flow to sump

[slojim]

I am starting to plumb a 110. It came with a center bottom drilled 1-1/4 overflow, but I installed a CPR overflow and drilled the back for a beananimal set-up. I recovered an old 12 gallon jbj nanocube for a refugium, and have not yet bought a sump.
I am thinking I will have the primary (siphon) overflow going to the skimmer section, and the other wet (non-siphoning) overflow go to the refugium. But I am also considering splitting the siphon to both. Comments?
The nanocube still has the rear partition. I was going to direct the flow into there and let it flow out into the main chamber, but I am having second thoughts about that. I'd also like to gather some feedback on that.

 

[mcgyvr]

Ditch the 3 tanks idea.. Just get a sump with a fuge section..
And don't split the bean plumbing either..
Keep it simple..

 

[slojim]

I hear ya, which is why I am posting - to collect some feedback on what I might be screwing up. I'll try to keep convincing myself not to split the overflow siphon.
My refugium is separate because it seems simpler than being in the sump. It is elevated under the tank on an 8" pedestal, and side-drilled so it will overflow as long as there is gravity. There are 2 1" bulkheads, so if one plugs up, the other will take over. Level control is independent from the rest of the sump. Since nothing is running yet, I'm not past the point of no return, but I have spent enough time and effort that I'm feeling fairly committed to the split refugium and sump.

Thanks, and I am enjoying the irony of someone who likes MacGyver and his 7 function swiss-army knife telling me to simplify. (no snark intended)

 

[Jayreefer]

I also say drain all to sump into filter socks then skimmer then return pump. Do a manifold off return pump to feed refugium and any reactors.

This is how I have plumbed my 240. For years in my previous 140 I had the drain split going to refugium and all it did was fill it full of detritus. I had to constantly vacuum it out. Now that all drains go into filter socks I have no more detritus build up in sump.

 

[Lsufan]

Yea, I would keep the syphon & open channel draining to the same section of the sump & not T off the syphon eighther. The emergency doesn't really matter where it is in the sump because it should never get any water. U should try to keep the drains as similar as possible to each other which u can't really do if they aren't draining to the same place.

If u decide to keep a seperate refugium I would also feed it from your return pump through a manifold. On my 150 I only have a 40 breeder sump but I have a seperate 20 gallon refugium that is fed from a manifold & I like it setup this way. I was going to do a 75 gallon sump & have my fuge in the sump but I didn't like the height of a 75 because it would of made it harder to work under the stand. The 40 breeder & 20 gallon are 3" shorter so it actually gave me more room. I am glad I went this route though because I like having the fuge seperate & fed from my return.

 

[slojim]

Mcgyvr, Jayreefer, LSUfan - thanks for your input. I had been tinkering with a plan for having multiple demands (reactors, refugium, sump) coming off the drain and working off of gravity, so my return pump was just going to go back to the tank. The idea was to keep the return pump on the smaller side and limit heating associated with a higher wattage pump. I live in Houston so my house temperature is often in the 76-78F range. But as you point out, it is simpler and cleaner to pull those things off the return pump, so maybe I'll go ahead and plan it out that way.