Plumb tank drain through skimmer?

[insomniac2k2]

As the title states. Does anyone plumb their tank drain straight through their skimmer?

Id like to consider it, and heres the reasons why:

* I have a very small space to work with in the stand.
* I presently T off of my retun pump for energy consumption reduction purposes
* It seems like a perfectly good gph gravity feed, and its free.
* I dont want to use filter socks anymore. It seems like a complete waste of good stuff which could circulate back into the tank to feed coral.

Presently i run a red sea c-skim 1800. This thing is freaking huge. I've come to the conclusion that if i want to continue to use it and also get a good refugium going, I will have to run it externally. It seems that if i run my tank drain directly to it, i can basically run a single divided sump. One side for my return pump, and the other for a large refugium. The skimmer would dump back into the refugium, on the way to the return pump.

The only caveat that i see, is that i wont be able to make good use of the neck washing system (which is a waste of time in my opinion), due to lack of pressure.

I threw up a picture, in case words fail. Please excuse the ugliness. I've been working in the sump a lot, so its real dirty!



Am i missing anything here?

 

[insomniac2k2]

No one does this?? Or am i just overlooking everyone doing this?

 

[heaton]

My tank has two overflows with one on each side of the 8ft tank. One overflow is plumbed directly to the refugium and the other is T'd and valved to an External Deltec skimmer. The valve is important to regulate flow becuase I get alot of flow coming down the overflow. The skimmer then dumps back into the mixing section of the refugium.

 

[insomniac2k2]

Glad to hear that this can and is being done. So is it safe to assume that your other side that isnt feeding the skimmer is sock-less? Are you happy with all aspects of your filtration system? How long have you run this way?

thanks!