New to me tank setup - Help with sump layout

bsdubois00 · 2025-01-12T14:19:32-0500

Just got my new to me Neptunian Cube MP90 tank yesterday and starting to work on the layout of my sump / equipment. I did my best to mock everything up to scale (within 1/8 of an inch or so) and was looking for some ideas / input on the questions below.

(Grey is the bottom of the stand, black are the aluminum extrusion supports, white area is the sump - appx sump size is 27.75 x 17). The Red and Blue marks are 2 spots that I can put a baffle / separator at (I only have 1 separator so I have to pick which placement. The red placement is 10.25" from the left side of the tank and the blue placement is 10.75" from the right side of the tank.

QUESTIONS / HELP NEEDED

Baffle / Separator placement: The skimmer will go in the bottom left section shown above and the red option does not interfere with the ability for it to fit.
Filtering - I'm not a fan of cleaning socks on the regular and would rather just toss some filter floss in the trash so my thought is getting 2 media baskets and filling with filter floss. Any issue with this? Eventually I'd like to add a Fleece Roller - if I were to add one day one where would you put it?
Heater - I snagged a hygger 500W heater that's appx 10.8" wide - where should I place this? Depending on the placement of the baffle above there are limited spots it will fit - it will fit in the return pump area (I tested) if that's an option.
Refugium - I will be adding a refugium and curious about spacing / size needed. If I put the baffle where the blue is - is that space big enough for a refugium (appx 10.75 x 11.25). Will I need to put some sort of filter in the baffle between that space and the Return Pump Area?

Any other thoughts / ideas / recs? The tank has a manual ATO tank that sits above the return pump area - I would be plugging this up and using an ATO with pump but keep the tank as it sits above the sump and leaves extra room inside the cabinet as you can see space is a premium. I thought of a Algae Reactor instead of the refugium (this would allow me to slide the skimmer to the right and put a fleece roller where it is with a little plumbing adjustments) but it seems there's really no space in the stand for one - thoughts?

Thanks a lot for the help on this journey!