Tossing around a refugium/sump

[mitchjos000]

So I am fairly new to reef keeping, I have a 75 gallon tank thats going pretty well. I have been looking up refugium details and I guess I'm a little confused with it all. I understand what it is basically, but I have a 30 gallon tank i was thinking about converting to a refuge, but I was wondering will that be a bit of an over kill? Or should i get a little 14 gallon tank for a refugium and save the 30 for something more? or Should I just make the 30 gallon tank a separate tank and connect the water flow to both? What are your thoughts on this? I want to expand a little more, or make my tank a little more beneficial. I understand more water is better, regardless of if its a refuge, whole separate fish tank connected, or whatever else.

Anyhow, any input is appreciated!

 

[DTECH07]

i also have a 75 reef but i converted my old 55 into a refugium. best thing i ever did, increased my water valume, totally balanced my PH, and a multitude of other benefits. i belive most dont do bigger do to 1) space 2) cost of stronger equipment 3) use to small and tight.

thats my two cents hope it helps

 

[eartaker]

So I am fairly new to reef keeping, I have a 75 gallon tank thats going pretty well. I have been looking up refugium details and I guess I'm a little confused with it all. I understand what it is basically, but I have a 30 gallon tank i was thinking about converting to a refuge, but I was wondering will that be a bit of an over kill? Or should i get a little 14 gallon tank for a refugium and save the 30 for something more? or Should I just make the 30 gallon tank a separate tank and connect the water flow to both? What are your thoughts on this? I want to expand a little more, or make my tank a little more beneficial. I understand more water is better, regardless of if its a refuge, whole separate fish tank connected, or whatever else.

Anyhow, any input is appreciated!

I just went through this. I used a 30 gallon but I custom made it to fit all of my equipment. The main thing is to get a tank that will hold everything you need like Filter socks, skimmer, pumps, and a fuge. My tank I built is 16x16x30. I would have went with a larger tank if I could have fit it under my stand. If you can fit a 40 breeder or larger under the stand and still have room to work on everything, I would go with that.

Here is a link to my build so you can see how I did my sump for my 75.
http://www.reeffrontiers.com/f13/75g-build-63885/index2.html#post660097

 

[Tuku4u]

I say go for whatever fits under your tank, you'd be happier. I have a 46g with a 20g sump/refugium. Fits my skimmer, heaters, filter sock and its like having a nice mini aquarium under your show tank that you can banish bad little fish, or anenomes too. I've heard that the bigger the refugium in a sump, the healthier, and easier it is to maintain your tank "naturally". Honestly I really haven't heard any bad things to having a sump/refugium.

 

[kriv4o]

Best thing to do is if you can fit both of those in your stand. Make the smaller one a refugium and the bigger one a sump. That way you are significantly increasing your water volume which would make your parms more stable and also you'll get plenty of room for spare equipment as well.

 

[BigAl07]

Best thing to do is if you can fit both of those in your stand. Make the smaller one a refugium and the bigger one a sump. That way you are significantly increasing your water volume which would make your parms more stable and also you'll get plenty of room for spare equipment as well.

I like that idea. Have both but not a combination unit.

I'm sort of an "Old School" mindset in that the refugium does better with less flow than what you put through a sump. I've always ran about 10% - 20% of total flow through my refugium.

To me a sump is the "Mechanical Room" of your tank. You hide skimmers, heaters, reactors, filter socks and stuff in there. You get the full return flow through that and you're good.

A refugium (in my definition) is slower flow and allows more "Dwell Time". I'd done it with a combo fuge/sump and at least in my experience the whole system worked better when the two components were not combined.

On the flip side it may complicate your plumbing but from my experience it's worth the effort.

 

[totem420]

I don't think you can go overkill on a sump, the bigger the better. I have a ten gallon fuge under my 16 gallon tank, I wanted to go bigger but thats all I could fit

 

[BigAl07]

I don't think you can go overkill on a sump, the bigger the better. I have a ten gallon fuge under my 16 gallon tank, I wanted to go bigger but thats all I could fit

I totally agree. In my next build I'm planning a 150g sump and a 150g fuge (live stock water containers). More WATER!!

 

[senji]

sounds expensive on salt mix and wc

 

[senji]

also dont toss them around u might break them lol

 

[kriv4o]

I like that idea. Have both but not a combination unit.

I'm sort of an "Old School" mindset in that the refugium does better with less flow than what you put through a sump. I've always ran about 10% - 20% of total flow through my refugium.

To me a sump is the "Mechanical Room" of your tank. You hide skimmers, heaters, reactors, filter socks and stuff in there. You get the full return flow through that and you're good.

A refugium (in my definition) is slower flow and allows more "Dwell Time". I'd done it with a combo fuge/sump and at least in my experience the whole system worked better when the two components were not combined.

On the flip side it may complicate your plumbing but from my experience it's worth the effort.

If it was me(read: in the next stand I build) I would put the smaller tank above the bigger in the stand. Plumbing wise I'd tee off the overflow to feed the fuge which would then gravity drain in the sump beneath. Toss a valve or 2 or 5 in the mix and you can control and split the amount of water going trough the sump and fuge and fine tune it the way it suits your system best.
Darn it now that I see it written down out I kinda wanna go and rip my current stand and totally re-do it. or may be it's time for another build......
SHHHHHH don't tell my wife. As far as she knows it was all there before I just cleaned up my mancave/fishroom lol

 

[BigAl07]

If it was me(read: in the next stand I build) I would put the smaller tank above the bigger in the stand. Plumbing wise I'd tee off the overflow to feed the fuge which would then gravity drain in the sump beneath. Toss a valve or 2 or 5 in the mix and you can control and split the amount of water going trough the sump and fuge and fine tune it the way it suits your system best.
Darn it now that I see it written down out I kinda wanna go and rip my current stand and totally re-do it. or may be it's time for another build......
SHHHHHH don't tell my wife. As far as she knows it was all there before I just cleaned up my mancave/fishroom lol

That's very close to how my last build was. The fuge was taller (by design) than the sump and I had a bulkhead/drain that fed via gravity into the last chamber in the sump (return chamber). I incorporated valves and quick connects through out the system so I could do maintenance without taking everything apart.

Here's a diagram showing how it was going to be (ATS added in picture that I never built)

Here it is before plumbing cluttered it up

This shows the main drain (from the tank) with a valve and quick connect

Here it is in action

 

[kriv4o]

Very nice!

 

[Derbird]

That's very close to how my last build was. The fuge was taller (by design) than the sump and I had a bulkhead/drain that fed via gravity into the last chamber in the sump (return chamber). I incorporated valves and quick connects through out the system so I could do maintenance without taking everything apart.

Here's a diagram showing how it was going to be (ATS added in picture that I never built)

Here it is before plumbing cluttered it up

This shows the main drain (from the tank) with a valve and quick connect

Here it is in action

That's a good idea! I think it would be easy to incorperate a algea scrubber in on the tray along the top

 

[senji]

i have 1 of those temp sensors and its 3.7 deg high be carefull.

 

[jrgilles]

I have a 75 display with a 50 gallon sump and 20 gallon fuge. I feel twenty is decent, 14 would be too small to get the full range of benefits, and 30 would be just fine. 30 would be great if you have the space, etc. to do it. You will love it.

Here is my 20 gallon fuge I made. I cut 2 holes out with a side cutting tile bit (30 gallones may be a bit thinck of glass to use this kind of bit though, but it is cheap. ask if you want more details). The flex tube the extends down is the fill tube. I just split it off of my main drain (herbie style that I run at a full syphon) and can control the flow with a ball valve. Slow flow, but works great with caulerpa (which required 24H light.)

https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos/...lbums/5423067602853924273/5430889147443060610

Here are some old pics of my plumbing, sump, fuge, etc.

https://plus.google.com/photos/104216026959215989048/albums/5423067602853924273

I have backup drains on everything as overflow protection. I have had the backup kick on in the DT a few times if something (such as nori) blocks the drain. Never had it kick in in the fuge though.