Building this looking for advice

This hobby is fun in that once I have something set up that works fine I decide that it could be/work better so here I am. Tank is a 57g Oceanic Illuminata with drilled overflow and return. Underneath tank I currently have a 19x15x17 sump that I figure holds about 10+ gallons. I have my skimmer and some chaeto in there but I would like a refugium because I would like to have a place for some pods and think added volume would be better as well. Just bought a 29 gallon tank which is 30x12.5x18. I have decided to run my overflow and skimmer in the first section(left), water will go through a filter sock from tank to overflow section. Pretty sure I will upgrade my skimmer so made this section bigger then what my skimmer requires just in case.Middle section will be for the refugium which I plan on having lr, sand, and chaeto, after that a bubble trap followed up by the return section. I already have a tunze ato set up right now so thats the reason why I went with a little smaller return section. Right now my bubble trap is 1.5 between baffles and 1.5 from the bottom. The second to last baffle I figure will be set at 10 and then 13.5 for the last. As it is set up right now when shut off my return pump I figure I get about a couple gallons or so from the DT so I think even with the higher baffles I should have more then enough room for the extra water in case of power outage or shut off.... Does this look like I am on the right track? Any suggestions?
Again thanks for looking and any advice.

 

Looks good to me. I ran my return section in the middle so that my fuge would get unfiltered water straight from the tank. But that's just personal preference. I would make sure that your skimmer section is large enough in case you ever decide to run any other equipment in there. i.e. reactors, heaters etc.
I think as long as your comfortable with the design and the functionality works for you than it looks good to me.

 

I think I would move the bubble trap to the other side coming off the skimmer section and not coming off the fuge section.

I also have the return in the middle and fuge on the right and feed it filtered, skimmed water from the return section with a seperate pump. That way, you can keep the returns and skimmer running if you ever need to take the fuge off-line for maintenance. Plus, you can control the flow through the fuge as your full return flow may be too high.

 

I wish I would have built my return section in the middle like diver Dan was saying. The sock and skimmer are both going to take nutrients away from the pods and cheato. Your setup will certainly work though

 

so something like this? so t off the drain line into both the skimmer and refugium with the return in the middle? I wouldnt mind going this route although im worried about micro bubbles so would 2 bubble traps be required like I have drawn? If not then could split about 3 1/2 inches between the 3 sections.
Thanks for the imput everyone!!

 

I think your drawing looks good. It almost looks like my plans minus the baffles from the fuge. I personally do not have baffles from my fuge to my return section and do not have microbubbles returning to my dt. I am going to be settin something up this weekend with a gutter gaurd to keep the cheato and stray strands from making it to the return section.
Here is a picture of my sump/ fuge setup. Hopefully you can see everything.

It is kind of a mess with wires but that is the next project. That's the good thing with this hobby if you are a DIYer. Always something new to build.

 

looks good. Is that a 29 gallon as well? you just have the one wall between the fuge and return? how far underwater does your drain into your fuge go?

 

It's actually a 40g. My drain has a t at the end and one end is its below the surface and the other end has about 1/2" above the surface for air to escape. That's just what works for me right now. I do have microbubbles in my fuge but they don't make it to my dt.

 

Cool, I guess I can play around with the heights and what not to figure out what works. not concerned with bubbles in the fuge just don't want them in the DT.
Thanks !!

 

You want to make sure that you leave enough height above your baffles for excess water so when your pump is shut off either from a power outrage or just maintenance that the back flow does not over fill your sump.