Sump/skimmer/fuge plan...comments please

[thbrewst]

All,

Looks like I am heading toward setting up a 175 bowfront that I have found. It is currently set-up where the guy has a basement sump room, but I am unable to replicate that environment so I am trying to figure out my options. Here is what I came up with. Any comments or suggestions are much appreciated... (Apologies for no pictures, but I don't know how you all draw those pretty cartoon tank set-ups. I must not have that Visio plug-in ;> )

Tank:
175 gal, Dual overflows, assuming ~600gph each

Sump:
~30 gallon acrylic sump. He is currently using filter media flowing into bio-balls. I plan to replace those 2 with a filter sock. I would then plan to put a pump in to pull water out of the sump to an external Skimmer (because that is what he has, although I may replace with an in-sump skimmer instead). I would then have the return from the skimmer flow in to a separate refugium.

Refugium:
~20 gal acrylic tank with 'mud' and algae. I would likely add some live rock and some snails. I will need a way to pump water out of the fuge back into the sump but have not figured that out yet.

Sump:
Once the water is back in the sump there will be a return pump (~1200 gph) returning to the tank.

Questions:
- Is anyone running a separate fuge that could share how they are doing that?
- Any ideas on the best way to get flow from the fuge back to the sump? What is an appropriate flow rate?
- Is putting all of the outbound skimmer flow into the fuge too much? Should I branch half to the fuge and half back to the sump?
- I assume since the fuge is getting fed from the skimmer that, should there be a power outage, the level in the fuge would not change as it would simply stop receiving any inbound flow, correct?
- Overall, what do folks think of this idea? I'm trying to work with the stuff that I am getting with the set-up and this 'seems' to give me plenty of capacity even though it seems overly complicated.


Thanks for the advice... and apologies again for words instead of pictures

 

[crewdawg1981]

You could gravity feed water from the fuge into the sump where the return takes it back to the display.

 

[thbrewst]

I had read about that, but am not sure I understand the mechanics. If all of this is in the stand, how much higher does the fuge have to be from the sump to get this to work?

Crewdawg1981;554343 wrote: You could gravity feed water from the fuge into the sump where the return takes it back to the display.

 

[crewdawg1981]

A couple of inches? I had to gravity feed my fuge into my sump under my old 55. I think the fuge was ~4 inches taller higher and it worked like a charm.

 

[thbrewst]

Interesting...What was the feed tube and how was it set-up in the fuge?

What rate of water were you putting in/taking out?

 

[crewdawg1981]

Well... I bout the system used from a guy down in Jacksonville, but the fuge was drilled on the side, towards the top. From there it had a bulkhead that I put a piece of 1 inch pvc into and elbowed down into the sump. (keep in mind I hated this setup, but was pretty much the only thing I could do with the stand I had).

I'll try and find a picture at home.

I had a Rio 1700+, cant remember the flow rate on it, but it was at 4 feet of head.

I imagine with a setup like yours, you'd want to have two holes drilled for drains to the sump.

 

[thbrewst]

Crewdawg1981;554391 wrote: (keep in mind I hated this setup, but was pretty much the only thing I could do with the stand I had).

So, by you saying that you hated it would you recommend that I not do this? What did you dislike about it?

If you can find some pictures that would be great.

 

[crewdawg1981]

Eh... I just dont have fond memories of that stand... and its clouding my judgment The opening on the stand was small so getting two ten gallon tanks was about the best you could do. The fuge was was some acrylic deal... probably a former wet/dry that I put on two bricks to elevate it, it then drained into the ten gallon where I had my Skimmer and return pump.

The setup worked perfectly for three years. I think if you did it, it would be best to Tee the drains into the sump and the fuge and then have the fuge drain into the sump. Just a thought.

 

[crewdawg1981]

This is how my 55 was setup:

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If there is a way for you to get something like a 40 breeder under your tank, I'd do that and just have it all in one place instead of having two systems...