Refugium Question
 

I am setting up a new tank that has overflows in each corner and in the sump I want to add a refugium. One side of the sump is a refugium, the other side is for my skimmer and the middle is for my return pump. I am using flexible PVC pipe from the overflows to the sump and one overflow is going straight to the skimmer section of the sump but the other overflow is were my question comes into place. It was suggested to me that I tee the other over flow off and put a valve on it so I can divert some water to the refugium and the rest to my skimmer area. My only concern is this ends up being a lot of glued pipe fittings (potential leaks). My other option is to just run the other pipe directly to the skimmer side of the over flow (only 1 joint)and use a maxijet 1200 to pump water to the refugium from the skimmer section. Any ideas or comments on which is the better route to go or any other alternatives?

Thanks!

Glued right, no worries of leaks.

So do you think the line directly from the tank to the refugium would be my best bet?

Feed direct. One less pump to buy, less heat, reduced risk of shock as one less submerged electrical device, and greener (less environmental footprint as saving those 20watts :wink:).

+1
Let gravity do the work

I guess I will try my original plan. I'm putting a union just after the bulkhead anyway so if I mess it up I can start again. Never actually tried gluing pvc before, I completed my return lines but still have some more work to do before I can leak test it. I took off all burrs, lightly sanded the joint areas, put on PVC primer and then PVC glue so I hope I did it right.

Thanks for the input!

I doubt you'll have any leaks. Dont forget to give it a 1/4 turn when you put the pieces to be glued together to ensure a proper seal. Also make sure the pieces bottom out when shoved together.

Lastly, if you're going to T off one of your drains to the refugium, you need a ball valve after the T (before it gets to the skimmer area) and another one after the T (before it gets to the refugium). That way you can control the flow into the refugium and to the skimmer area of your sump. I thought just a valve to the refugium was enough, but its not, you get a weird syphon type action if you dont also ball valve to restrict flow into the skimmer area, forcing it into the refugium. Also, without the two valves you will have really bad echoing from water and air mixing in the pipe and its an awful noise. The two ball valves ensure that only water is going through the pipes by the time you fine tune them and this is what makes the drain quiet.

guess needing two valve is dependent layout.

Though I have 2, flow control is done totally by one valve (mine on the downward leg) the second (horizontal) is just to isolate the fuge if I want to use it as a QT or remove. I'm using a ball valve but if was to do over, probably would use a gate for finer control.

http://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h3.../sump_fuge.jpg

Well, I finished the plumbing, filled up the tank and ran everything for an hour. All was dry! So far I just tried the one ball valve since this is all I have at the moment but I made provisions to add a second one if I have to.

The tank is pretty quiet with only a little splashing noise were the water falls into the overflows. Unfortunately due to the design of the tank (got it used but cheap) the water has to fall about 4" to enter my Durso standpipe. The wife wasn't complaining so it can't be that bad!

Now just have to drain the tank and fill it with RO/DI.

Why dont you just raise the durso up 3" or so to dampen that noise? Now is the time to do it and you'll thank yourself later. PVC glue cures in like 15 mins on a 2" fitting so you can easily do it while RODI is being filtered.