Please help with plumbing 180g tank/refugium

mwb1978

mwb1978

AC Members
Oct 23, 2006
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0
Tucson, AZ
Hello everybody,

I recently began setting up my new 180 tank, and I cannot figure out how to plumb it so that nothing overflows and it will work properly. Also, I was looking for advice on how to set up a rubbermaid sump.

Now the details. I have a 180g glass tank that is drilled for an overflow and I also have a 55g glass tank (not drilled) that I wanted to use as a second tank/refugium. The main (180g) tank is going to be 14-16 above, and right next to the 55g. Under the 180 I wanted to have my rubbermaid sump. Inside the stand for the 180 I have about 32" of clearance. Also, I have an ASM G-4 skimmer being delivered in a few days and I was hoping to gravity feed it in the sump. My return pump is a mag 9.5. Flow should be fine sice I also have a couple of koralia-3 powerheads.

So, how in the world do I plumb this whole setup together and if it's even possible without using another pump, and how can I make something to work as a set of baffles in the rubbermaid sump so that I don't get microbubbles everywhere? I've read that rubbermaid drawers work, but how would I get water through them if they are positioned to be downstream from the protein skimmer?

I know I'm gonna need an overflow box for the 55g, but if they are both going to the same sump, how do I prevent flooding in the event of a power failure or siphon break?

I've been thinking about this for a while, and I havn't found any good answers. Please help me keep from flooding my house.

Thanks in advance.
 
Great questions. You might get better response in the DIY forum. I'm not super knowledgable about the topic but have recently set up a sump. We used an overflow box with a u tube and that drains down to the sump. We have a berlin sump that we bought so didn't have to contend with DIY rubbermaids but I've heard great things about them and am not suggesting that is a bad route. We just preferred to get the prebuilt because we're busy with a custom stand build and such.

The sump houses the skimmer and to get the water back to the tank we have an Eheim1260 pump mounted externally although it can be housed internally. It is a very quiet pump and doesn't run hot like the mags.

To avoid flooding we superglued the little holes in the bottom of the overflow box and have a safety line marked on the sump to show the max fill line.

To determine where that line is and to get other hints you might want to start with this site: http://www.melevsreef.com/allmysumps.html
 
Ok, someone suggested to me that I put a tee fitting on the return pump and have one end to the main 180g tank and the other to the 55g tank, and also have a ball valve on the line going to the 55. I guess since the restriction going to the 55 would just increase the flow to the main tank there wouldn't be any additional strain on the pump. Both would overflow into the same sump, gravity feeding the skimmer. I was thinking that maybe I could have the 55g overflow feed the skimmer, and the 180 overflow go through the rubbermaid drawers with carbon and other filter media. This way with the one valve controlling flow to the 55g I'm also controlling the flow to the skimmer. How does this sound to you guys? Please give me some ideas. I've never set up a SW tank before and this is turning out to be a very large, very involved project. But, a very interesting and fun project.
 
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