DIY Refugium????

[9supratt4]

I have a 55G DT with external overflow that goes down into, what i've been told is about a 12 gallon sump (bought it used..seller wasn't sure on the size), which goes directly back up to the DT. If I were to use the 15G I have sitting in my basement or a rubbermaid container of some sort, would I be able to add a PVC T to the overflow pipe and have aonther pipe with a ball valve drain to the refugium?

I have done so much reading and so many searches, but I still can't figure out how I should do this.

Here is what I have:

The proposed refugium on the right......how would I get the water to flow from the refugium back to the sump in order to be pumped back into the DT?

 

[JohnS_323]

The one thing I don't see in your drawing is how you plan to drain water out of the proposed refugium. If you had the room, you could raise the fuge up about 4 to 6 inches and use gravity to feed the overflow back to the sump. If it were me, I'd raise up the 15g tank and drill a hole in it to put in a 3/4" or 1" bulkhead. I'd put a strainer on the inside of the bulkhead and then plumb it back to the sump. You could try splitting your drain from the main to feed the fuge but I've never done that. For me (and my peace of mind), I would just put a maxijet 400 or something similar in the sump and run a small piece of hose to feed the fuge. If you really wanted to be safe, you could drill two holes in the 15g tank with one being a little higher than the other. The second one would be your backup in case the first one clogged for any reason. You may also want to put a couple of baffles in there just to keep your macro algae from getting to the bulkheads.

Here is a pic of my DIY refugium, that is basically the same concept. The water feeds in from the right side and drains out of the left. There are 2 sets of bulk heads on the left (2 low and 2 high) that tie into one pipe that gravity feeds back to my sump.

HTH.

 

[MikeNapoli]

You can always use a CPR hangon Rufugium. If it's an option... I've heard good things about them.

here

 

[MadReefer]

I used the CPR HOB fuge on my 55 and it worked great. I used it in conjunction with Prizm skimmer and a Filstar XP3 canister. Eventually pulled the canister and had no problems. Then of course I upgraded to a 75 gallon DT. I have a 30 gallon sump/fuge thanks to Mikem.

 

[9supratt4]

JohnS_323.....thanks for the insight. That is exactly the problem that I am trying to figure out....how to get the fuge to empty into the sump. Unfortunately I did some measurements and the 15 won't fit under the stand. I'm not sure how else to do this....maybe go out and but a cheap 10 gallon tank?? Also i'm not sure if I know what i'm doing regarding drilling....any tips would be great.


I was thinking a hang on refugium, but I am trying to save space and put it underneath in the stand.

 

[MikeNapoli]

I was thinking a hang on refugium, but I am trying to save space and put it underneath in the stand.

You can hang it on the back of your sump ... if that's an option. That way it's under the tank and it will save you room.

 

[9supratt4]

I was thinking a hang on refugium, but I am trying to save space and put it underneath in the stand.

You can hang it on the back of your sump ... if that's an option. That way it's under the tank and it will save you room.

Great idea, but the sump is way to small!! It doesn't even have enough room to fit my skimmer. Although there is what looks like a built in skimmer, but don't know how to make it work. It has no pump or anything. It is a cylinder that has a hole in the middle under the water level with a cap on top. ???

 

[9supratt4]

Will this work:

 

[JohnS_323]

Yeah, that'll work but it's not optimal. The problem is that U-tube's can (and do) lose siphon. If that happens you'll have a mess. The safest thing to do, IMO, is to drill it. Drilling tanks is pretty easy on thicker glass. The glass on a 10g may be a little trickier because its so thin. It can be done, though.

When we first started out, we used a rubbermaid tub as our refugium. It was easy to drill and easy to put in bulkheads. The other advantage was that there were a number of different sizes available so we could pick one that would fit nicely and maximize the water volume. Just a thought. . . .

 

[9supratt4]

Yeah, that'll work but it's not optimal. The problem is that U-tube's can (and do) lose siphon. If that happens you'll have a mess. The safest thing to do, IMO, is to drill it. Drilling tanks is pretty easy on thicker glass. The glass on a 10g may be a little trickier because its so thin. It can be done, though.

When we first started out, we used a rubbermaid tub as our refugium. It was easy to drill and easy to put in bulkheads. The other advantage was that there were a number of different sizes available so we could pick one that would fit nicely and maximize the water volume. Just a thought. . . .

I was actually thinking about using a clear rubbermaid container!!! I think that is what i will do!!!

 

[9supratt4]

One other thing......(I know i'm being a pain, new to all this though)......The whole and bulkhead I drill into the rubbermaid....that should be where I want the waterline in the fuge to stop, correct?? But still above the waterline to the sump. The bulkhead should basically skim the water off the top of the fuge and into the sump. Correct?

Thanks again for all your help!!!!

 

[JohnS_323]

One other thing......(I know i'm being a pain, new to all this though)......

Not at all. Ask away!

The whole and bulkhead I drill into the rubbermaid....that should be where I want the waterline in the fuge to stop, correct??

Yep. This is where I would add a second hole a little bit higher to act as a backup.

But still above the waterline to the sump.

Yep. The higher you can get it above the sump the better

The bulkhead should basically skim the water off the top of the fuge and into the sump. Correct?

Yep. You may want to make some kind of baffle or screen or something to keep your macro algae away from the bulkheads to minimize the risk of them clogging. Also, a strainer on the inside of the of the bulkhead would probably be a good idea.

Thanks again for all your help!!!!

No problem. Good luck and post up some pics with your progress.

 

[9supratt4]

Ok so my original idea is not going to work.....there is just not enough room under the tank in order to drill the rubbermaid above the water level in the sump.

So.....another idea i've had is to buy a small pump and use that to pump the water back into the tank or into the sump. But i've been told that the water should sit in the refugium for awhile. What size pump should I use?

Or does anyone have any other ideas?????

 

[Phyl]

I would stongly advise against this. It is a recipe for disaster. Matching the outflow to the infeed is going to be unpredictable and ever changing.

 

[9supratt4]

So then....any suggestions??

 

[JohnS_323]

One thing I was thinking is that you could use a piece of PVC pipe to connect the fuge to the sump at the water line. It would mean drilling a hole in your sump, but if you did it, you could use uni-seals in the sump and the fuge to tie them together. This way, you could still feed the two of them with your split drain lines and the water would stay at the same height in both. Wow, I hope that makes sense! I had a really nice drawing done up but for some reason I couldn't load them onto the my server.

I'm not sure how well this would work, so maybe someone else can chime in.

 

[MikeNapoli]

One thing I was thinking is that you could use a piece of PVC pipe to connect the fuge to the sump at the water line. It would mean drilling a hole in your sump, but if you did it, you could use uni-seals in the sump and the fuge to tie them together. This way, you could still feed the two of them with your split drain lines and the water would stay at the same height in both. Wow, I hope that makes sense! I had a really nice drawing done up but for some reason I couldn't load them onto the my server.

I'm not sure how well this would work, so maybe someone else can chime in.

Sounds like it would.


I still recommend the Hang on Fuge.

I would have saved so much money if I stopped TRYING to save so much money! If you know what I mean.

 

[Phyl]

Take some pictures of the area under the tank. Let's see what you've got to work with. Maybe we'll come up with an idea looking at your space.

 

[mr_X]

maybe i'm missing something...but if you drill the refugium tank, and make it higher than the sump, but lower than the display, and run the drain into the sump, it should work fine. you could even run the display drain into the refugium, then to the sump. the sump(bottom) will still show the evap.
or drill it, then toss a pump in it, pull water from whichever tank you want, and let it drain into the sump where the skimmer is(you have an in-sump skimmer?). again, keep the refugium tank midway height-wise, between the display and sump and it will work.

 

[JohnS_323]

I think he said he wouldn't be able to raise the fuge up so that it would be higher than the sump, so I'm not sure your idea would work.

I was able to get my drawing on the server, so here is what I was thinking:

The one thing I didn't put in the drawing that you would need is a ball valve on the drain line leading to the fuge so that you could regulate the amount of water going down that leg.