refugium...in sump or out of sump???????

[ZOOT098]

hello all,
well my stand is finally done and the tank is in the house
i have made my sump out of a 30 gallon tank and right now it is only 2 sections 1-main tank water in, with skimmer and heaters 2-bubble trap and pump

i have heard that having the refugium in the middle section is way less effective, than having it outside of the sump and letting water trickle into it and overflow back into the sump, allowing the water to travel through the refugium at a slower rate

Any thoughts on this, i know most designs show the refugium in the middle

Fatman i need one of your 5 pargraph engineer reports on this one, and why it does or does not make a difference

space is also a concern on this one.

thanks all

 

[cthegame]

A refugium is a refugium, as long as you have one, it will do its job. Most are in the middle and and some hang from the back and some are in the DT. They all work.

However, in my opinion, putting a fuge in the DT is a little tacky.

 

[ZOOT098]

due to space constraints i am going to put it in the sump, i cant fit one outside of the sump in my cabinet.

 

[reeffreak]

Having a fuge where you can control the flow rate is better but isn't all necessary.Melev's website has some designs of refugium built into a sump where you can control the flow.Otherwise you will need a separate refugium or a floating refugium.I have my refugium separate from the sump.A pump with a control valve for flow brings water to the sump and a drain section where it returns water to the return section of the sump.

 

[ZOOT098]

this is what im thinking, hopefully i will be making sense

1. 30 gallon tank for sump/refugium
2. going from left to right, fuge section then skimmer/heater section, then return pump section
3. i will put a T in the drain pipe from the display tank
4. the main flow of water will drain into the middle section with the skimmer
5. the T'd off pipe will drain into the left section where the fuge will be located
6. i will install a ball valve to control waterflow into the fuge
7. the baffle seperating the fuge section from the skimmer section in the middle will be 12" high
8. the baffle between the skimmer section and the return pump will be 8" high followed by a bubble trap
9. water will flow into the fuge at a slower rate and be allowed to hang out in there longer, and overflow into the middle section where the skimmer is

this allows me a 5 gallon fuge followed by a 16" +/- skimmer section, then 2" of bubble trap and +/- 7" for the return pump

does this make any sense???

 

[reeffreak]

I believe I understand what you are doing.Although that's a design I never seen or heard of,not saying it won't work.

How 'bout skimmer in left section,return in the center and refugium in the right chamber.Split the drain hose to both the skimmer and refugium section.However you do it,you will want raw water going to the skimmer first.It's okay to have raw water going to refugium and skimmer but not going to the refugium first then to the skimmer.

 

[ZOOT098]

youve got it
im splitting the raw water so it goes mainly to the skimmer section, but trickles into the fuge at say 100-200 gallons per hour, then overflows into the skimmer section

 

[fatman]

I believe Reeffreaks idea would work better and be easier to manage as water adjustment would be easier and there is no good reason to run water from your refugium through your skimmer, but there is a bad reason. Running refugium water through your skimmer would diplace raw water that your skimmer could be processing instead of refugium water. It is much more efficient when set up as suggested by Reeffreak.