anything wrong with this idea?

[a.browning]

I'm a newbie with plumbing.. does this sound like a good plan for my sump/refugium?

I have a 55 gallon tank, with the stand only being 11.5 inches wide, so only 10 gallon tanks could fit. I would put 2 10 gallon tanks in the stand. The tubing to the tank would be split with a T. One way would go to the 1st 10 gallon tank with some mechanical filtration, a skimmer, bubble trap, then return pump. The second way of the T would go to a refugium. I would sit this tank up about 4 inches or so with eggcrate or something, and drill a hole in the side with a tube that would overflow into the first stage of the first 10 gallon tank. Would this work?

Is PVC plumbing pretty basic? Any pointers to someone totally new to this? This is really the only option with 11.5 inches of stand width. It sounded good to me but who knows Isn't it better to have unskimmed water going to the fuge like in my plan than having the refugium after the skimmer? If my plan worked, then I'd have unskimmed water going to both the refugium and the skimmer, with the water from the refugium then being skimmed. Thanks so much for your help!

 

[MandM]

You have very little room to work with there. Draw out what you are thinking and read up on the DIY forum before you start.
With any sump, you need to make sure that any time the power is off, water siphoned down from the display does not overflow onto your floor. 2 sumps just complicates things, can you get a 20g long tank in there or an acrylic sump?
Experiment with designs outside on the patio where you can see how things work with power on and off.
PVC plumbing is basic. You want to use primer and cement that has the NSF seal and make sure you let it cure properly before putting water through it. Generally, the drain side of your plumbing will be larger than the return back to the display. I run 3/4 line up and 1 1/2 for the drains.

 

[a.browning]

Thanks for your help! A 20L wouldnt fit, it's 12 inches wide I belive, so my only option is the 10 gallon method. I was thinking.. Would it be better to have the T on the line to the sump for water to go to the regugium, or to have the T on the return line, to have skimmed water going to the fuge?

 

[MandM]

I'm not convinced it's your only option. A bigger stand would allow a larger single sump or an acrylic sump made to fit would also work.

I'm not following your question on the placement of the T. I would have water from the display go straight to the refugium first. From there, to any mechanical filtration, then skimmer, then carbon/gfo if you use that.

Just re-read your original post. A tube from one sump to the other will need to be closely monitored in case it gets plugged. I would suggest a second overflow, above the normal water level that would only "engage" if the first one failed and the water level raised.

 

[rayn]

Agree witt MandM. Is there an way you could put the sump out of the stand? I ran a 20l for sump but have it outside the stand. True, it didn't fit once the 55 was setup though I think it would if I could get to the back, but outside there is ease of maintenance. Easier to fill, clean, and get to the skimmer.

 

[jet fixer]

Thanks for your help! A 20L wouldnt fit, it's 12 inches wide I belive, so my only option is the 10 gallon method. I was thinking.. Would it be better to have the T on the line to the sump for water to go to the regugium, or to have the T on the return line, to have skimmed water going to the fuge?

"T" off the return pump. My refugium is on the right side of my sump with the return in the middle and the drain on the right this area holds the skimmer, heater, and reactor pump. You will need a larger return pump to compensate for the flow going into the fuge. Raise the fuge tank like you are thinking and let gravity drain it into the return. You might want to build the platform out of wood, I wouldn't trust egg-crate with that much weight.

In the DYI section there is a quite a bit of info on this. One guy gave great advice I can't remember the whole user name but it started with uncle I think he got banned though.

 

[chimmike]

I'm not sure how you're going to drill a 10g tank. Most of 'em are fully tempered, so be careful.

 

[B-Willz]

Triple check your measurements, a 10gal was just a little to wide to fit in the stand of my 55. It would get caught up between the centerbraces in front and back. It was close so it may fit in your stand but I thought I would let you know. I got two amiricle wet drys, did some mods and atached them together. I ended up with about a 30gal sump out of that. I found the wetdrys for free.