My Fuge Plans.. suggestions?

These are my plans for my 10 gallon Fuge (not a sump). My skimmer is a HOB, so it will be on the main tank. My main tank is a 16 gallon. The sole purpose of this fuge is for Chaeto, some live rock, and pods. Mainly a pod breeding ground, oxygenation and agitation, and to keep my ph in check. The pump I am using is a Rio Hyperflo 8HF. Puts out about 270 gph at 4 feet of head. My overflow box is rated at 300 gph. I have the plumbing all figured out, but am open for any ideas on better plumbing and want to make sure this fuge design is ok. Any other suggestions are welcome. Will have a 1-1 1/2" sand bed, 5-8 lbs live rock. The overflow will be attached to pvc and will be capped at the bottom, with nice sized holes drilled in it. The return pump will have 1/2" tubing with a return spout for good flow.

Also, I found a website that someone referred on here.. started with a M.. Melviere.com or something. He had 3 Baffles.. should I add another? What would be the advantage? Thanks for any help!!

 

Hard to see I gues so here.
Baffles (Made of plexi, not egg crate.) #1 - 7"x9" #2 - 9x9"

Pump housing - 4"

1" between and under baffle #2

Tallest baffle 2" from top of tank

 

I think you are referring to Melev's Reef, he has good fuge designs and good work. For your sump, where do you plan on putting your return pump? If you have your return on the same side as your inlet, you won't get effective flow through your fuge to make it beneficial to your system. You will want the fuge area to see about 10x flow rate across it.

 

thanks Tiger.. the return pump will be in the chamber on the right side. It's a 4"x 10" chamber. Of course the overflow will drain in to the left side of the sump. My design is a close copy of Eshopps reef sump, and Melevs design.

 

Bumpity.. hmm maybe I shoulda put this in the Refugium section. Hope I'm in the right place

 

nice plans................................., i have a algae turf scrubber as my fuge, (i run lights at night). i have 7 fish in my 75 gal, i feed twice a day plus chromaplex and zooplankton. my nitrates and phosphates are at 0

 

Awesome.. I run my fuge lighst at night in my Aquaclear 70 fuge that I converted. My phosphates are 0 also. I have no algae in the dp tank. I just want more pods and to stabilize my PH a lil better so I'm hoping this design will work for me. Also nice to have more water in the system. Do you have any pics of your fuge? I feed Rod's Food twice a day. Feeds corals, fish, and inverts.

 

I think that the water should pass UNDER the FIRST weir, then over the second weir which controls the water level. Most of the air bubbles will be pushed up and out when the water is directed under the weir. Also, go ahead and make the water level higher, maybe 2 inches from the rim. This will give you that much more volume for your purpose. With only a 300 gph overflow you should be able to handle that much backflow when your return pump shuts off, do a dry run ofcorse.

MAN... Sorry about the rambling, I got too hot today so my brain is fried!

 

If it passed under the first weir, wouldn't the sand flow with it and clog things up? I thought the first one held the sand on the fuge side? the flow is coming in from the left side, over the first baffle, and then under the second to the return pump. Now I'm confused.

 

No need to be confused, your right. This design also has a filter sponge after the first weir if I remember correctly.

Simple to remedy however. If you want a 2" sand bed, measure and install the first weir 3" above the bottom of the tank. This will give you 1" between the SB and the bottom of the weir.

This is only my opinion.