Adding A Refugium

[Birkholz51]

Hello!

I currently have a 55g DT with 50lbs of live rock and 20 lbs of live sand. I have a 10g sump where I keep my protein skimmer.

My equipment for the DT:
3 gallon canister filter
Overflow box to sump
Coralife 65 protein skimmer

I would like to add a 10 gallon refugium with 10 lbs of live sand, some live rock, and Chaeto to the loop. I have two questions involving this. What is the best way to connect a sump and separate refugium to a DT? Also, if I put a refugium in a separate 10g tank, will i need to upgrade my protein skimmer and heater? (Or any other equipment)

 

[snulma1]

Why make it separate? By doing that you only add a complicating factor of matching flow rates from the DT to the sump, then from sump to Fuge.

I would turn the 10g into a sump/fuge.

 

[MJNTWise]

Or you can do what I did in the past.

 

[jsnrho82]

I ran a 55g fuge separate from my sump, nothing difficult to it at all. I had mine to where the overflow from my tank was split between the sump and fuge, with the fuge then overflowing into the sump (fuge was raised above sump which allowed water to drain into sump). Then water was returned to the DT via return pump to start the process all over again.

 

[Birkholz51]

I ran a 55g fuge separate from my sump, nothing difficult to it at all. I had mine to where the overflow from my tank was split between the sump and fuge, with the fuge then overflowing into the sump (fuge was raised above sump which allowed water to drain into sump). Then water was returned to the DT via return pump to start the process all over again.

Did you use a second overflow box from the fuge to the sump? If so, what size would I need going from a 10g fuge to a 10g sump?