Help with a display refugium. Please

C

cervezamoney

Membership Expired
I have a 70 gallon main display with HOB overflow and a small wet dry set up w/small skimmer now. My plan is for a 29gallon show refugium with HOB overflow to share a common larger sump(1 sump 2 tanks 1 system)and a larger skimmer.

So far I have acquired: 1 large sealife skimmer, 1 mag3, 1 mag5, 1 CA3200(for the skimmer) 1 duel drain & 1 single drain HOB overflow,1x 150 gallon sealife wet dry, and the 29 w/wood stand. My plan was to return the main tank to the wet dry through the filter box and return the refugium directly into the return chamber of the wet dry. The problem being that the skimmer and all those pumps won't fit in the wet dry.

I could possibly fit a 2nd 29 gallon under the stand with minor mods. and no other room under the stand. maybe 1/3 drain/skimmer and 2/3 return, but then I have no filtration other than the refugium? What does the collective recommend?
 
How about getting a bigger pump for both the main tank return and refugium? T it, and use ball valves to balance it.
 
@Ashlar wrote:
How about getting a bigger pump for both the main tank return and refugium? T it said:
So I should use the big wet/dry? Do I need the filtration or is the fug enough?
P.S. I stole this display fuge idea from your thread. My wife thinks I'm a genius LOL.
Click to expand...
 
Hehe.. I'd think a fuge with a DSB would be better than a wet / dry in any case..

However.. you don't want to switch from wet / dry to a larger sump all at once. I'd set up the new fuge, plumb it in with the smaller wet/dry.. wait a few weeks to make sure there's no additional cycle for the fuge, then swap sumps. Until then, I'd run the sump level lower than you normally do to accommodate the fuge backflow in case of power outage.
 
DSB = Deep Sand Bed. So far, I'm a fan of mine.

Here's a start on a description:

http://www.wetwebmedia.com/deepsandbeds.htm

Google it and you can find a lot of info.
 
If you head to McKinney, you're more than welcome to stop by and check out my setup. It is very similar to your in size and concept. I have one sump, with Quiet One 4000 return pump with a T and ball valves to regulate the flow as needed. The show fuge incorporates a DSB, and I am still looking for additional macro. The cheato has done quite well.

Peter...
 
Well, mine's in the sump, but I suppose you could use a HOB skimmer & hang the media reactor over the fuge if space were limited under the main tank.
 
Man, Peter duel bow fronts, now I am offically gealous. A 72 gallon Oceanic bow front with cherry furniture got me interested in getting a tank of my own. Yet I've never had a bow.
 
I realize this is a necro-bump but I am planning on doing the same thing as this thread describes. I have a 40 gallon main tank, a small sump, and a 16 gallon hex tank that I am going to use as the fuge.

My problem is that my stand is small and my skimmer is causing me some heartache. It would all work out perfectly if I could put my skimmer in the fuge but would that be a bad idea? I realize that it would be a copepod blender but being under the tank they would have to go through the main pump to get back to the tank anyway.

As a side note, any copepods that make it through the skimmer/return pump gauntlet will be little Rambo copepods so the fish should tread lightly if they see one pop out of the line.
 
I don't think the skimmer would do well in a fuge. Water flow requirements are different, and if you're setting up a show fuge you probably don't want to be showing off the skimmate. Can you fit the skimmer under your tank or the fuge?

Peter...
 
I am on the fence about it being a true show fuge. I have an oceanic stretch hex and the stand has a glass door. When any lights are on behind the door you can see through it but when the lights are off it's dark. It would be cool if the fuge was up front so it would show through the door when the lights are on but as far as it being a "show" fuge, it wouldn't technically qualify because it would be mostly hidden.

Just from a technical standpoint (not esthetically) is the skimmer in the fuge ALWAYS a bad idea? How about if I had the tank drain directly to the fuge/skimmer and then gravity feed to the sump?
 
I have my overflow from the main tank piped directly into the skimmer. The pump then serves as pure recirc.

Still, I think the flow requirements of a fuge and skimmer are too different. Also, your fuge will have sand and macros, which probably wouldn't do well with the pump intake. Perhaps splitting off the water supply and a partition in your sump, you could have a skimmer on one side and a small fuge on the other.

Peter...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top