LF: Suggestion on skimmer bin/container

[davidpesce]

So I redid the basement setup (a bit) to make more room for a work bench. I ended up moving the 40g refugium on top of the 100g rubbermaid sump. My plan was to use a 10g tank to house the skimmer and then have it drain into the fuge. I cracked the 10g by tightening the bulkhead too much and wondering if there are other options besides glass.

The 10g is ~10''x20'' but I can fit something wider and would prefer something with a bit more depth. Any thoughts?!

 

[Gary Majchrzak]

put the skimmer in the 100 gallon sump.

I want water draining from a DT to hit the refugium BEFORE the skimmer.

 

[davidpesce]

Maintaining a perfect water level in a 100g sump is hard. That's where it was before. I was always having to adjust the skimmer. It was even in a bin within the sump before, but the bin warped.

I thought it was better to skim before fuge, am I wrong?

 

[psychofishy]

I want water draining from a DT to hit the refugium BEFORE the skimmer.

Why is that, Gary? I thought that the flow should be:

DT > Skimmer > fuge > return

to avoid the positive refugium bacteria/nutrients from getting wasted in the skimmer before returning to the DT..

 

[tmz]

First , any rubbermaid bin or sterlite bin will work in lieu of galss. Just wipe down the inside with vinegar and rinse before putting it to use.

Second, optimal flow sequence depends on how much nutrient is involved and the nature of the refugium. If it's growing macro algae,for example , I'd wan't a good deal of nutrient(PO4 and NO3) going through it but limited particulates and I'd wan't to skim what comes out of it . I don't think beneficial bacteria and nutreint from the fuge are of any value in the DT. Certainly algae exudate organics aren't. A cryptic fuge on the other hand will usually have lot's of useful larvae ,sponge cells and other micro fuana which could be lost to a skimmer.

FWIW, mine is a bit of a hodgepoge, with drains and returns for desplays and refugia( both cryptic and macroalge) in the same sump as the skimmers.