fuge and sump?

[Abynum1]

I am thinking about a sump under the tank to sit beside the fuge.
The reason being is I don't have enough room in my fuge to add a skimmer.
Would I have to have 2 pumps (one from the sump to the fuge,1 from the fuge to the tank and then the overflow back to the sump?)
Also with a topless tank where does the water level drop due to evaporation?
In the tank or the fuge/sump?

 

[TekCat]

How about this, tank water drains to sump with skimmer, etc... then using gravity water overflows in fuge (sump should be placed a little bit higher than fuge in this case); then from fuge water pumped back to tank.


--- edit ---

water level changes (due to evap) in return section of the sump or fuge, wherever return pump resides.

 

[phurst]

Idealy, your fuge will get the raw, unskimmed water. I'd have the overflow feed the fuge, then to the sump with skimmer and then back to the tank. I don't know what your setup is, but if you have the room, you could feed your fuge via the overflow, and if you can raise it up any, gravity feed your fuge to your sump. Then you just need the one return pump in the sump. The water level in your DT will always be the same, the water level will drop in tour sump as water evaporates.

 

[Abynum1]

I like the gravity idea.
How does this sound?
Get some type of rubbermaid or whatever container that is wider and about a foot longer than my fuge.
Put my fuge inside it (elevated) so water just gravity over the edge of the fuge into the sump.
This way no need for any pipes or bulkheads to feed the sump
And the pump and skimmer sits in the extra space in the sump.
Any thoughts?

 

[TekCat]

phurst, I think it is visa versa. Idealy water from fuge should not go into skimmer, because there could be pods larva, etc... that we want to propagate to tank. So, it is considered best to do skimmer->fuge->return type of flow, or some variation of it, where fuge->skimmer type of flow avoided.

 

[jer77]

To answer your first question, having two pumps to circulate the water to different tanks is very dangerous. One pump could fail, or one pump will eventually not keep up with the other and you'll end up with a flood. How is the water being pumped back to your tank now? Is there a return pump in your fuge?? To make it work you'll need to create an overflow either in the sump of in the refugium.
To answer your second question, the water level will drop in the area where your return pump is located.

 

[jer77]

Tekcat, I agree with you that the fuge should be after the skimmer.
Abynum1, that might get a bit messy to just have water flooding over your fuge.

 

[Abynum1]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9309928#post9309928 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by jer77
Tekcat, I agree with you that the fuge should be after the skimmer.
Abynum1, that might get a bit messy to just have water flooding over your fuge.

Ok, all that makes sense.
So, how do you gravity feed it from one to the other?
Use a bulkhead with a pvc pipe or drain coming from one into the other?
Also, if I go sump then fuge, I have the following problem:
I only have two feet of clearance under the tank and my fuge is 16" tall. So if I put in a sump then elevate it enough to gravity feed into the fuge then I'll have 0 room for a skimmer.
Any thoughts?

 

[SaltyDr]

I have a seperate sump and fuge. My set up is tank overflow into sump (through filter sock) to skimmer to the return; in the return there is a small pump which pumps water to the fuge which gravity feeds back to the sump and the return back to the tank. You could have a pump in the fuge back to the tank but if this fails the fuge will overflow; in my set up if the pump to the fuge fails, the fuge will gravity drain and stop; if the main pump fails I just have water going from sump to fuge back to sump - no flood

 

[Abynum1]

I could really use a pic

 

[phurst]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9309836#post9309836 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by TekCat
phurst, I think it is visa versa. Idealy water from fuge should not go into skimmer, because there could be pods larva, etc... that we want to propagate to tank. So, it is considered best to do skimmer->fuge->return type of flow, or some variation of it, where fuge->skimmer type of flow avoided.

Huh, I had always heard you wanted the nutrient rich water to go to the fuge first, but what you said makes sense. My fuge and sump are separate, so I never really gave it much thought. Learn somthing new every day I guess.

 

[reefdna]

The perfect setup would be a split line that feeds the fuge and then returns to the tank and bypasses the skimmer entirely. Yes you want the nutrient rich water to hit the fuge first but either way is not going to hurt the main tank. It comes down to preference and what you have to work with. people need to post pics.

 

[TekCat]

I agree that splitting overflow makes sense, but why do you want nutrient rich water in fuge? Unless you plan to grow filter feeders, there is no need for extra nutrients in fuge. Macro algae doesn't need detrius or disolved organics, actually it'd be alot better if junk gets skimmed out before. It needs inorganic nutrients like nitrates and phosphates that wont be taken out by the skimmer. My fuge gets water after skimmer, and it already collected lots of detrius. ... I will be cleaning it soon. I can only imagine how much junk it would get if it'd fed directly from tank.

 

[TekCat]

Before I upgraded tank this is what I had for separate sump/fuge:

I showed fuge risen a bit, but really the only thing needed to work is that water level in fuge should be higher than level in return section of the sump for the thing to work.

cheers