Sump/Wet-Dry/Refugium . . . I'm So Confused! HELP!

Discussion in 'Filters, Pumps, etc..' started by spiker_man, Nov 5, 2006.

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  1. spiker_man

    spiker_man Plankton

    Joined:
    Nov 5, 2006
    Messages:
    1
    Location:
    Westchester, IL
    Hi All. I apologize in advance if this subject has been talked about already. But I'm confused and getting despondent about all the different things I've been reading about filtration for a Saltwater tank. Here's my question . . . I currently have a 75 gallon FS tank that I want to convert to Saltwater. I'm thinking primarily fish with live rock and maybe getting into coral somewhere down the line. My current modes of filtration are an undergravel running 2 powerheads and a Fluval 404 cannister filter. If I convert to Saltwater I will NOT be using the undergravel. An employee at the local FS told me that my Fluval could be used for Mechanical filtration. For biological he suggested either a wet/dry or running an Eheim with something called EHFISUBSTRAT. I'm trying to figure out the differences between a sump, a wet/dry, and a refugium and am getting real confused. Could I go the Eheim route and be successful? Am I better off going the Wet/Dry/Sump/Refugium route? One concern I have is I need to have an overflow to get the water out of the tank down to the Wet/Sump/Refugium. Since me thinks this works on the siphon principle, in the case of a power outage what prevents the swet-Dry/Sump/Refugium from overflowing and me ending up with a flooded family room. Any advice or definitions on the difference between a Wet-Dry, Sump, and Refugium I receive would be greatly appreciated. I want to do this project correctly so that I can enjoy my tank for years to come. You can answer here or email me directly at [email protected]. Thanks in advance. Paul
     
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  3. chetrod

    chetrod Peppermint Shrimp

    Joined:
    Feb 14, 2005
    Messages:
    402
    Location:
    Tampa, FL,Florida
    A wet/Dry has a location for Bioballs. Biological media that will hold bacteria that assists in removing detritus. It also allows for oxygen exchange since the bio-balls are not submusrsed in water.
    A sump is just a location that would normally house some liverock your skimmer, heater, etc then pumped back to the tank.
    Refugium hold Macro algea to keep the phosphates down and provide food for the aquarium.
    Many hobbiest use a mixture of the three... Biological, mechanical, chemical.
    [​IMG]
    On the very left top you would put some type of filtering material then that water goes through the skimmer over to the carbon and the refugium then back to the tank.
    It will not overflow if you leave three inches of space so that when the power goes out it will only fill up as much as your overflow will allow then it will stop.