Talked out of a sump?

with a tank so small i guess i could see why he might say to keep things simple, but if your willing to put the time and money into the sump, i cant see any negatives to having one. So many long term benefits to the sump.. not to mention the fact that your skimmer, heater, etc. would then be hidden..

 

10 gallon refugium absolutley. growing some macro algae in it will help your tank alot.

 

I threw a quick design of my 10 gallon sump into AutoCAD. How do you all feel about this design....simple being it is only a 10 gallon.

 

I think you will get better nutrient export with a skimmer rather than a refugium. The design looks good to me though, I would just put a skimmer in the refugium and not worry with growing a small amount of macro, I don't think you'll be able to grow enough to make a significant impact.
Also just make sure you have enough room in your return pump section so that evaporation doesn't drain it enough over the course of a day or two to make the pump run dry. Even with an ATO it's best to have some wiggle room.

 

Thanks for the advice all. I have another question. So I am pretty sure I am going to go ahead and put a 10 gallon sump on my tank. How much Macro is recommended?