Help. Where should i put refugium

[nuch]

O.k. so I'm gonna redue my sump setup. I'm taking out the 55 gallon sump with Bio balls and want to replace it with a 75 gallon sump and a 20 gallon fuge. I think I got it all planned out except where to put the fuge. Should I plum the 20 gallon fuge before the sump? Or have the sump run into the refugium then have the refugium run into the dt? All suggestion and ideas would greatly be appreciated. Thanx

 

[thirty5]

O.k. so I'm gonna redue my sump setup. I'm taking out the 55 gallon sump with Bio balls and want to replace it with a 75 gallon sump and a 20 gallon fuge. I think I got it all planned out except where to put the fuge. Should I plum the 20 gallon fuge before the sump? Or have the sump run into the refugium then have the refugium run into the dt? All suggestion and ideas would greatly be appreciated. Thanx

If you are going to have 2 different tanks, a fuge AND sump....

What I would do is split the drain from the DT, and have it feed both the fuge and the sump. Using valves you can control the flow in the fuge (slow flow). If you can then drill that tank and have it slightly above the sump you can then have it drain into the return section of your sump (into the return section so that if you are growing pods, then they won't get skimmed out.).

With this method no pumps are needed at all and the flow of the main tank will control it all, it also give you the capability of really controlling the flow through the fuge.

 

[nuch]

Wow thanks, never thought of splitting the drains.

 

[nuch]

Should i put a filter sock in the reguium from the DT?

 

[thirty5]

Hmmmmmmmm not sure about that. I am not at that point yet. Maybe someone else will chime in

Sent from my Piece of crap Sprint Epic

 

[yogi]

Bump on that last question. I might be doing something similar.
Anyone use a filter sock to the fuge from the main display?

 

[rkaragozler]

No filter sock from the fuge, you have to feed the beneficial bacteria, and other living creatures in their

 

[duke62]

i have my dt draining into my fuge with a filter sock then from my fuge into a sump with a filter sock.my fuge is drilled to go into the sump as well.i use a sock because to much detrius goes into the fuge and get stuck in the chaeto and it raises my phosphate and nitrate level.pllenty still gets into the fuge for the critters to eat i have a load of pods.since adding a sock to my fuge my phosphates are zero using a hanna meter and my nitrates are zero using salifert

 

[rkaragozler]

I would love to see a pic of your sump. Maybe this will be my answer to my phosphate and nitrate problem

 

[yogi]

i would love to see a pic of your sump. Maybe this will be my answer to my phosphate and nitrate problem

+1

 

[duke62]

firs pic you can see the drain pipe to the sump.its at the left of the top tank
bottom pic is the sock .its behing the effluent cup

 

[rkaragozler]

in your opinion the way you have it set up, do you think you loose any pods by putting the fuge prior to the skimmer??

 

[duke62]

wow my setup looks filthy in the pics.LOL..guess ihave some cleaning up to do to make it look pretty in there

 

[duke62]

yeah i dont think any pods can go from my fige to the DT..every once in awhile i take some chaeto and dip it in my DT and give it a shake.like once a month i do this.must work my manderin is very fat

 

[rkaragozler]

Did you ever think about putting the return from the fuge right into your return area, and build a bubble trap, this will eliminate you putting your hands into the fuge and dt.

 

[duke62]

nah so for im happy with the setup.you can se i had to do it like this because i have no room to put a skimmer on the top shelf so my sump had to be on the bottom.if i put my fuge on the bottom tier the skimmer and the return would have had to have been in there to and my fuge would have been so small.my hands are always in the tank to hit some aiptasia or to grab mushrooms and free floating zenia so putting my hand in there to give chaeto a shake dont concern me.i probably havent done the chaeto shake in close to 3 months.im loaded with pods in the DT.if i notice im not seeing as many my i will do it again.as they say if its not broken dont fix it and rght now everything is doing so well

 

[rkaragozler]

great, I have the same mentality, I didn't mean the skimmer on top shelf, just the plumbing, back down

 

[duke62]

i got ya..about three or 4 months ago i wasnt happy with this system because my phosphates and nitrates were through the roof and my DT was cloudy.before i really went full sps tank.once i got rid of the deep sand bed in the fuge and put in the filter sock things got ALOT better.i also added a maxijet 606 for some extra flow.for 3 or 4 months now everything has stabled to 0 and the growth of my corals have been great.right now im not touching a ting feels like its to good to be true LOL

 

[rkaragozler]

Did you do anything else to bring the nitrates, and phosphates down, i'm at 35 nitrates, and .35 in phosphates

 

[duke62]

Nope..besides removing the sand and putting more flowand filter sock nothing.i think i was getting a bunch of build up in the fuge. I also do 10 gallon water change a week.5 gallons on tuesday where i clean the fuge and 5 gallons on sat when i clean the dt.i have about 100 gallons of water volume.i dont believe in doing a full 10 percent water change.to much can be changed and adding trace elements 2 times a week i think helps me