Skimmer with "HOV Lane"???

T

TheFatBoy

I read a lot that the flow through your refugium should be slow, about 3-5x the total volume. I have been trying to wrap my head around how that could be done efficiently.

I came up with this, and would like some criticism.

hovskimmer.JPG
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So lets hear it! Am I goofy?
 
Well doesn't look that bad to me, but there are other ways to make it work. Check out Marc's sumps. Like this one. You can have a tee from one of the drains going to the fuge with a valve to turn flow up or down and then the other part of the drain going to the skimmer area. Just in case, this sump is set up with fuge on the left, return in the middle, and skimmer on the right. You might know that, but just saying it in case you dont.
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The main problem I see with your drawing is the skimmer being in the return section. Asking for microbubbles IMO. Maybe it can be done, but I wouldn't want it that way personally.
This sump has an "HOV" lane around the fuge, but its around the return area not the intake area.
http://www.melevsreef.com/acrylics/sumps/chvy/chvy_sump.html
IMO no reason to use another pump to move water to the fuge when you can let gravity do the work via a drain.
 
Evaporation? Is there more evaporation in the return area than there is in the intake? How come?

What if the skimmer took its water from the HOV lane, before the bubble trap. Theoretically, it would give microalgae, pods, etc, a better chance of becoming a hearty breakfast, since it wouldnt go near the skimmer.

Edit...

Like this?

hovskimmer2.JPG
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Actually, I'd put the skimmer inside the intake area, since my fiancee seems to like the condo to be freezing cold, and since im using T5/T6 lighting, I'll need all the heat I can get!
 
In the above pic of marcs sump look at how the baffles are in the skimmer section. That area keeps a constant level where the middle section is where you see the evaporation. It doesn't evaporate more or less. It just doesnt have the baffles to keep the level the same. I know that doesnt make a lot of sense, but...maybe someone else can explain it better.

Now Im confused...
 
@orchidsnfish wrote:
In the above pic of marcs sump look at how the baffles are in the skimmer section. That area keeps a constant level where the middle section is where you see the evaporation. It doesn't evaporate more or less. It just doesnt have the baffles to keep the level the same. I know that doesnt make a lot of sense said:
Yeah, you just confused me too....
Click to expand...
 
odd that you post this, another user just made a sump designed almost identical to this and seems to work great

the below is dp1614's sump, and you can see the water flow in front of the fuge area and how quick it appears to be going, but that small section runs the lenght of the sump, just like your diagram, and he has little to no micro's
 
That is definitely reassuring. I do think I like the idea of using a ball valve instead of a power head. Might not be as exact, but it saves having to buy a powerhead and the power consumption.

Gotta get Marc in here and see if he can built it for me :)
 
what type of skimmer are you using...if you are using a recirculating skimmer that is fed by a pump or overflows than you do not need to worry about sump level going up or down if it is an insump skimmer then you do
 
Chuck, I think it will be fine. Just put the skimmer in the intake area and that fixes the evaporation issue. What that means is in the return section that area will always have a different water level unless you have a automatic top off system, even then you want to have the skimmer before the refugium IMO.
The way I'm solving this is to tee off the overflow having one line going to the skimmer and return section and the other line going to the refugium and both lines (or one depending on how you set it up) will have a ball valve to control flow so you don't wash away the goods in the refugium.
 
I made a 75G into a sump/fug that is set up similar to yours. I will try to post some pics tonight.
 
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