Gravity Refugium????

[Mini Me6]

I've read many of threads of sumps and refugs. They were all located below the main tank.

Is there anyone out there that pocesses a gravity feed Refug????

If not, I will be posting a thread soon on my DIY gravity feed refug soon.

Being new and on a tight budget to the reef world, I believe a gravity feed refug will work in my AP12 with 70HQI reef aquarium.

I will not need to modify my tank/location for an overflow box. No need to worry about power outages and primer pumps or air tubes. Less plumbing to worry about.

Again this will be my first venture on the matter. Reading all the under tank sump/refug recommendations, I would like toknow if anyone has a GRAVITY FEED sump/refug system in operation???

[EdKruzel]

Gravity return is not only common but the preferred method with a refugium. Even though a good majority of fauna can survive traveling through an impeller, all fauna will pass unharmed through a gravity feed.

For such a small tank as your nano, a DIY fuge is best, but if you check the larger internet stores you'll find the majority of refugiums are gravity returns.

[ManotheSea]

Can you explain this gravity feed idea?

How do you figure you will end up with less plumbing and pumps? Are you talking about having the sump higher than the Main tank?

[cdbias2]

Check for pics in my gallery.

[Aquarist007]

here you go--you asked:

http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r107/reefescapetangster/IMG_4527.jpg

http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r107/reefescapetangster/IMG_4520.jpg

http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r107/reefescapetangster/IMG_4524.jpg

http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r107/reefescapetangster/IMG_4519.jpg

[Aquarist007]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11908883#post11908883 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by ManotheSea
Can you explain this gravity feed idea?

How do you figure you will end up with less plumbing and pumps? Are you talking about having the sump higher than the Main tank?

water from the tank is t'ed to two lines--one to the sump and one to the refugium. I have to ball control valves to control the flow to either
The refugium is higher then the sump so water it feeds water back to th sump via gravity
no pumps

[Aquarist007]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11912573#post11912573 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by cdbias2
Check for pics in my gallery.

nice--the same idea I was demonstrating and explaining

Your's is out for view also and if you have kids and grandkids they like to look into it

[Pulp Fishin]

capn_hylinur
Very impressive!
I'm still elarning how to hook up my tank and everything so can you tell me how and what equipment you use to get the water to/from your sump/tank?
I need to learn how tis done before I can concider making one myself.

[marioensf]

I'm also working on a HOB refugium, it's an old (er) Truvu Mighty Max
I just glued two baffles it will be "gravity fed" unit hanging on the back; an old Maxijet 1000 will return the water to the tank; since it hangs of the back of the tank there is no reason for an accidental spill.
The gravity feed is by a U tube the same kind from an external overflow box. If power goes out the water level should be the same in the fuge and the tank "Thant's rocket science" !!
Will post pics...

[foxesreef]

I am following this thread also.......wanting to set one up myself.

But I have a question. It looks like the water is flowing from the refugium into the sump. Is that true? Do you send the refugium water into the skimmer? Just asking if this is okay.

Thanks

[seapug]

The correct term for this is "Upstream Refugium."

The skimmer should ideally be the last step in the sequence before water is sent back to the tank, so you'd want that in your sump after the fuge.

[marioensf]

Yes, that's the way you see it, from main tank to fuge then to sump (where the skimmer works); last, return to main.

[alve]

I might be wrong but if the water from the fuge goes through the skimmer before going back to the DT wouldn't you loose a lot of beneficial pods from the skimmer?

Mine is setup different. Left side is fuge, middle return, right side skimmer so my fuge water does not go through the skimmer before returning to the DT.

[seapug]

I guess it depends on what your goal is. If you want to maximize nutrient assimilation in the fuge and make your skimmer as efficient as possible, skimmer would be last. If you want maximum pods going back to the tank you'd do it before the fuge.

Alve, if your return is before the skimmer, I would assume that the water your skimmer is processing would have already passed through the fuge, right? Or am I misunderstanding you?

[rjsilvers]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11913340#post11913340 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by capn_hylinur
here you go--you asked:


If you're just gravity feeding into your sump... The pods are still going through the return pump to get back to the DT.

I thought the point of a gravity driven fuge was to pump the DT water into the refugium above the tank and then use gravity to return the refugium water to the DT so no pods are chopped up by the return pump?

[Aquarist007]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11914424#post11914424 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by rjsilvers
If you're just gravity feeding into your sump... The pods are still going through the return pump to get back to the DT.

I thought the point of a gravity driven fuge was to pump the DT water into the refugium above the tank and then use gravity to return the refugium water to the DT so no pods are chopped up by the return pump?


very few pods are chopped by return pumps, very few pods can't pass through filter socks and very few pods are not nukes by uv sterilizers.
The larger pods you see never make it back through the filtration system again--they are gobbled up by someone in the tank

It desireable to have no pumps--just one less chance of a flood during a power outage. When the pump goes off the water stops flowing into the fuge and when it reaches the height of the bulkhead it stops flowing out

[rjsilvers]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11914646#post11914646 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by capn_hylinur
very few pods are chopped by return pumps, very few pods can't pass through filter socks and very few pods are not nukes by uv sterilizers.
The larger pods you see never make it back through the filtration system again--they are gobbled up by someone in the tank

It desireable to have no pumps--just one less chance of a flood during a power outage. When the pump goes off the water stops flowing into the fuge and when it reaches the height of the bulkhead it stops flowing out

Oh I know. My return pump is pumping fuge water back to my DT as well. :) I know the pump doesn't chew up many pods because I have a ton in my DT as well as my fuge.

I just thought the OP was talking about fuges where the pump is taking water from the main tank and putting it in a fuge above the DT.

[Aquarist007]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11913893#post11913893 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by seapug
The correct term for this is "Upstream Refugium."

The skimmer should ideally be the last step in the sequence before water is sent back to the tank, so you'd want that in your sump after the fuge.

this is correct--if you look at the pictures of mine the return from the refugium is in the left corner of the sump near the bulkhead that drains the sump. The skimmer pump is on the far right of the tank where the trickle filter used to be

You can tinker with the flow so you get copopods and the use of chaeto as an uptaker of phosphates and nitrates.

[Aquarist007]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11914055#post11914055 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by alve
I might be wrong but if the water from the fuge goes through the skimmer before going back to the DT wouldn't you loose a lot of beneficial pods from the skimmer?

Mine is setup different. Left side is fuge, middle return, right side skimmer so my fuge water does not go through the skimmer before returning to the DT.

yes you would--they would be skimmed out.
My refug empties into the left corner of the sump the skimmer pump is on the right
the flow through the sump is right to left so that the copopods etc are sucked into the pump immediately
Actually that is why I have live rock there too --added protection and the flow is less over it there

[Aquarist007]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11913765#post11913765 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by foxesreef
I am following this thread also.......wanting to set one up myself.

But I have a question. It looks like the water is flowing from the refugium into the sump. Is that true? Do you send the refugium water into the skimmer? Just asking if this is okay.

Thanks
if you look at the second picture I posted the water from the tank is t'ed off--the majority goes towards the sump and enters on the left where it passes by the skimmer
the othe line from the t goes to the sump and the water from the sump returns to the left side of the sump were it and the skimmed water are directly sucked up by the pump and returned to the tank.

[alve]

Seapug, my sump is left side fuge that flows over a divider to the middle return section. The right section has the skimmer that flows through baffles to the middle return section.

My left drain from the DT has a T on it. One side goes to the fuge, the other one goes to the skimmer compartment. The right drain goes completely to the skimmer compartment. Pretty much whatever water goes through the fuge goes back to the DT without getting skimmed.

I don't mean to hijack your thread Mini Me6. We got a little off track with the skimmer location which in itself is very interesting as well.

I agree with rjsilvers, for me a gravity driven fuge is a fuge above the DT that gets water pumped to it and then use gravity to return to the DT.

[Aquarist007]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11913589#post11913589 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Pulp Fishin
capn_hylinur
Very impressive!
I'm still elarning how to hook up my tank and everything so can you tell me how and what equipment you use to get the water to/from your sump/tank?
I need to learn how tis done before I can concider making one myself.

the refug is a 30 gal plastic tote
if has a deep sand bed, reef rubble and lots of chaeto--no caulerpa
I drilled a hole and inserted a bulkhead in the right side about 4 inches down from the top

The main line needed a plastic t and two ball valves on it.

thats about it

[alve]

wow, you guys are fast, already 5 posts between writing and posting while having lunch at the same time :)

[Aquarist007]

I made this little tweak in the system since the pics where taken. I was finding that I was getting an air embolism in the outline from the sump and it was backing up the flood--no flood but almost.
This was a 69 cent improvent and it prevents air embolisms

http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r107/reefescapetangster/DSC_0055.jpg

[ledford1]

I'm currently plumbing a tank to sit next to and slightly higher than my 90g.

In the 90, I'll have a pump to push water up into the smaller tank, and then let the water gravity feed back into the display tank. It's about an 8 inch difference vertically between the two tanks.

I have one line for water going into the tank, but two lines coming out. When the tank was drilled, we had it done so that one drain would sit higher than the other to act as an emergency backup should the first, lower drain somehow become plugged. The incoming water enters on the far left of the tank and the drains are on the far right side of the tank to make sure the water flows all the way through.

[marioensf]

These are the images of the old wet/dry Truvu being converted to a fuge. The two baffles I installed so I can place some substrate like aragonite (I like black reef sand) or miracle mud (last choice since this stuff has to be replaced when has depleted it's effectiveness.

It feeds by gravity once the Maxijet gets the water back into the tank, the lower water level in the fuge will pull the water (gravity) into the HOB fuge via one or two "U" tubes that come stock with the MightyMax Truvu.

I will place chaeto, a nice sea weed I found at ocean treasures in SF and a red algae that looks amazing; I'm growing it in my sup right now.

http://i248.photobucket.com/albums/gg197/marioensf/P1010552.jpg

http://i248.photobucket.com/albums/gg197/marioensf/P1010553.jpg

http://i248.photobucket.com/albums/gg197/marioensf/P1010551.jpg

http://i248.photobucket.com/albums/gg197/marioensf/P1010550.jpg

http://i248.photobucket.com/albums/gg197/marioensf/P1010549.jpg

[Aquarist007]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11918195#post11918195 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by marioensf
These are the images of the old wet/dry Truvu being converted to a fuge. The two baffles I installed so I can place some substrate like aragonite (I like black reef sand) or miracle mud (last choice since this stuff has to be replaced when has depleted it's effectiveness.

It feeds by gravity once the Maxijet gets the water back into the tank, the lower water level in the fuge will pull the water (gravity) into the HOB fuge via one or two "U" tubes that come stock with the MightyMax Truvu.

I will place chaeto, a nice sea weed I found at ocean treasures in SF and a red algae that looks amazing; I'm growing it in my sup right now.

http://i248.photobucket.com/albums/gg197/marioensf/P1010552.jpg

http://i248.photobucket.com/albums/gg197/marioensf/P1010553.jpg

http://i248.photobucket.com/albums/gg197/marioensf/P1010551.jpg

http://i248.photobucket.com/albums/gg197/marioensf/P1010550.jpg

http://i248.photobucket.com/albums/gg197/marioensf/P1010549.jpg

excellent way to do it thanks for posting--it gives reefers other alternatives then looking at my stuff all the time:lol:

[marioensf]

Your stuff is great, I just have limited space and have to make the most out of it.
The wet/dry was given to me with a 50 plexi 3-footer; just collecting dust so I did my homework (reefcentral) and started the project.
That increases my water volume by aprox. 10 gals.
I plan to shut off main pump at night for about 6 hours and live the new fuge running on the small maxijet for 8 hrs.
1 hr. before mains shuts, 6 by itself and one more with the main pum on.
The preceding will be just to test it and I think to mature it sooner.
Then will be the regular reverse daylight once I see a good population of pods.

[Larah]

Man I think see Captn' sump/fuge system in my sleep now.... I've seen those pics so much! LOL! :)

[truckdoctor]

i have a 75 in the wall we just converted an old wet dry into refuge sump combo with skimmer all above the main tank.was the only option i had the way i had previously mounted tank in the wall.its working great so far 2 weeks in