Refugium with Skimmer and Sump?

[Sophia&Dad]

My daughter and I recently bought a 90 gal reef with a unserviceable seaclone skimmer crude sump. Definitely new to the hobby and planning a new refugium/sump setup as shown in the attached drawing and not sure about several things:

1) The biggest refugium I can squeeze into my stand is about 15 gals. Is this big enough to make it worthwhile and, if so, is the skimmer still recommended?
2) Assuming the skimmer is still in the plan, would the optimum flow sequence be from the tank overflow to refugium to skimmer to filter to return pump as shown in the drawing?

Any other comments on the design greatly appreciated.

Sophia&Dad

 

[unsane]

looks like a good plan to me. You could go refugium in the sump though. Less to go wrong IMO. Also my sump refugium is a 50 gallon tall. I have it directly under a 75 gallon. This is the same dimensions as a 90 so I think it would work for you. With the 50 tall I can sleep better at night, knowing its gonna take alot of water to overflow that baby. Good luck whatever you decide.

 

[Dan Thrash]

i would have the overflow drain to the skimmer compartment and have the return area be in the middle of the skimmer and fuge. on the return line, just tee off with a valve and send a bit to the fuge. i wouldnt want the skimmer right after the fuge because if you are raising pods and such in the fuge they'll get skimmed out before they reach the main tank.

 

[sebwin]

From my limited knowledge, I think as above, the best scenario is if the exit from the overflow is t-junctioned and a much lower flow pipe goes to the refugiarium, not passing through the skimmer. The refugiarium then flows back seperatly into the retun chamber. I think the idea being that there will be a number of copopods etc breeding in the refugiarium which may benefit creatures in the display tank, hence you don't want to injury/skim them out in the skimmer (assuming the return pump doesn't get them). But I'm new so I may be wrong!

 

[sebwin]

sorry I meant a tee in the return line, not the overflow.