Sump/refugium

Ok. im just a little confused about how the water comes out of the tank, like where are the holes ment to be drilled? also i am unsure about how you stop the water from overflowing once there is a black out? and also what is a refugium, and what is its purpose?

And if someone could please explain about the plumbing for a sump. Btw my tank will be 184~ gallon tank. it is 5' long, 30inches deep and 24 inches high (planning to build soon, just need to sort the sump business out, for holes). I was just wondering if it is wise to have two holes drilled for water flow to the sump or is this unnessary?

Thanks for help.
Jason.

 

Responded to your PM. Here's a picture of how I drilled my tank. The boxes in the back corners are where the water overflows into the sump. The other 6 holes are for the closed loop set up but that's a whole different story. Somthing to think about now if you're drilling your tank or having it built.

 

Basically only the amount of water that goes into the overflow box is how much water will go into the refugium should the power go out. The overflow is setup to a water line in the tank, since there is no water coming into the tank to increase the amount of water in the tank, water can't rise up over the overflow. Does that make sense?

Refugium is for you to put in all different kinds of algae in so you don't have them in your display tank. You can put your skimmer in there too. Also adds some more water to your tank so you would have more than 184 gallons, not that you will have 184 gallons since rock, sand, etc... will displace water.

 

So basically, once the water level has dropped below the level of the overflow box it will stop flowing which in turn will not allow the sump to overflow? What is this waterline that you are talking about that the overlow is hooked up to?
And would i just place a bit of mesh or something similar over the top of the overflow to stop my little creatures from going on a rollercoaster ride?

 

whats this closed loop thing do. Sorry about newbie questions....its just i want to get this right!

 

All the closed loop does is pull water out of the tank and pump it back in. It takes the place of powerheads being in the tank.

Also, for your fuge or sump make sure the return line to the tank has a siphon break in it so when the power goes out it doesn't suck the water out of the main tank. All you need to do is drill a small hole in the return line right at the water level so when the power goes out and the water level drops below the hole air gets sucked into the return line and breaks the siphon.

 

Yea, I have to do that on my return into the tank cause it siphons an extra two inches of water from the display tank.

I mean like the water in the tank, the surface of the water is the waterline. Sorry if I confused you thinking it was a pipe or tube.

 

lol any diagrams would be handy. ;D

With the syphon break hole what stops the water from flowing out of the hole when there is a syphon? i understand a lot easier from drawings for some reason: