Wanting to setup a fuge - questions on algae/acclimation/etc

Ok we're wanting to plumb in a small refugium to our 4 month old 46 bowfront. It's a FOWLR with softies setup, fully stocked on fish with a coral population constantly on the growing side . I think i've schemed up a cheap way to add on a simple fuge to help with some algae control etc.

What I'm planning on doing is plumbing in either a container, a 2.5 gallon aquarium, or a DIY acrylic thing I make to fit the space exactly next to our sump. We'll use a pump to pump water into the fuge, and the water will overflow out via gravity through the hole I drill in it towards the top, and I'll use PVC or some "chute" of some kind to guide the water flowing down back into the sump. Make sense? I'll have a little stand whipped up to lift the fuge high enough to where the water can overflow back down into our sump (if i make an acrylic thing I'll make it tall enough to where we don't need to lift it up).

My questions are:

What would be a good "beginners" or "get the job done but keep it simple" algae for this? Chaeto?

Do I need to acclimate said algae or can I just toss it in?

Pump suggestions? The fuge will hold 2-5 gallons. maybe more if I make it myself.

And the above way is the only way I can really work with to fit a fuge in. Unless we go with a hang on back or put the fuge above our sump in some form or fashion. Both of those ways would be a bit more expensive than this...so this is what I've settled on. We only have 8.25 inches of space to work with between the sump and the wall of our stand, which really bummed me out because a 5 gallon glass aquarium is is 8.5 inches wide.

Thanks for any input.

 

If it is possible I would put a tee in off of your drain line and put a ball valve on also to control flow. I have a 20 gal fuge and my flow is about 10 gph. I have chaeto and mangroves in mine. I just toss mine in.

 

I was also contemplating the "T" on our drain into the sump. That would make life so much easier...but I don't know what mama's views are on converting that thing to PVC.

 

Which ever way you end up connecting it I would suggest Chaeto. It is hardy and you can get away with just dropping it in. Most places bag it up dry so it is pretty hard to acclimate.

Kim