The best water flow for a sump and refugium

[RGibson]

What is the best water flow for a refugium -sump? I can a just water flow in the display or the refugium- sump different from each other.

[Reefland]

Hi RGibson,

I was having a conversation with a friend today on this same subject. If your refugium is incorporated into your sump, depending on the tank size I think a good number is about 600gph. Some people try to get as much flow through thier sump as possible but this is more for additional flow, and not because it's needed to pass through the sump.

[RGibson]

Scott you could have the same water flow through the sump as the water flow through the protein skimmer.With my close loop and the used of Penductors low flow through the sump will not hurt the display.

[golfish]

I agree with Scott, if the two are combined then the slower flow is better. I have mine seperated so I can run the fuge as slow as I want (not a fuge anymore, its a frag\grow out tank) I doubled the flow through my sump last week. I noticed something that I thought wouldn't happen. The skimmer started working 3 times better. I figured I might see little change but nothing like I'm seeing.

[Bristle Worm]

Double post... sorry

[Bristle Worm]

I believe a slow flow through refugium will give the best results as this will allow the buildup of the reguium fauna without them getting washed away into your return pump or skimmer system. The refugium is at its name implies is a refuge. Therefore it should oppose your high flow possibly turbulent water of the main tank to allow cleaning of the water through sandbed action, macroalgae harvesting or whatever else you use your refugium for.

As for the sump, who cares and flow rates really don't make a difference to the mechanical filter's capability. However chemical filters such as carbon need low flow to allow enough time for them to interact with the water.