dolfans1
01-13-2008, 10:30 AM
I am going to be setting up a new refugium for my 120 g reef tank. Currently, I have a 20 g sump for the tank, but the sump holds my Euroreef skimmer, and the auto topoff float valve is located there too, so there is no room for a fuge in the existing sump. There really isn't enough room to make a hang-on back fuge either, as I'll explain below.
As a result, I'm going to make it an external fuge. I'm in the process of building a cabinet to match the existing stand. The cabinet will go right next to the aquarium stand, and the fuge will go in the cabinet. I was planning on putting a 20 g tank in, but I might be able to go a bit larger - I need to research dimensions of other size tanks.
My main issue is with how to get water into the fuge. I had originally thought of building an external overflow box like described on Melev's site. The problem is there isn't much room on the back of the main tank to hang an overflow box. The tank has dual overflow chambers on the back, which take up a lot of room, plus a plastic brace that runs front to back in the center, plus I have 4 returns from the sump pump and 2 power heads hanging on the back. If I rearrange one of the returns, I could put a maximum 5" overflow box on (although this would be a tight squeeze).
The other idea that I had that I'm leaning towards now is to get two matching submersible pumps, maybe on the order of 400 gph. I would put one in the sump, with the outlet tubing going to the inlet of the fuge, and then the other pump would be in the fuge, with its outlet going to the sump. I can adjust their height to prevent overflows if one of the pumps dies, and use ball valves to help equalize the flow.
Is there something I'm missing with this setup? Any drawbacks to it over using the external overflow box? Will it work? What what be a good pump size if the basic design is OK?
Any feedback is appreciated!
As a result, I'm going to make it an external fuge. I'm in the process of building a cabinet to match the existing stand. The cabinet will go right next to the aquarium stand, and the fuge will go in the cabinet. I was planning on putting a 20 g tank in, but I might be able to go a bit larger - I need to research dimensions of other size tanks.
My main issue is with how to get water into the fuge. I had originally thought of building an external overflow box like described on Melev's site. The problem is there isn't much room on the back of the main tank to hang an overflow box. The tank has dual overflow chambers on the back, which take up a lot of room, plus a plastic brace that runs front to back in the center, plus I have 4 returns from the sump pump and 2 power heads hanging on the back. If I rearrange one of the returns, I could put a maximum 5" overflow box on (although this would be a tight squeeze).
The other idea that I had that I'm leaning towards now is to get two matching submersible pumps, maybe on the order of 400 gph. I would put one in the sump, with the outlet tubing going to the inlet of the fuge, and then the other pump would be in the fuge, with its outlet going to the sump. I can adjust their height to prevent overflows if one of the pumps dies, and use ball valves to help equalize the flow.
Is there something I'm missing with this setup? Any drawbacks to it over using the external overflow box? Will it work? What what be a good pump size if the basic design is OK?
Any feedback is appreciated!