refugium question

[evangeline]

first of all, forgive me if i sound like i don't know what i'm talking about, or don't use the right terms for things. i'm mechanically retarded

i am trying to set up a 20 g refuge for my 89 g tank. my original thought was to have my main tank with the sump underneath, with another stand to the side of the main tank with the fuge set up on (and i could put my chiller or ballast under that stand, provided it doesn't get too hot).

now i am trying to figure out how to plumb it. i thought there might be a potential problem with keeping the the correct water level in the sump while pumping water first into the fuge and then back into the main tank. then, i thought about running the return pump (a mag 9.5) through my chiller and into the main tank, while having a seperate small pump pumping water into the refugium. i thought that if i had the same rated pump in the refugium pumping water back into the sump, the same amount of water being taken out would be replaced simultaneously. then i talked to a couple of people from marine depot, who said that that would not work because it wouldn't keep the water level in the sump high enough or at a stable level.

i realize there is probably an obvious answer to this, and i am just overlooking it. what i would like to do is have water pumped somehow into the fuge, and then straight back into the main tank so that i could have a little extra water flow. also, i have nowhere to put the fuge over the main tank, so it can't be gravity fed back down. any suggestions?

thanks,
evangeline

[Poseidon]

If I understood right you are looking to take water from the sump and put it in the fuge then from the fuge to the main right?


That would be tricky because you are attempting to put more water in the main then what is leaving.

Let me explain this way. If your overflow can move 100 gallons an hour into the sump and the sumps return pump moves 100 gallons an hour you have balance. Now if you add a second pump to feed the fuge that moves 50 gph then you are effectively taking out 150 GPH while still only putting in 100.

I think it could be done, but you would have to be VERY precise with the plumbing and ball valves would not work, you wouyld have to use Gate valves.

Your return pump from the sump would have to be dialed back to 50 GPH and the pump from the fuge to the main would have to be 50 GPH to maintain the balance. And as you can see it still works out to the total of the overflow.

I guess after writing it all out like this, I don't see a benefit.

[evangeline]

i don't necessarily need to pump water from the sump to the refuge...i wanted to have the flow going back into the main tank just to have another pipe coming in for water flow (even though with a 20 gallon the flow wouldn't be that great), but that's not even necessary. i would be fine with pulling water out of and pumping water back into the main tank. would that work? could i run a small powerhead from my tank to a refuge?

thanks,
evangeline

[Randy]

If I were you, I'd keep it as simple and flawless as possible.

The key to plumbing multiple tanks would be your overflows. If you have an overflow on your tank and refugium, you've got it made.

If you run the water to your sump from your main tank and the refugium, you can split (and adjust) the return from your sump to both the main tank and your refugium. You can reduce turbulance in the fuge.

Another option for the most flow would be to run water from the overflow of your main tank to your refugium (assuming it is above your sump) then down to the sump. From the sump back up to your main tank. This would optimise the flow in both tanks.

I would not use a syphon overflow. Too iffy in my opinion. If your tank is not drilled for an overflow, have it drilled. I stripped my tank bare just to have it drilled. Well worth it. I also used a Durso overflow system. Simple DIY project.


I hope this helps