Should I add a little sand from my DT?

So im kind of stuck for awhile with the setup I have. I thought I did alot of reading before I made this sump/fuge but you know how that goes~
This AM i moved my return which used to be in the left compartment to the center and moved my cheato and red caulerpa to the left so its not in a high flow area anymore. Seeing that I dont have a ton of room, should I add an Inch of sand?

 

I don't think you have to have it. You may get a little more biodiversity if you have some critters that like sand and will live in it, but you should be able to get good nutrient exort and maintain a healthy pod population either way.

I have my sump like yours, and one thing I found was that I had much better chaeto growth after I added a flow distributor. I was initially set up like you are now, and the fuge water tended to flow across the surface and out. There wasn't much turnover low in the fuge. So, I took a piece of 1/4" acrylic and drilled about fifteen 1/4" holes across the bottom half of it. I cut the acrylic so that it is nearly the full width of the fuge and fits snug, but I didn't glue it in so it can come out easily if needed. Now, all the water has to go down and through those holes and my chaeto is much happier with it.

Here's a pic of my sump. You can see the distributor between the chaeto and the rock.

Good luck!

 

Im not sure I have room for that divider, I really wish I had a 30 long and not a 20 tall.. but your distributor just gave me an idea. Runs off to man cave!

 

Man caves - cracks me up! My husband spends all of his time in his - he converted our basement into one as soon as my oldest went off to college and the room was not the "kids" playroom anymore

 

Once the glue dries ill slip this in there just to help break up the flow. Ill hang off a bit before I add any sand or some rubble I have laying around.

 

I have an unfinished basement with a mad scientist area, poker table, and corn hole spot. I look forward to the day I can finish it but will keep my work room/man cave. And If the wifey doesnt agree to that, ill never finish it ;D

 

That'll do!

Hope it works out for ya. It is amazing how fast you can suck up real estate in a sump.

 

I went with a 20g tall for my refugium too, but it was by choice. Limited by the width under my DT, but had plenty of height room available. I also got the tall tank to take advantage of my headroom underneath and get me some extra overall volume with deeper baffles than normal. Planning to raise my protein skimmer off the bottom of the intake chamber by a few inches, but my bubble traps first baffle is 9" and my refugium on the far end, not the middle, will be 11" deep, 7" deep water over a 4" DSB.

 

I actually considered increasing the height of my first baffle to give me more depth. I could kick myself for not adding a third baffle for a true bubble trap. Now no bubbles travel through. I'm pretty sure bubbles would make their way to my return if I made it any taller. :/
Good thing is my pods seem to be increasing so ill keep chugging along for now

 

there would be no filtering benefits in adding an inch of sand