Prepare to be amazed!.....Not really though

justinpsmith · #1 10/20/2007, 09:27 PM

I have an idea. Its a simple one but I would like advice. Its my sump refugium. I will let this amazing drawing do the talking though. Please ask me to explain whatever does not make sense.

justinpsmith · #2 10/20/2007, 09:29 PM

Oh and I did not draw in unions. But there will be unions...oh there will be many unions!

justinpsmith · #3 10/20/2007, 09:51 PM

More info:

The overflow is going to be "herbie" style through 2x2" bulkheads drilled in the bottom. One is the emergency. The return pump is a Mag 24. Im not looking for a debate though about how inefficient Mags are. So you can imagine, there is going to be a lot of flow through this sump...The sump is only 33G. Thats why Im keeping the 10G refugium separate. The skimmer is a PM Bullet 2 Skimmer which will be run externally. I will have the return of the skimmer go to the section just after the baffles. Also, the return section will be bigger than the picture so I do not have to deal with evaporation issues. I will eventually add an auto top off I think but room is limited!

draleigh · #4 10/20/2007, 10:02 PM

I have the same design because i wanted to have cheato in my fuge, but the center area of my sump the flow was way to great. So i added another tank and split the overflow - exactly as you have it. In the sump area i have mangrove trees - in the fuge i have cheato. worked out well for me

justinpsmith · #5 10/20/2007, 10:15 PM

Cool! Mangrove trees is a good idea actually. I was contemplating what to do with the middle of the sump. Do you have any pics of your set up?

stugray · #6 10/20/2007, 11:22 PM

Add one more valve to the line that goes into the sump.

You will have trouble controlling the balance if you dont.

Stu

justinpsmith · #7 10/20/2007, 11:24 PM

Ok, thanks. I figured I just needed to add the one to restrict the flow into the fuge and let the rest go to the sump but adding another valve in there would not be a big deal if its needed.

stugray · #8 10/20/2007, 11:36 PM

I have pretty much the exact same setup, except 1 feed goes into the Skimmer before dumping into the fuge.

Stu

justinpsmith · #9 10/20/2007, 11:41 PM

Do you have any pics I can see?

justinpsmith · #10 10/20/2007, 11:47 PM

Well Im not sure I have enough room anymore for this...Darn. I thought my stand would be big enough but its not really working with the closed loop pump in the stand as well.

So...If I do use just the 33G sump, would it work to just have the return in the middle and have the refugium on one side of the sump? Still tee off the drain the same way but instead of the two tanks, just one. I will draw another picture if that is really unclear.

ckprax · #11 10/21/2007, 12:24 AM

yep im doing that just with a 29 gallon

justinpsmith · #12 10/21/2007, 12:40 AM

So...The problem I was having was not enough length and height under the stand for my first plan. It would have maybe worked but way too crowded. I have drawn up another. But I have to keep the 10G refugium with the length of the tank "across" the stand. If that makes sense. Plus it would have to be lower in the stand than I had wanted. From the picture I have below, would this work ok? I was thinking that since the refugium would not really be much higher than the sump, this could cause problems if there were a power outtage. Maybe not though.

pcurry18 · #13 10/21/2007, 01:10 AM

another gate valve on the sump from the MT would be nice. I know you have one on the main OF but you never know if you will need it or not. As far as balancing the flow, i dont think youll have to worry about that. both feeds are gravity fed and will poor an equal amount of water into the sump provided your upper T is balanced. Good design though. Send pics if you can.

Paul

justinpsmith · #14 10/21/2007, 01:16 AM

Thanks. I will send pics as soon as I get this going. Im sure I will need help anyways.

ScarabRa · #15 10/21/2007, 01:23 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by justinpsmith
Well Im not sure I have enough room anymore for this...Darn. I thought my stand would be big enough but its not really working with the closed loop pump in the stand as well.

So...If I do use just the 33G sump, would it work to just have the return in the middle and have the refugium on one side of the sump? Still tee off the drain the same way but instead of the two tanks, just one. I will draw another picture if that is really unclear.

Id do this, see pic below
(dont T the water from tank, any un forseen blockage, and you will have a big mess)

ScarabRa · #16 10/21/2007, 01:38 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by justinpsmith
So...The problem I was having was not enough length and height under the stand for my first plan. It would have maybe worked but way too crowded. I have drawn up another. But I have to keep the 10G refugium with the length of the tank "across" the stand. If that makes sense. Plus it would have to be lower in the stand than I had wanted. From the picture I have below, would this work ok? I was thinking that since the refugium would not really be much higher than the sump, this could cause problems if there were a power outtage. Maybe not though.

Ok that looks like it will work

I WOULD SUGGEST ONE MODIFICATION
have the refugum dump off right next to the return pump, but far enough away not to suck any bubbles from the return.

This will ensure you get the most "food" back in to the main Display.

justinpsmith · #17 10/21/2007, 01:53 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by ScarabRa
Id do this, see pic below
(dont T the water from tank, any un forseen blockage, and you will have a big mess)

I like your plan here BUT...I have to say, that Tang looks awfully cramped in that sump!

Oh and where are you talking about blockage possibly happening?

Thanks for the diagram BTW.

justinpsmith · #18 10/21/2007, 01:55 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by ScarabRa
Ok that looks like it will work

I WOULD SUGGEST ONE MODIFICATION
have the refugum dump off right next to the return pump, but far enough away not to suck any bubbles from the return.

This will ensure you get the most "food" back in to the main Display.

Well then, what about just having the refugium on the other side of the sump and then the refugium return could just gravity feed into the return section of the sump. Then the tee from the drain line would have to go across the sump but I think thats better then having the refugium return go across.

waldomas · #19 10/21/2007, 02:25 AM

How bout feeding the fuge with the return pump?

You can place the fuge along side, or above the main display,
and let it dump directly into the display. This way, you can display all the life that is in your fuge!

Show off the true diversity of your ecosystem!

justinpsmith · #20 10/21/2007, 02:41 AM

You know I thought of this but I just do not have the room. Well I could maybe do this beside the display but not above. So this would then need a few pumps and a more complicated system. I do really like to be able to see the fuge though if its a nice one!

ScarabRa · #21 10/21/2007, 03:01 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by justinpsmith
I like your plan here BUT...I have to say, that Tang looks awfully cramped in that sump!

Oh and where are you talking about blockage possibly happening?

Thanks for the diagram BTW.

LOL the avitar in there was the joke part yo....lol

If you put a valve on both sides of the T, as suggested above, it causes a restriction. A restriction is more susceptible to clogging IMHO.

Wherever you dump the fuge, just put it where it wont get skimmed, before it returns to tank, defeats the main purpose of the fuge IMHO.

I was goping to set up my 200gal with a top side fuge along the back edge, but we had too much room to do it as I wanted (too far to span and look nice). So we ended up doing something similar to my diagram, but piped sump to another room, and we used a 40gal breeder for the fuge, and one of thoes 300 gal tubs for the sump.

justinpsmith · #22 10/21/2007, 12:51 PM

Oh ok. Well I think I am going to go with my first drawing but have the refugium on the left side of the sump and not right. That way I can have the refugium drain right into the return section of the sump.

Thanks!