Plumbing question

[nemodad]

Hi Everyone,

I installed an overflow that has dual drains from G l a s s h o l e s.com, I'm wondering if it's ok to take one drain and put in skimmer section and the other drain on refugium?? my sump layout is as follows

Return <-Refugium <-bubble trap <- Skimmer

And should i use filter socks for both drains?

Thanks!

 

[mojoreef]

Sure you can run your drains like that, I have found that running the water through the refuge a little slower then normal helps with nutrient uptake. On the filter socks I would suggest only use them when you are doing maintenance (like blowing off the the rocks or keeping the SB clean) as if you leave them on all the time they become a nitrate source

mojo

 

[nemodad]

Cool less expense for filters socks! I was thinking of reducing the flow on one of the drains but the overflow manufacturer reccommends against reducing the flow in anyway. So...I don't know if there will be too much flow to run through refugium.

 

[TJL]

Hey nemodad, I would run both drains into the first section to go through skimmer and as Mike stated only infrequently use the filter sock (Eshopps makes a rectangular sock that would easily handle the two drains). As far as to much flow through a refugium... I'm in the high-flow fuge fan club... 20+ yrs with great success in keeping healthy macro-algaes and high pod-snail-star-sponge-tunicate populations in fuges with 850-1350gph running through them (20-35x fuge volume per hour). Personally I have seen many many more problems in slow-flow systems creating stagnant/anaerobic conditions. If you take a look at the real reef most of the population of macro-algaes and pods are in the surge-zone. Caulerpa and Halimeda are often in the lagoons but also do just fine in my high-flow rate systems. Like many other practices in this hobby there are several ways to achieve success, choose what works best for you and don't be afraid to experiment a little on your own.

Cheers, Todd

 

[nemodad]

Awesome, I would like to run both drains into the sump area, but i bought a monster skimmer and when i mesured the Skimmer section, i left room for the skimmer and a few more inches for if every i replace my skimmer with another model, my worry is i won't be able to fit everything in there and be able to remove my skimmer for maintenance.. unless i place unions on each drain and diconnect them when needed... hmmm

 

[TJL]

The upfront cost of a unions will pay off in spades almost every time. Here is a few pics of my newest plumbing project. I'm using the Herbie Style so two 1-1/2" primary and two 3/4" emergency/secondary drains

unions on drains into Eshopps rectangular filter sock

close up of sock and bracket I fabbed up with collapsible discharge hose attached.

Left drain plumbing

Cheers, Todd

 

[nemodad]

Wow that looks great! Eshopps rectangular filter sock big?

 

[spllbnd2]

I have a dual drain plumbing in which one drain feeds the fuge and the other feeds the skimmer section. Of course my sump layout is as follows;
skimmer/bubble trap/return/fuge.

Where the right drain from the tank feeds the fuge and the left drains into the skimemr section. I use gate valves to regulate the flow on all legs of the plumbing, both drains and return have gate valves as does the skimmer.

I've also plumbed my return into dual reactors as well as a water change port. I've also plumbed a valve to redirect some of the flow from the return back into the sump if necessary.

Cheers,
Alex