Refugium water flow help for all-in-one

RioReefr

New member
I have 32G All-in-One (simliar to a JBJ). I have had good success with phtoplankton and copepods, so I would like to setup an external 5G refugium to make my own.
This would be a DIY Refugium as I can get a small tank for basically nothing. I was going to make some acrylic baffles and make it similar to the attached photos.

I am not sure about how to control the water flow, however. (I do not want to drill any holes in the all-in-one tank).
I would not want to drop/raise water level too much in either the All-In-One or Refugium.
I was looking at buying 2 x Rio Plus 600 Aqua Pumps (rated @ 200 GPH, can push water up to 4ft).
Pump #1 would draw the water out the third chamber after the Protein Skimmer in the all-in-one.
Pump #2 would return the water out of refugium to the fourth chamber in the all-in-one (which returns the water to the main DT).


Do I even need Pump#1 or just allow Pump#2 to create a siphon?
Is 200 GPH too much or too little?
What kind of fail-safes do I need to put in place in case the pump(s) fail?
 

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NO... Giant NO..
You can never rely on 2 pumps to flow at the same rate even the same brand/model. NEVER.. That is NOT at all how to do this properly and will just about guarantee a failure within minutes...
The lower system needs to pump water into the other and you need a suitable drain system in the higher tank..

If you can get a HOB overflow to fit into the AIO (all in one) then that would be good.. Drilling it would be "better"..
 
NO... Giant NO..
You can never rely on 2 pumps to flow at the same rate even the same brand/model. NEVER.. That is NOT at all how to do this properly and will just about guarantee a failure within minutes...
The lower system needs to pump water into the other and you need a suitable drain system in the higher tank..

If you can get a HOB overflow to fit into the AIO (all in one) then that would be good.. Drilling it would be "better"..

this^^^ you need an overflow. . . otherwise you will have an overflow but not where you want it.
 
this^^^ you need an overflow. . . otherwise you will have an overflow but not where you want it.

Thank you for your help. After a little more research I had found some videos of people trying to do what I want:

Example:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01MAV5CK5?ref=dp_vse_rvc0

I also called MD and they were super helpful in recommending a few additional things like a Swing Check Valve and a more powerful pump to return the water. The person on the phone probably spent 30 minutes with me.
 
yup that's a hang on back overflow. a few years ago I used a life reef overflow and it never failed. http://www.lifereef.com/siphon.html

if you can fit it I ran an Ehiem compact 2000 on my old tank for years. it's pretty small and adjustable. also the Jebao DC pumps seem to be pretty good and cheap, i've only had mine for a month so can't comment on long term reliability.

Check valves are okay but I wouldn't bother. They are prone to failure if you don't keep them clean. the sump you use should be able to handle the water draining back when you power off the return pump.
 
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