Sump Setup Help

[Frag Freaks]

I'm looking to set up a refugium for my 65g. I was thinking of using a 10g that i have lying around for it. I'm looking to upgrade the skimmer, One that doesnt need to be in sump. I just dont know how i would do the plumbing for this. Basically i want to do this: I want an overflow 600gph which i want to run into the skimmer and have the skimmer outlet to shoot out the water into the refugium which then would flow into a couple baffles where i can run media then into the refugium part then through another baffle into the return pump which would go back into the main tank.

Can someone help me with ideas in how to do this correctly or even let me know if this is possible to do. I was thinking about doing a 20g Long for a sump but there would be no way to get it into my tank stand i dont think since there is a colummon on the front of the stand which makes the openings small on each side of it.

 

[Duds]

wel you cant have the fuge right after were the skimmer shoots out water because that is too much water flow, except for that i would say that is fine, but im not a pro at sumps
Duds

 

[Frag Freaks]

so basically ur saying flip it around. Have the overflow into the sump, then the water flow to the refugium to a baffle with a smaller pump that would then leave the refugium andgo into the skimmer and have the outlet of the skimmer to the return in the tank?

 

[Duds]

what i am saying is that the fuge should be last before the return area where the reutrn pump will go and then the water will go back into the tank, so water will go into the overflow go down into the sump and then it will flow into another compartment where the skimmer will be, then it will flow into another compartment where the water will slow down and then it will flow into another compartment and that is where the fuge will be then it will go into the return area then back into the system, or you can have the first compartment your skimmer compartment, then the rest will stay the same as listed above
Duds

 

[Duds]

another idea is to have a hang on fuge, then a little pump will flow the water into the return area and the goods will go back into the tank, to do this you have to get a y fittign or a t fitting so the water from the overflow go into the actual sump and the fuge hanging on the back of the tank
Duds

 

[Triggerfish]

Rob,,i don't see why your idea would not work and basically would be a very simple setup.
i take it you have no sump right now.

you would plumb the overflow into the skimmer like you want (make sure overflow is enough to run the skimmer). not sure which skimmer models can be setup like this.
have the drain flow into the sump intake, probably just gravity feed in...add few baffles in sump for what you want. only thing you will not be able to control flow through fuge ,,but for a simple setup i wouldn't fuss too much with it.
fit the largest thing you can in the stand.

 

[Frag Freaks]

The reason being for the skimmer outside the sump is that I cant get anything bigger than a 10g inside my stand so i wanted to utilize that whole 10 gallons for the refugium area.

 

[naturebatslast]

I have the same tank and use a 20 gallon. I did try a 10 gal, but as stated by Duds, it's just too much flow. Flow will rip through the sump, the water will probably move so fast that baffles have little effect on microbubbles. I think a 10 will only work if the flow is very low, in the 300 gal/hr range.

 

[Frag Freaks]

is there a 300gph overflow?

 

[Frag Freaks]

well heres another thought im just shooting another idea out there. Since i cant get one big whole tank in there. What about some kind of custom job. Bare with me im trying to be creative here.

Ok so it starts with the overflow lets say rated for 600 gph which drops into the 10g tank which enters first and area for the skimmer which is little less than 3/4 full then another baffle where it enters to be the refugium which would be half filled of the 10g. From there have the side drilled for a bulkhead which would flow into a 5 gal tank where the water level is just sufficient enough to have a return pump function without sucking air.

 

[MikeG]

is there a 300gph overflow?

It doesn't matter what the overflow is rated for. If you use a 300gph return pump (after head loss) you will get 300gph through the overflow, if you use a 600gph return, you will get 600 gph through the overflow.

well heres another thought im just shooting another idea out there. Since i cant get one big whole tank in there. What about some kind of custom job. Bare with me im trying to be creative here.

Ok so it starts with the overflow lets say rated for 600 gph which drops into the 10g tank which enters first and area for the skimmer which is little less than 3/4 full then another baffle where it enters to be the refugium which would be half filled of the 10g. From there have the side drilled for a bulkhead which would flow into a 5 gal tank where the water level is just sufficient enough to have a return pump function without sucking air.

This will work just make sure the connection between the two tanks is large enough to easily keep up with the flow. You could also T off you skimmer return and have some go to the fuge and some to the second tank to the return if you are doing an external skimmer and want to process more water while keeping low flow through the fuge.

 

[Frag Freaks]

I was thinking prob a 1'' pipe between the tanks. but i think i like the idea of the T off the skimmer.