40 Breeders stacked with 20L sump need help

looking to make this work i have two ideas if anyone can help me choose and what route to go.

first picture is
40B on top bare bottom refugium with micro algae and sea horses, don't know if i need sand here.
middle is 40B display tank/ QT with sand a live rock
bottom is 20L sump with protein skimmer etc...

i wanted this to i don't kill the copepods in the pump. and the the refugium is also a display.

second picture is the stand split side by side, sam configuration just not under each other directly





hope these pictures work, i don't know how to post on here, everything has change!

 

Personally I like the line up of all three tanks in one stand. It's cool how the fuge will be first, have you though about using mud in it?

Boy I am going have to think on this one for awhile.

Welcome back, in two years it will be a decade, wow.

 

yes i have but i don't know how expensive it would be yearly to change out? this is to be a cheap project as possible to run healthy. i plan on getting the RSM S650 in a few months so this will turn into a QT for my big tank. but for now would like to stock it up for the arrival of my big tank. should i do coast to coast bean animal for both tanks? also what size PVC? this is all new to me. thanks

 

Your pics aren't working. Try using a hosting site like photobucket.Also pumps will not hurt pods at all. There is a pressure wave in front of the impeler that keeps the blades fom actually striking them. We were bored at the lfs and decided to see what happens to things after going through. Even brine shrimp remain relatively unharmed by them.☺

 

I typically run 1 1\2" on the drain side and 3\4 " on the return. Flex hose is best for the drain as the bends are not as sharp resulting in greater velocity and less turbulence.

 

better? can the pics be seen?

 

Anything guys?

 

wouldnt the sump recieve water faster from the refugium than the dt? also your drawing lacks a return that im guessing would feed the refugium and trickel down to the DT/qt correct? i guess its a similar setup to what you see in lfs?

honestly its a lot simpler to incorporate the sump and refugium in one system. my 2 cents

 

What you have there will work provided there is enough room in the bottom tank to allow for power failures.

 

ah I see it now, i thought the sump was fed by two drains, my bad