2 seperate tanks for Sump and Refugium Design

[Bthom2]

Hello,

I am in the process of designing my sump and refugium for my 225 gallon mixed reef tank. I am going to have a 55 gallon tank for the sump and a 30 gallon tank for the refugium. My tank has two overflows so I plan on directing one to the sump and one to the refugium. The refugium will feature an overflow which will return water to the sump. The return pump will be in the middle of the sump and will be connected to the return pipes of both overflows. I have included a diagram of what I have planned. Sorry if its difficult to follow, I don't claim to be a good ms paint artist.

Does this design seem feasible? Any ideas for improvement?

Thanks!

[KayHouse]

Looks like a solid design to me. I plan on making an extremely similar design with my new setup. set

[zeminabr]

You need to make sure you have appropriate mixing inside your tank if you are planning on using this design. It may make more sense for your refugium to discharge into the skimmer side of your sump so that your entire tank volume is seen by the skimmer instead of half of the overflow. Just a thought, since I am busy brainstorming how I can do something similar.

[Bthom2]

You need to make sure you have appropriate mixing inside your tank if you are planning on using this design. It may make more sense for your refugium to discharge into the skimmer side of your sump so that your entire tank volume is seen by the skimmer instead of half of the overflow. Just a thought, since I am busy brainstorming how I can do something similar.

Excellent point. I also thought about tying both drain lines together and teeing one to the sump and one to the refug. I would put a ball valve on the refug side to control flow.

[SSEAL]

Great Plans!...

I have been drawing up a similar plan and I like how you split the overflows (1 to the sump and 1 to the refug).

I was planning on having all of my overflow go to my refugium and then to the sump, but was wondering if this would be too much flow through the refugium. I am planning around a mag 12 or 18 for the return to my 90g which would probably to much for the refug tank. Glad I saw your diagram! I am going to split the over flow and add a valve to control flows to each.

I have two tanks to choose from for the Refug or sump (40g or 75g). Still deciding on which tank to use for the Refug and/or sump...

SSeal

[sleepydoc]

You might consider having both overflows drain into the skimmer section, then have a Tee with a valve off the return pump going to the refugium. That way you could control the amount of water going to the fuge and easily take it off line if necessary.

Also, it looks like you have too many bubble traps in your sump. They won't hurt anything, but take up extra room

[peppie]

I will be using a separate fuge for my system as well.
I will be using an air driven skimmer in the sump It will be fed directly from the pellet reactor. The same pump that feeds the reactor will be T and also feed the fuge.
So the raw water from the dt goes to the reactor, and some goes to the fuge. The fuge will then gravity feed back into the same chamber the raw water from the DT collects in.
From there the skimmer drops the water into a different chamber housing reactors, then on to the return chamber..
Hope that helps.
There are like 30 different ways to skin this cat

[one clownfish]

I've always liked my skimmer in its own tank, draining into the sump. That way you never have to worry about the water level when your ato goes crazy or when the power goes out. No float swithchs are needed to save the DT from getting 3/4gal. of nasty stuff dumped in to it and it saves an outlet or 2 on your controller. I'd put the skimmer where the refugium is with a couple of filter socks and run both overflows to the skimmer/sock tank. Then, incorporate the refugium in the other tank. You'd only need one baffle and never have to worry about micro bubbles either.

[billdogg]

My 150DT/120 fuge/ 50 sump is set up so that everything drains to the sump, then , using a diy manifold the return is split so that some goes to the fuge and reactors, the rest to the DT. I use a DART for the return, so flow is not an issue.