refugium help.. Thanks

good morning guys:

I am pretty new to the reef aquarium hobby. As you know it is very expensive especially when you are starting out. So i am trying some DIY projects. My biggest one is the refugium. I have read many forms, watched many videos on you tube, and I became more confused than I was when I started out. Finally, I came up with the attached plan.
I am hoping you can take a look at it and tell me what you think.

I have a 90 gallon tank, i am trying to turn this 29 gallon tank (29x12x18) into a good size sump/ refugium. I have aqua C Ev-180 protein skimmer ran by a mag 7, and a mag 9.5 as a return pump. I decided to install the skimmer externally to create more room for the refuge. Initially I was going to make the sump in the following order (from the tank+ skimmer/ refuge/ return) but then i keep reading that the flow through the refuge should be slow. So that design no longer made any sense to me, even-though many people have it. With the attached design i believe I will have better control of the refuge flow. But the next question, which I couldn't find the answer for is: should the water going to the refuge pass through the skimmer and sponges to trap some of the debris or straight from the tank??

thanks I truly appreciate all your answers in advance.

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You want it to come straight from the tank, thus providing another source of nutrient export. Water from the skimmer is "clean water" and therefore the refugium provides little if any help in nutrient export.

Place a tee in the line from the tank and a valve below the tee. This allows you to control the amount of flow into the refugium. Just close the valve a little to get water to head to the refugium.

Welcome to 3reef BTW

 

Why is the return pump recycling water back into the fuge?

Anyway, it looks pretty good, just make sure your water overflowing from the fuge doesn't create bubbles in the return chamber that will be sent back to your tank. (I think you have a sponge in place to handle this, but just making sure )

Oh and as 2in10 said... put a valve after your tee to the fuge so that you can regulate the flow.l

 

You seem to be wel on your way. You got some great advice here already, you should be fine.

Great job on doing your research and tanking your time with everything, it really will pay off in the long run.

Post up a build thread with some pics of the tank to see it progress!

 

Sorry i didn't make that clear...

It is either the blue or the red. But i think both of you agree that it should be red one (directly from the tank).

I do have a sponge to control the bubbles from the fuge. I am more worried about the bubbles from the skimmer. I am not sure if I am doing something wrong but this skimmer puts so much bubbles back into the water. any idea why?

Any other recommendations?

 

What do you think about raising the sand bed by egg crate to allow water to flow through the sand? I will also make a small open on the bottom of the baffle to allow water to communicate that way as well..

 

No egg crate. That is not how DSBs work.

You want a 3 partition bubble trap from the skimmer much more effective. You will just have to try and direct flow from tank to the skimmer pump and sort of direct flow from slimmer to return section instead of allowing it all o mix together and effectively recircing your skimmed water.

 

Thanks for your response,

The only reason I asked about elevating the DSB is an article on reefsanctuary.com and the guy swears by it. But I wont do it since apparently he is the only one that says to do it.

Powerman, I have one more question for you: I checked out the sump you made, I saw those return compartments you placed in the fuge and the sump part. I would like to make them as well to place some media. how big should they be (29 gallon sump)? and do I just make a an opening in the bottom for water movement to the sump?

Thanks

 

Go to post #16 in that article wiigelec has a great solution for you. click on his link and hes lays it all out.

 

Refugium size... Please help

One more question guys:

When we say that the refugium should be 1/10 the size of the tank. Does that include the deep sand bed or without it?

My current design will give me a (15 x 12 x 13) refuge = 10.13 gallons, which is perfect for a 90 gallons tank. Whoever, if you subtract 5" DSB then it comes to 6.3 gallons, which is way less.

What do you guys think?