Sump / Refugium Plans !!! What do you think

Civicdemon

Go Big Or Go Home !
So this is a realy quick rendering i made on Paint lol. I was bored but its pretty much what i have decided to go with. I was Originally going to go with overflow on left and fuge in midle but i read that it will be to much flow thru the fuge. So i was thinking of Spliting the overflow into 2 and having one like go into sump section with skimmer and one going to the fuge with balve to restric the amount of flow the fuge gets.

Anyways heres my corny Picture. Let me know what you guys thing.

fuge.png
 
i think that you are going to need another ball valve on the intake line that bypasses the fuge area. Also make sure that you use a few unions to allow the plumbing to be removed for cleaning or maintenance. Other then that I like it!
 
i think that you are going to need another ball valve on the intake line that bypasses the fuge area. Also make sure that you use a few unions to allow the plumbing to be removed for cleaning or maintenance. Other then that I like it!

Won't need the valve on the outlet for the sump. He is controlling the flow with the valve coming to the "T" and with one going to the fuge.

However, you will want to make sure that your pipe stays above the water line of the fuge / sump.
 
Why is that? ? You think the head weight will be reduced that much? That if it was under water it might not flow thru?
 
Yeah I'm confused by that too. If you are talking about where the water enters the sump/fuge, you want that pipe (or those pipes) below the water line to reduce splashing.
 
I don't know if it is possible on the "water in" side but it could back flow if power goes out on the return pump. I know from experience if you don't have a trap of some kind on the return pump to the tank or the pipe is not out of the water, it will back flow on the return side. Better safe then flooded.
 
You don't need a "trap" -- what most people do is drill a small hole right at the water line of the return line in the main tank. It's called a siphon break. When the return pump starts back siphoning, the water level drops in the main tank, and as soon as that happens, the siphon break is exposed to air and it breaks the siphon. I know of no way (and have never seen) the return line pipe out of the water -- the return pump has to be submerged.
 
Yeah I'm confused by that too. If you are talking about where the water enters the sump/fuge, you want that pipe (or those pipes) below the water line to reduce splashing.

On my sump/fuge I actually have a piece of filter that goes around my pipe that stops the water from splashing. The overflow box I bought came with an extra one that is round and hollow to fit around pipe. It works very well. When I get back to my house on Monday I will post a picture of it.
 
Speaking of a Siphone break, would i be able to do this for the Overflow also with out a Overflow Box, Meaninf i can just drill a hole in the Pipe about half an inch down from the water level and keep my regular Filter tubing witch sucks up the water from the middle of the tank VS only the top. Would this not work ???/ Meaning i would not need a overflow Box ??
 
NO you are going to need some type of overflow system. If you create a break in the siphon it will not restart in the event that you loose power. The ready made overflow boxes are made to combat that issue and maintain the siphon while not allowing the entire tank to drain into the sump. However there is a DIY system that works well from what I hear. If you do a search for DIY overflow, you should get you some good results.
 
OK yeah i can see that being a problem if i loose power then it turns back on. But how do the over flow boxes keep the siphone with ???
 
The box allows water in only to a certain level. When the water drops down to that level it stops coming into the box. A siphon will always try to level out the water pressure. when the pressure equals out on both sides of the tank the water will stop moving. (there is a little chamber in the exterior box that allows this to happen) When you regain power the water that drained out into the sump will refill the tank causing more pressure on the inner box and push the water again. Siphon maintained and hassle free.

Personally I like the Eshopps overflow because there is no need for any additional pump or anything else. The CPR overflow requires the use of a aqua lifter pump to remove any air that may become trapped in it. Just my 2 cents on this.
 
So i got me Eshopps overflow the other day. I got a pf 800. and im planing on using a mag7 return pump. So let me see if im right.

The mag 7 will need at the most 4 feet of pluming to get to the return. Brings it down to 480 GPH.

SO the gate valve i will be putting on the main pipe of the over flow will have to be almost half way closed to reduce the flow.

I figured if i go from the main pipe and then split it to the refugium with a 1/4 pipe with a valve and the main sump pipe with a 3/4 that would keep it even pressure all the way down equaling 1 inch.

So that will give me 360 GPH to the sump porting where my skimmer will be and 120 gph to the side where my Refugium will be.

DO these flow rates sound good ???

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Join Date: May 2012
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1 Minute Ago Keep in mind that inside my tank i still have 2 powerhead rated at 900 GPH.
 
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Check valves have been notorious for failing if not routinely kept clean so I would still add a siphon break. Just a small hold drilled in the return line at the water line is all it takes.
 
You don't want to put a valve on the line from the overflow box. The overflow box will only move as much water as the return pump gives it. I also agree with Kev to add a siphon hole at the water line of your return line. It is just a simple hole to drill in the plastic. Easy, and will give you peace of mind.
 
OK so what size tank can i fit under my stand, im looking at something no wider 14 inches i only have 16 inches wide down there, them im looking for no longer that 36 inches. and hopefully a 14 inch high. my stand only has 19 inches of hight under so i want to make sure i have room to work on stuff and move the skimmer and stuff like that. anyways what size tank do you guys thing would fit my needs ???
 
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