sump plan

[Moonstream]

I have almost finalized my sump plan, and thought I would run it buy you guys to see what you thought.

I am planning to have it run as return / 'fuge / skimmer and have the water drain first into the skimmer section. the baffles for both section will be 8" high, with eggcrate being used to keep cheato and other macros in the fuge.

[lark]

Pretty classic set up.

I think people are starting to tend more toward isolating the refugium so that the entire flow of the sump isn't flowing through the refugium.

I'm currently designing a sump, and the refugium is isolated within the return section of the sump. It has higher walls than the baffles setting the level of water in the rest of the sump. The refugium is fed by a tee off the return line (alternatively, I can feed it by a tee on my drain). This way I can control the flow to the refugium. The refugium drains back into the return of my sump through overflow teeth (or, you could do it simply by drilling a couple of holes and putting in bulkheads). I have the overflow from the refugium returning to the return area close to the return pump.

I'd say that this is probably a bit more the trend right now, rather than the three stage: skimmer, refugium, return set up that was in vogue a bit ago.

[Moonstream]

LOL, I am thinking about doing that, but preobably wont. I also have another question, should I have 1 or 2 drains from the display leading into the sump?

[Megalodon]

I'm going with the separate refugium for my 90 gallon but my smaller tank doesn't have enough room, so it will be an all-in-one just like the OP is describing, which is just fine.

[asonitez]

im trying to figure out how to incorporate a BUILT in refugium in an already existing sump.. and I can't remove the sump lol.

[lark]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12267926#post12267926 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by asonitez
im trying to figure out how to incorporate a BUILT in refugium in an already existing sump.. and I can't remove the sump lol.

You mean can't remove it from the stand?

It should be pretty easy. You could just take two pieces of glass and silicone them into a corner of the sump. Drill one near the top with two holes and put bulkheads in for the overflow.

You'd need to at least be able to drain the sump, though.

[FishNFun]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12267926#post12267926 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by asonitez
im trying to figure out how to incorporate a BUILT in refugium in an already existing sump.. and I can't remove the sump lol.

Use EPDM foam gasket and wedge the baffles in where you want them. You don't have to worry about draining it that way and the gasket is saltwater safe. You'lll also be able to move the baffles around later on.

[FishNFun]

One more thing - I'd only use the EPDM foam gasket in a glass sump.