Refugium plan-feedback solicited

After spending time looking at plans for others and thinking about what I want and what I think would work for me and my set up this is what I have come up with. I am hoping the scans of the plans attached. There is the general footprint and the side views for each side.

I wanted a combo sump/fuge. So I want to divide up a 20h to suit my needs. The overflow from the tank would split off with most of the flow going through a stack of filter trays and then into the protein skimmer section to get skimmed and then over/under/over the baffles to the return area. The other split which would have a control (either ball or gate) would flow into the refugium. The refugium would be at a much lower flow, maybe 5x volume/hour and then overflow into the return.

I am pretty sure I have to have a control valve again on the return pump as I think it is a mag 9 and my tank is 45g.

When I bought the tank it came with a Fluval canister filter, so I was going to use the compartments that came with that to filter the water before the skimmer.

Does anybody see any inherent problems with this design or things that I need to be aware of?

 

The design will work for sure. But I would reconsider as the design calls for a lot of extra pieces of plexi/cut glass.

Have you considered a center return? This way you do not have to build a "wall" in the middle of the bottom of the tank with no vertical support.

A center return will allow you to still regulate your flow through the skimmer/mechanical filtration and the refugium.

Also, depending on the make/model of the skimmer - you might want more than 5" of water in that chamber. It would always be easy to put your skimmer on a little riser and keep you sump volume higher and deeper.

Otherwise, it shows that you have done your research but your design might be more complicated than it needs to be . . . .

 

Thank you so much for your feedback. I should have posted what equipment I was working with. Originally I wanted a center return for simplicity... I will go back and check my measurements but with my skimmer I don't think it will work. I have an Aqua-C EV120. I believe just the skimmer comes in just over 7" long and that doesnt include the pump. Could I plumb it so the pump comes off to the side as opposed to in line? I haven't really played with that yet. But that is the reason for the elongated design.

I wasn't sure about depth for the skimmer either. So should I go with 8" depth in that chamber and then play around with lifts under the skimmer if I need to raise it?

 

And I am sure you know, but the 20h with is just over 12".

 

you would want to maximize the amount of water in your sump to increase system volume while still ensuring that when your return pump powers down, there is enough room in the sump to handle the overflow from the pump.

The plumbing of the pump for the Aqua-C I am not familiar with.

If that is the equipment you have your heart set on, then your sump design is fine, IMO.

I would also check with the Aqua-C manuf. recommendations for water depth. Most skimmers are meant for water from 5-10". I would say that you would be safe if you designed your sump level to be 8" in the skimmer section as you can always raise it if need be.

The 1" space between the baffles is what most people use and seems to work well.

 

Two things I have played around with are bracing that long middle piece and also making the overflow into the return the same height for the skimmer as the refugium to be 10", but didnt know if too much water volume would be an issue in the skimmer compartment.

That would leave 6" to the top of the tank for overflow in case the power went out and would be able to take on 7.5gallons of water, which is more than enough.

Thoughts?

 

That sounds like that would do it - a simple brace for that long piece - and just as long as you do not mind the extra work up front, you will not be dissappointed with having exactly what you want in the long run.

And it would be good the have the levels the same because if you have the water dropping more than an inch or so you will run into a microbubble issue.

You must post pics when you build this sump!

 

http://www.3reef.com/forums/refugium/10-sump-fuge-build-97059.html


Here's Seano Hermano's fuge/sump build. It's a 10G but I bet you can take something away from this thread!

 

Thanks I will check it out. Unfortunately for some reason my work computer does not pull up the images in his thread. (I am at work now... very productive) Probably a ploy by my employer to keep me productive. And my home computer is sick with a virus.