Diverting Water ?

Is there a rule of thumb as to which line you need to feed the Refugium ? The return from the pump back to DT.....or....can I use the hose from the DT to the Sump ??

I see everyone using the return line back out of the sump and I was planning to use the line from the DT as it has no pressure .....Refugium is only 10 inches off either line ??

I started to cut the return line from DT and something in my stomach said " don't do it !!

Any advice ??

 

I always read it was better to use the "unfiltered" line from you DT to feed your fuge. This way you get all the unskimmed nutrients to feed your macro. Then if possible direct your fuge out line straight to the return section of your sump so that all the goodies in the water won't be skimmed away by your protein skimmer.

 

Thats what i thought ....however ....my gut was saying something different......like taking from the DT return would mess up the sump / DT balance .....I unfortunately have a return pump that needs no restriction to maintain the return flow back into the DT, so I'm thinking it's maxed out as far and returning to the DT ...any restriction on the return back up to the DT would mess up my balance of water.

LOL Gilligan's Island Flash Back !! Professor! Professor !

 

are you gonna have another pump to get it to the DT? Most people go dt , ref, sump. cause its gravity fed and you dont need any extra pumps. so , less likely of having overflow if one pump goes out or it cant keep up.

 

It will go ...DT ....1/2 to fuge 1/2 sump.....off the one line down.. all gravity fed. Going to put a Check Valve in between sump and tee to control the amount of water to fuge. Then it will gravity flow from fuge back into sump and as close to return pump as I can without hitting skimmer.

 

That sounds fine but I'd add another valve between the T and the fuge to give better control and so you can turn just the fuge off if you have an accident.

 

Well its all done....couldn't get the full 50/50 like i thought, still not sure ....it all sounds like it would work, but when I diverted the flow from the main line it REALLY slowed down the system, but i'm happy with the flow, more would have meant no power head in the fuge which was what i was shooting for. For now added a Maxjet 1200 to keep it moving.

LFS suggested a sock over the inlet to the fuge ? indicated that I would not want the particles from the DT in the fuge ? This sound accurate?? Maybe it was a cleanlyness issue ?

 

how is your fuge set up? do you have skimmer on one side fuge on the other, and return in the middle if so you just ant a little movement going through your fuge part and let the higher volume of water run through your skimmer side.

 

Pics?

 

I thought it went ok for a first fuge ......It is fed gravity flow from main DT, and returns to sump gravity flow..... 2 inches sand misc starter plants ..... power head and gravity flow to provide movement ( homemade motion line in fue to disperse the flow) ....ended up plumbing phos reactor in sump .....6500 flo light for now .....and its getting cramped behind the DT !! only up one day ...hopefully not to many kinks ....the hardest part was adding another tank...every little adjustment affects all the tanks ...DT... sump ... fuge.

There were times I was like...where did the water go??

Anyone know why the damsels were " kissing " ?? they were crazy for like 2 hrs doing this ....was like playing tag?