help with refuge setup

[cboyfan2020]

Help with refuge setup
I am setting up a refuge for my 120g tank. It will be a 40g breeder and I have some questions. I have a mag 7 for the return with a tee off the return line to feed the fuge. On the tee'd line I will put a ball valve to control the flow to the fuge. I want to put a spray bar type attachment to the end of the return line to help eliminate need for extra powerheads. Here are my questions.

1) If I switch to a mag 9.5 how much flow in gph will I have at 5' head.

2) will having the ballvalve on the fuge line cause too much back pressure on the 9.5 or will it just shoot more water straight to the tank?

3)I want to put the spay bar with the holes pointing behind the rock work. How many and how big will the holes need to be? I would run 3/4" PVC of the mag 9.5, should I reduce it to 1/2" when I get to the spraybar to help increase the velocity of the water?

Here is a sketch of my current plan. Any help would be appreciated.




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[mattboy]

cboyfan;

If i understand what I'm seeing on your drawing, you're using the 40 breeder as a sump and refugium. Right? Assuming that's the case, you have a divider set up to separate the refug section from the sump/drain/return section.

Here's what I did on a similar set-up. I teed off the drain line from the tank instead of the return pump. Then the refugium drains in to the sump near the return pump. This way you're sending water straight from the tank to the refugium. It's especially helpful if you have a skimmer in the other part of your sump.

Okay, on to the pump questions. Mag pumps are not any good at dealing with pressure; and a mag 7 sounds pretty small for a return on a 120. I used one for a return on a 40 breeder, and it didn't work well. The mag 9 may be a little better, but you're far better off with an external return pump. This means drilling the glass sump/refugium; you may not want to do that.

HTH
Matt

 

[cboyfan2020]

thanks but i have gone a different approach as far as return pump goes. Mag 12 with spray bar. i want to skim the water first(left side) and sed it to the return...off the return I want the fuge so i can make the water a lot cleaner IMO. Thanks for the help.