in your refuge. Be sure to FEED that tank if you have a separate refugium. I was not nearly as successful in years past because I was underfeeding my system. You can under feed or over feed. You must feed the system to have a healthy refugium in my opinion.

What do you mean by feed? Also I too am looking at having a separate refugium due to the sump I got with the tank ( beggers can’t be choosers) and considering that it’s a zero edge sump I’m not going to complain. My idea though is to use the sumps water to cycle through the fuge. I’ll provide a scetch.

 

[jtl]

I have tried different sump configurations over the years and they all work. Yesterday I changed out my plumbing so that water from the DT goes into my refugium chamber than to the skimmer chamber and lastly to the return pump. Previously, I fed the refugium fed from the return pump and also a little from the DT. It was ok but this is simpler. I do run a line from my return to feed my GAC reactor. Less pumps the better. Next week when the acrylic arrives I am building a mechanical filter that can use both filter socks and/or filter pads, the latter being my choice. I like my water crystal clean and I am not found of detrius in my sump. My chaeto doesn't grow despite have traces of NO3 and PO4, plus good lighting so I may just eliminate it entirely.