Best sump design with refugium

[Bdroid]

Hi! I’m new to setting up a saltwater tank and I’m currently looking into designing one of 40 gallon tank into a sump with a refugium to work with my bean animal setup.
on a 80 gallon tank. Been googling for some ideas and was wondering if anyone can share some of your setup and the reason why you chose the design you picked. Thanks in advance!

 

[Reef-junky]

The common design would be the return in the middle and the refugium last. You can feed the refugium from the bleed off the return pump.

 

[Reef-junky]

My set up has two sumps. First the refugium then in the middle an ATS and last the return. The ATO feeds in before the bubble trap. The dosing pumps feed into the first chamber of the main sump and carbon. My heaters are in the refugium.

 

[Mandelstam]

For me the best design is to have the fuge as a separate tank off the main equipment sump. A bit more options for any upgrades as well as being easier to shield from parts where you don't want any light. But of course it all depends on the larger picture and if you're running Triton for example.

 

[Bdroid]

Thanks @Mandelstam and @Reef-junky! Never thought about separating them or having more than one sump but might consider it now.

 

[Mandelstam]

Thanks @Mandelstam and @Reef-junky! Never thought about separating them or having more than one sump but might consider it now.

So much neat interesting things you can do. For instance having a blacked out cryptic zone filled with sponges etc.

 

[Even Further]

I would do something along the lines of the below image. Place the refugium on one end, with a tall baffle. That will increase the volume of the fuge. Tee off the return pump with a valve to control the flow into the fuge.

I would also design the set up to not need check valves. When there is a power outage, you want to minimize the amount of water that will drain back into the sump from the DT (overflow box, return piping, etc). Also the sump should have enough free space to hold all the water that drains down during a power outage.

 

[don_chuwish]

With just a 40B for a sump it's hard to squeeze in spaces for socks, skimmer, return chamber AND a decent size refugium. I made mine work but really don't recommend it much. See this thread for some visuals:
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/40b-baffle-kit-attempt-at-fuge-section.237198/
And then here you can see how I split my return section for a small macro algae growing fuge:
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/finally-going-big-120g.211632/page-8#post-3703356

 

[PaPaX6]

I would do something along the lines of the below image. Place the refugium on one end, with a tall baffle. That will increase the volume of the fuge. Tee off the return pump with a valve to control the flow into the fuge.

I would also design the set up to not need check valves. When there is a power outage, you want to minimize the amount of water that will drain back into the sump from the DT (overflow box, return piping, etc). Also the sump should have enough free space to hold all the water that drains down during a power outage.

Sorry to interrupt but I had heard that a refugium should have a slower flow rate. Could you give me an idea of how much flow would be good?

 

[Reef-junky]

Sorry to interrupt but I had heard that a refugium should have a slower flow rate. Could you give me an idea of how much flow would be good?

Never heard of someone having a different flow rate in the refugium vs the rest of the sump. For a normal sump 3 to 5x the DT size is the norm. Unless you are trying to run a high flow sump then 10x or higher. There are a ton of different ways to set a refugium up. Some people put extra pumps in the sump to keeps things in suspension.

 

[Reef-junky]

This is one of the most common designs

 

[Erica-Renee]

I agree having the fuge in a separate tank if you can ,But i think it should be FED From the display tank over flow or drain if you will. Not the Return pump. the fuge output should go into the pump chamber protected with baffles with the ability to use some type of course filter media. This will allow small pods to escape and be pushed into the tank as well as the fuge getting the waste water from display before skimmer or filter media which we all know are POD Catchers..

 

[Reef-junky]

PODs will still make it into the DT regardless. A lot of people run their sump the way the picture is. I have also seen people split the pipe from the overflow to do what you are talking about. The problem is there is more then one way to make it work. It depends on what the person is looking to do with their sump. Regardless a bleed on an AC pump is going to circulate some water back into the sump thus some pods will go through twice. I have also seen a lot of posts against having any filter in sump. On the flip side there are people that love filter socks.

 

[PaPaX6]

I was thinking of running the fuge in a tank separate from the sump. Was going to feed it from the overflow and let it run ito the chamber with the return pump. Only down side is the water that goes to the fudge will not get the rest of the sump.
I was told by someone that the fudge at a slower rate would give it more time to work. Don’t know if that’s right. That’s why I was asking.

 

[Fritzhamer]

I don’t use socks and have virtually no nitrates. I have the drains dump right into my Refugium which is half my sump. I have sand, rubble and five or six types of macro algae in there. The other half the sump is split between my skimmer’s section and the return pump. The skimmer has its own chamber to keep the water level consistent.

The auto top off is in the return pump section. I dose into the Refugium because there is a good amount of flow in there from the drains. I keep my heaters in the overflow box. I find this layout to be the most efficient use of space and energy, for me.

 

[cracker]

@Even Further further has a great simple design that works just fine. perfect for a Beginner.
also welcome to R2R ! Great place to learn . I know I have .

 

[Mandelstam]

I was thinking of running the fuge in a tank separate from the sump. Was going to feed it from the overflow and let it run ito the chamber with the return pump. Only down side is the water that goes to the fudge will not get the rest of the sump.
I was told by someone that the fudge at a slower rate would give it more time to work. Don’t know if that’s right. That’s why I was asking.

I don't think you have to worry about some of the water being bypassed from the rest of the sump. It's a continuous cycle, the water not going through the skimmer the first go around will go through it the next. I mean even if you let all water flow through a straight linear sump there are always water not actually hitting any media or algae surface or going through the skimmer.

About dwell time in the fuge... I'm not sure if a slower feed rate through the fuge will have any impact on the actual chemical reactions going on but I can see a point of having a slower rate through the fuge to create a calmer space for pods and little critters not to be blown away.

A thing to have in mind with a fuge is to try and make sure the complete water volume gets cycled. If you have a fuge with thick macro algae growth and your inlet and outlet are both at the surface the water can just skip over the top leaving the water below still and cold. If it's in a bigger sump I would at least have the start and end baffle be under-over/over-under and not over-over that you sometimes see.

 

[McPikie]

My tank drains into the fuge, no filter socks or floss. Then from there into centre section where my skimmer and phos reactor are, then through a baffle with floss in, into my return chamber.

 

[Erica-Renee]

My tank drains into the fuge, no filter socks or floss. Then from there into centre section where my skimmer and phos reactor are, then through a baffle with floss in, into my return chamber.

To me this is a great design.. because it passes the water into the fuge first , NO Extra pump or pumps capacity is needed . I think its better in its own tank where you can slow the flow if need be . But i do NOT Feel or have seen any evidence slower flow does any better other then help keep detritus ,debris from settling in the fuge. The water Volume is the Water Volume ... Nutrient Values will not be higher in the slower water in the fuge then in the Display tank with 3k worth of power head flow.. If you want a VERY LOW FLOW Fuge my thinking is it would have to be like 5--10 gph to really get better nutrient absorption or higher nutrient levels in that fuge vs the system as a whole.. Yes i have done testing to confirm this..

My opinion from experience with my System...

 

[Matt Carden]

I agree having the fuge in a separate tank if you can ,But i think it should be FED From the display tank over flow or drain if you will. Not the Return pump. the fuge output should go into the pump chamber protected with baffles with the ability to use some type of course filter media. This will allow small pods to escape and be pushed into the tank as well as the fuge getting the waste water from display before skimmer or filter media which we all know are POD Catchers..

Like this: simple 2 chambers