HOB skimmer in a refugium??

[mccloud]

Main tank size 90 gallon
Refugium 20 gallon

I recently did a DIY refugium and I was curious of the effectivness from the Aqua C remora pro skimmer and in which part of the system it would do its best work. Basically the hob skimmer has become an eye sore on the main tank and I was wondering if it would still be just as effective if I moved it too the connceted refugium underneath.

-Thank you ahead of time

 

[Grins]

I'd not want the skimmer in the fuge because of the pods you'd want in the fuge.

 

[Reefscape]

would just go with a skimmer on the display tank, would not recomend one in the fuge, as your also going to be making flow faster, which which reduce contact time with rock, sand and macro's....

Niko

 

[havnfun328]

I'm confused - I've seen lots of fuge/sump designs with a protein skimmer in them. I'm planning to convert over from a wet/dry to a fuge, and was planning to move the skimmer over.

 

[Grins]

The skimmer in the sump is an excellent choice. The skimmer in the fuge section or a dedicated fuge not so great.

 

[ricsreef]

It depends on the size of your fuge,If you look at the set up of most common refugiums,It leaves little room for a skimmer large enough to handle the load in larger tank situations.I wanted to combine my sump/refugium,but when I saw how much room it was going to take up just for my skimmer,It only left me about 12" of space for my refug. between baffles.Thats on a 29g 30"long tank.
I understand on smaller systems you can use smaller skimmers and this would not apply.Long story short "now I have a 20g sump and a 29g refugium that looks just like another aquarium under my main."
You also want a slower flow rate through your refugium than you typically want in your sump area.

 

[havnfun328]

OK, I guess I'm unclear on the difference between a sump an a fuge. Does a sump just have LR/LS, and a fuge adds plants and lighting?

 

[Riverserver]

A sump is just a open top (not pressure sealed) container divided into sections to provide filtration as tank water passes from one side to the other.

A refugium is a safe place for smaller organisms that cannot propagate in the tank because they will be eaten or are unsightly (algae). A refugium is usually housed in its own section of the sump or hang on the back style.

For more info check out this site:
http://www.flakmonkey.org/fm/e107_plugins/forum/forum_viewtopic.php?11902.last

He has several examples of sumps.

But to stray back on topic, no I would not put a skimmer in a refugium. You are going to kill all the beneficial algae and organisms that are in the water column.