Stand-alone 3 section, dual intake refugium

Hello guys, I'm new. I do animal care for Hope College (Holland, MI), and I want to build a refugium for our saltwater animals. It's going to be an interesting one, though. All the commercial ones are ridiculously expensive, and not what I want. We have two saltwater tanks, one I think 65 gallons, the other about half that size, and the water levels/altitudes are different obviously. I want to build one refugium, and have both tanks siphon water into it, and both tanks receive water from the pumps at the end of the refugium. The refugium will have three sections for animals. Water will flow in, through sections 1, 2, and 3 sequentially, and to the pumps to be pumped back into the two aquariums.

I've never done this before. If I have the pumps at exactly the same altitude and have a mechanism such that they only pump when the water level in the pump section is a certain level (I don't want them running dry), that would be great.

It's meant to be a biological filter for the two main tanks, but also a display tank! These tanks are in the museum, and I give tours. It's not a huge area, but we have little kids come in to look so I'd like to make this easy to look at.

So...
1. where to get acrylic panels precut?

2. where to get this kind of pump for the end? I think it'd be almost impossible to have a pump operate at the exact same rate that the siphon would siphon at, and unless I achieve that, then the pumps will be running dry ( pumps > siphons ), or when the refugium overflows ( siphons > pumps ), so I want the same mechanism you see in the back part of a toilet, basically. The floating mechanism or some depth sensor so that when the water level is above the pumps, they will pump.

3. exactly how big would you suggest I make each compartment? 1 will have anemones and clownfish, 2 will have shrimp (which I would like to reproduce if possible) and algae and snails, and 3 will have a seahorse and perhaps live rock and something else. I want each compartment to have enough room for the animals. This thing can be up to 3 feet long I think, and maybe 1.5 feet tall, max. Max width would have to be, I'd say, 2 feet.

4. What type of shrimp will want to reproduce and will like to eat algae, and which algae will be able to handle being eaten by the shrimp and still grow? Which would be some good kinds of snails to get? What anemones, corals, and live rocks would you suggest?

5. any other suggestions from you guys, I'm sure someone here is a refugium expert.


If I pull off this difficult and interesting project, that'd be amazing. Thanks in advance for your comments and advice.

Alex<><

 

The siphon will adjust to the flow of the pumps. To determine your pump sizes you need to know the flow rates of your over flow siphons of each tank. For example. If the Max overflow rate is 600 gph for each tank giving you a total of 1200gph flowing into the sump then you will need 2 pumps for the return that can pump 600 gph at what ever height the main tanks are at. This is called head pressure. For example, if the sump is 4 feet below the tank, then the pump will have to be rated at 600gph at 4ft head pressure.
Also any 90 degree bend in your plumbing = 1ft HP.
It would be much easier if you did 2 separate sumps. You could use 40g breeder tanks or 30L tanks which are 3ft long as your sump refuge and then buy acryllic sheets at homedepot and glue them to the tank using aquarium silicone.
As far as getting shrimp to breed and have the larvae survive, good luck! If by luck they do breed the larvae will get chewed up by your pumps.

Check out www.marinedepot.com for water pumps. Mag drive pumps are excellent and reliable.

 

The siphon will adjust to the flow of the pumps! OH MAN! So I've got this thing drawn up from a few angles in MS Paint, and I figured of course that the refugium couldn't overflow. But I never realized for some reason that the siphons would adjust...

Is there some formula on what size siphons and pumps to get? I mean, if the pumps are really fast and the siphons are wimpy that might imbalance the water flow, wouldn't it?

Can you suggest a size for the refugium I plan to build? Our tanks ar 30g and 65g (I think), again. And can you suggest a couple specific pumps for the refugium? THANK you

 

So I have dimensions for the tank, it'll be 28" x 16" and 9" tall. It's meant to be a display as well as a working biological filter. All sheets will be 1/2" thick. It's a good, solid thickness.

Now, I'm wondering if there are any especially good plastics to make this thing out of. People say Acrylic/Acrylite, but that stuff is horribly expensive.

I've been collaborating with the guy in the Physics Workshop here at Hope College, and he suggested a source for plastics. http://www.mcmaster.com/

Can someone go there, go to the bottom and click on Plastics, then click on 'sheets, bars, strips and cubes' and suggest a good Acrylic alternative?

How about polycarbonate or something?

 

Use acryllic sheets. It would be cheaper if you were just to use a 55g tank as a sump if you are going to use it for both tanks. You would then use acryllic sheets as baffles for the different sections of the sump/refuge. Your best bet would be to do separate sumps for each tank for ease of plumbing and pumps and limiting out break of disease to one tank. You could use 30g long tanks for each sump/refuge. 29g would work too but you may run into height issues if placing under a cabinet or stand. Also the 30g are longer and more versatile.
As far as overflows go, check out the CPR overflows. All you need are a 600-800gph overflow box for the 65g and a 300gph overflow for the 30g tank. For your return pumps you should figure out the head pressure the pumps will be pumping against and then match the pumps output to the max flow of the overflow at the max. head pressure. For example, if the overflow is rated at 600gph and the HP is 4', then you want a pump that pumps 500-600gph at 4' HP.
By the way, Home Depot sells acryllic and polycarbonate sheets along with the cutting tool.