Refugium question.

[The Cali Kid]

I've looked around a little and haven't got a decent answer to give me the info to move forward.

In short I'm going to do a small mild 55g reef tank in my sons room. Due to size constraints I can only fit a 10 gallon tank under my stand.

So my question is this when placing my dividers/baffles do the three chambers have to be proportionate? Say can my first chamber be size enough for my skimmer, and my third chamber big enough for my return pump? That way my center chamber (the actual refugium part) can be bigger?

If this is possible, I'll just need to figure out my overflow, water in/water pump out configuration.

 

[returnofsid]

Yep, make the first chamber just large enough to contain your skimmer, pump and drain lines. Make sure to make the divider tall enough that the skimmer is sitting in deep enough water to run properly.

The last chamber should always be just large enough for your return pump AND shorter than the other chambers. This way, you'll notice evaporation sooner. This will require top off more often, but will keep salinity more stable.

The remainder can all be refugium. Unfortunately, once you get your bubble trap dividers in, it's not going to leave you a whole lot of room. A HOB skimmer would take up less room, allowing for more room for refugium. Also, some advocate a 3 piece bubble trap after skimmer and a 3 piece before return pump. I agree that a 3 piece is needed between refugium and return pump, but a single piece will be just fine between skimmer and refugium. This will give you a couple more inches of room.

 

[The Cali Kid]

Perfect information. That's basically what I was visualizing.

I've been considering a HOB and sticking it on the back of the refugium to give me a little more room.

Now I just need to implement the design and get the ball rolling.

 

[ddymond]

Perfect information. That's basically what I was visualizing.

I've been considering a HOB and sticking it on the back of the refugium to give me a little more room.

Now I just need to implement the design and get the ball rolling.[/QUOTE


I just made a fuge out of a 20gl long. 10gl is going to leave you very little room at all. I have a 55gl tank also, how big is your stand section?
I would say a 10 is going to be tricky to make it work. You will have very little room unless the skimmer is outside along with the return pump.