Sump/Fuge

Can you have to big a sump?
What is the difference between a sump and a Fuge?
I have a 55 gallon reef tank and a 55 gallon sump w/a flow rate of 800gal/h

 

you have a sump. a refugium is a slow(swamp-like) flow tank that ideally is above your main tank. This way you can have a overflow to the tank so any pods you are trying to raise in the fuge do not get chopped up by a return pump.

 

I have my fuge below my tank and have no problem with pods getting chopped up, I honestly think they are way to small. Its kind of like a roller coaster ride for them.

A sump is a place to put all your equipment in, heaters, skimmers and such and some extra rock. Water flow is usually pretty fast in a sump.

A fuge as described above, basically a slow moving...I am not sure I would use the word swamp, but a slow moving tank. In it you keep Macro algae, rock, snails, crabs, pods and anything else you don't really want in your main tank. I put the damsels I cycled one of my tanks with in the Fuge for my bigger tank. and they are getting huge.

Both also add to the total water volume of your system, and the more the merrier as far as I am concerned.

 

You do not want to have any fish or crabs in the fuge. They will eat the pods you are trying to cultivate. The swamp comparision is straight from tangster's mouth.

 

Can you have crabs and "seaweed" in a sump?