Quote:
Originally Posted by mark
You running a refugium and sump in series so that somewhat makes it harder to determine as they are two separate vessels with two separate purposes.
If you were overflowing into a sump having only a heater and skimmer easy, I would say just match your skimmer rating.
For a refugium see 5-10x the size of tank used (Calfo/Fenner) and I'm sure someone will say go 20X since a refugium can split into different types. You doing cheato only, thinking about a refugium in it's truest sense (a place a refuge for injured fish or area of no predation), a tank on the side for more delicate species (seahorses) etc. You don't need the flow of a reef tank but you don't want to go stagnate either.
If you had space or mod your plumbing you could split flows. I have planned a separate ref sitting above and to the side of my 75g sump fed either by teeing off one of the drains or off the return pump (most likely) and it would overflow into the main sump.
Didn't get it done yet so currently I have a single sump/ref combined. Using a 75g that has a skimmer in one section, two types of algae each in their own separate sections, areas for LR, heater etc. which works also.
I could reread the thread but guess I'm trying to say what's your goal and go from there. Then again you could drop a pump like this into your final ref tank and probably not look back. Maybe start another thread with a poll to get an idea for combined sump/ref return pump? Another good reference is Canreef TOTM and read through the setups of some of those great tanks for ideas.
btw I do feel for you. I had started planning my tank before the basement was even dug of the house I'm in now. Every time I finally said no more, this is what I'm going with, I would stumble onto another option. And even now it's setup, I'm still playing. |
Mark, thanks for all your help! Its been great. And I know what you mean about stumbling into another option or realizing what you had wanted to do might not work so well.
Having said that, more changes I think
I will most likely now be using just one glass tank as a sump. I do not have room anymore for what I wanted to do. The Skimmer and Closed loop pump take up way more space than I thought. I am going to try to keep the closed loop pump on a "shelf" Im building under the stand to keep it off the ground and taking up more space but even then, space is becoming scarce!
As for the sump, its basically going to be a just refugium, in the sense that my skimmer will not be internal, nor will the return pump. I will post a new drawing soon to see if what Im now thinking will work.