Refugium fed by skimmer?

I will be making my sump soon. It is going to be a melevs Sump - Model F. I was thinking instead of using a valve and just diverting 25% to the fug to place my skimmer on side if the refugium and place the powerhead in the return. Would that be too much or a bad idea. Any input?

 

Are you saying the skimmer will feed the fuge?

Ideally you want the untreated water hitting the refugium. But it may be tit for tat.

 

I always thought that you post skimmer water was the best.

 

I don't recall posting that! ;D

Well the way I look at it is you want to feed the refugium so to speak and skimmers are pretty indiscriminate on what they pull out. Putting a skimmer prior would be giving the refugium less. Now I am going off my own understanding here, this is not something I am throwing down as science.

That said, I don't think a refugium with macro algae would starve that way and I would love to read an analysis of the two setups. I'd be curious to know if having it setup one way or the other would affect growth rates in the refugium. Edit: and their affects on water quality.

 

Interesting. This guy supports the skimmer first setup but gives little reason as to why. I will look at some other setups...

Another edit:
Ok. Giving this more thought. I would rather have my skimmer get the untreated water over my refugium if I had to choose between one or the other. If I don't have to choose, I might look at way to feed both untreated water.

I am curious what others have to say.

 

Ok, check this out. This is a good article that looks at different setups with regards to the refugium, skimmer and sump and backs me up a bit.

 

Hey Matt, I would have to agree, i think it would be better for both, fuge and skimmer, to get untreated water. But i i had to choose if to do it before or after the fuge, id say before. Pumping the water from thefuge to the main tank, your already killing alot of the possibility of any small pod or micro critters getting killed by the impeller. Now, if you placed the skimmer, i would have to think that youve killed all the possibility of there being any goods going from the fuge to the tank. I verymuch might be wrong, but thats what i think. I am gonna try to do some reaserch today.

Very good Thread URBAN S

 

Skimmer

I have a CPR pro refugium,the skimmer is placed before the fuge section. Recently I split my overflointo two sections to increase flow thru the fuge section due to a cyano outbreak. Thi only made the Cyano worse even thoug flow thru fuge was greatly increased. I can only surmise this is due to the nutrients the skimmer was not removing. this weekend I plan to adda ball valve to try and control the flow more. Hopefully this will help. I am sure CPR had a professional design this thing to work as intended. Just my .02.
Thanks Mike

 

Here is my setup



The skimmer takes its water from the intake of the sump / fuge and dumps it back in the fuge. Im guessing my skimmer treats about 1/4 of the water comming down from my tank, the rest just overflow in the fuge. I was very restricted in space so thats why i tried to max out my fuge space like that. Thats an old pic but my macro is growing good.

Marc.

 

If the person that wrote this About article has a tank that is so straited in its water layers then I'd dare say or would have to ask how does he keep anything alive in there anyways ? Top would be 80 F and the bottom would be 15 F less LOL
Also they know Jack nothing about what a fuge is supposed to do and what its supposed to emulate in it's application to how hobby as it does in the real world .
The oils and DOC's that he says are not needed are very much needed they are called fertilizer. On a fame we get them from Chickens and cows Oils and all .

A refugium is a simple salt marsh fancy to say swamp.. Growing up In Va and playing in them on the coast of Back bay and down in N.C outer banks I can tell you the stink and where never as pretty as the dunes and beaches where .. Not supposed to be they serve their purpose as a swamp Mother Nature figured it out eons ago.. A refugium is not supposed to be pretty and cool to look at unless you like to look at pods , bugs and little myists shrimps and worms and junk like that ? My Grand kids love them

Refugium a place of refuge and safety thats what they are and thats what the are supposed to be allowed to do. Slow water flows through them and warmer waters and lower Lighting Temps. thats what the plants like .. and not 24/7 either.. All you new people just getting into the fuges in the last 5 yrs or so keep pulling the tigers tail it bites! I have seen so much B/S and Hypothetical crap at that in the last few yrs about fuges its unreal most don't have them crashing all the time and they will. And bigger does not equal better with a fuge either there is a method to the madness Larger means more money I call that the cha ching factor..Retailers love that sound and could care less about how it serves you.