Sump/Refugium Question

[AUFishGuy]

So tonight i am removing one of the baffles from my sump and moving it as to create a refugium. This will be my first experience with a refugium so i have a couple of questions

A.) does the design look ok? Is there anything I am missing? I know it is extremely simple, just want to know if it will work properly. Design is attached.

B.) i am planning on having some rubble rock and chaeto, so basically this is just a place for the chaeto and to grow pods. How do i keep the chaeto from flowing into the return section of the sump?

TIA

 

[MitchSutherland]

I don't think you should have enough flow in your tank to cause the chaeto to some how over flow into the next section. It should just do summersalts/spin in place.

 

[AUFishGuy]

I don't think you should have enough flow in your tank to cause the chaeto to some how over flow into the next section. It should just do summersalts/spin in place.

Thanks for the reply, like i said i have never used it so i didnt know if it sinks or would just float at the top and spill over the baffle

 

[Greybeard]

Looks like a workable design to me. I had a very similar home made setup for years, made from a standard 55g tank.

I'm not sure how much of a problem this is, but it's something to think about... many skimmers are quite sensitive to the depth of the water they are sitting in. If this is going to change, keep in mind that the skimmer may need some attention.

Flow rate, and width of the sump, are going to dictate if the macro will get pulled into the pump compartment. It'd have to be pretty heavy flow to do so, healthy chaeto usually holds together pretty well. If you have a problem with it, a course filter pad stuck into the double wall between the ref and the pump would solve it. I doubt you're going to need it.

 

[AUFishGuy]

Looks like a workable design to me. I had a very similar home made setup for years, made from a standard 55g tank.

I'm not sure how much of a problem this is, but it's something to think about... many skimmers are quite sensitive to the depth of the water they are sitting in. If this is going to change, keep in mind that the skimmer may need some attention.

Flow rate, and width of the sump, are going to dictate if the macro will get pulled into the pump compartment. It'd have to be pretty heavy flow to do so, healthy chaeto usually holds together pretty well. If you have a problem with it, a course filter pad stuck into the double wall between the ref and the pump would solve it. I doubt you're going to need it.

Thanks for the reply and bringing that up. I made the baffles to the height recommended for the sump. I originally designed the sump with the first baffle close to the side of the tank, so close that only the drain pipe and filter sock could fit in. i soon realized that wasnt very smart so I am just moving the one baffle from there closer to the middle of the tank, just enough to hold the skimmer and heater and then whatever is left of the next section will be the refugium.

Is there any other pieces of equipment i may need in the future that i would need to account for space wise in the first section of the sump?

 

[Greybeard]

Is there any other pieces of equipment i may need in the future that i would need to account for space wise in the first section of the sump?

You never know what the future might bring You might decide next month that you just gotta have a big UV sterilizer or some such. I'd leave enough room for another small submersible pump or powerhead, in case you want to add a reactor or some such, but most of the time you can mount those outside of the sump.

 

[oseymour]

I have a similar setup to yours - I was using a sponge and then I thought that the sponge might be blocking pods from getting to the display. I bought some Enkamat from eBay, keeps any pieces of chaeto out but allows pods to get through.

 

[RL321]

.....

 

[theMatrix]

Can pods get through filter media?

 

[AUFishGuy]

Ok so I have ran into an issue. After removing the baffle and staging the equipment I have realized how small my refugium will be especially if I keep my heater in the sump. With the heater in the sump the refugium section between the baffles will only be about 4 inches wide. If I remove the heater and place it in the corner of the display I can get the refugium somewhere between 6-8 inches wide. I have yet to do exact measurements but that is the jist of the issue.

So is a 4 inch wide refugium even going to be beneficial? Should I just put the heater in the DT? Should I forego the refugium all together? Please share your opinions.

 

[theMatrix]

I keep my heater in the last chamber where the return pump is. I keep it suctioned to the edge wall. Can you try that? The fuge is benefitial for me. So is keep it

 

[Shawn O]

From what I understand, you may need more space in the refugium for what you ware wanting to do. One way to do what you want is to put the skimmer section and refugium at the ends and have your heater and return pump section in the middle. This will allow you to have the flow rate for the skimmer section faster and slower for the refugium.

 

[Greybeard]

The original purpose of a refugeum was as a 'refuge' for small critters to reproduce without pressure from the predators in the display tank. This is a major positive in an reef aquarium, all by itself. A small ref is fine for that purpose. You're talking about using yours for macro algae, I'm guessing as nutrient export... For that, you'll need more room.

 

[AUFishGuy]

From what I understand, you may need more space in the refugium for what you ware wanting to do. One way to do what you want is to put the skimmer section and refugium at the ends and have your heater and return pump section in the middle. This will allow you to have the flow rate for the skimmer section faster and slower for the refugium.

Im not sure this will work without taking out the other baffle and piece of plexiglass for the bubble trap but if i did would enough flow make it over to the refugium? I feel like the drain/skimmer section would just flow straight into the return section. I would worry that the water in the refugium would not flow in and out.

The original purpose of a refugeum was as a 'refuge' for small critters to reproduce without pressure from the predators in the display tank. This is a major positive in an reef aquarium, all by itself. A small ref is fine for that purpose. You're talking about using yours for macro algae, I'm guessing as nutrient export... For that, you'll need more room.

Is the 6-8 inches not going to be enough anyway for the nutrient export peurpose? If thats the case maybe i just have the smaller fuge for pod population and not worry about the micro algae

 

[AUFishGuy]

SO this just dawned on me. My tank is a corner overflow so couldnt i just put the heater in the overflow? I run the Herbie Method so only issue i could see is if power went out the overflow would drain down to the level of the drain pipe. I need to check the height on it but if it is tall enough it shouldnt be an issue. Anything i am missing here

 

[Greybeard]

Is the 6-8 inches not going to be enough anyway for the nutrient export peurpose? If thats the case maybe i just have the smaller fuge for pod population and not worry about the micro algae

Depends on how much 'nutrient' you're trying to 'export'. If this 'fuge is on a lightly populated, lightly fed, small volume tank, then an 8" ref may be all you need. If you're trying to pull nutrients from a bathtub sized reef full of messy eaters, then it's not going to have much of an effect.

There are other methods of removing nutrients... GFO, GAC, Turf algae scrubbers... That's what makes this hobby so much fun, there's a million ways to do things, you have to find what works for you.

 

[Greybeard]

SO this just dawned on me. My tank is a corner overflow so couldnt i just put the heater in the overflow? I run the Herbie Method so only issue i could see is if power went out the overflow would drain down to the level of the drain pipe. I need to check the height on it but if it is tall enough it shouldnt be an issue. Anything i am missing here

I have a corner overflow as well, and thought about putting the heater there. I didn't do it, simply because I didn't want the cord running down the back of the tank (360 degree view). I can't think of any reason it wouldn't work... plenty of flow through there.

 

[kinnadian]

I would recommend putting your refugium on the end of the tank if at all possible, flowing into the return section, so it looks like:

-----------------------------------> <-------------
Inlet | Skimmer | Baffles | Return Pump | Refugium

That way you can fine tune the flow going into the refugium (tee off from return flow if you have extra capacity), but also have a tall refugium and maximise water height as opposed to being restricted to being lower than the skimmer chamber height.

For nutrient export in your refugium, bigger is always better. With a small refugium you will get lower nutrient export, there is no real "ideal size", make it as big as you can and live with it.

 

[AUFishGuy]

I would recommend putting your refugium on the end of the tank if at all possible, flowing into the return section, so it looks like:

-----------------------------------> <-------------
Inlet | Skimmer | Baffles | Return Pump | Refugium

That way you can fine tune the flow going into the refugium (tee off from return flow if you have extra capacity), but also have a tall refugium and maximise water height as opposed to being restricted to being lower than the skimmer chamber height.

For nutrient export in your refugium, bigger is always better. With a small refugium you will get lower nutrient export, there is no real "ideal size", make it as big as you can and live with it.

In this configuration..how is the refugium actually getting any flow

 

[kinnadian]

In this configuration..how is the refugium actually getting any flow

fine tune the flow going into the refugium (tee off from return flow if you have extra capacity)