Thinking bout fuge

Was wondering if i could convert my sump into refugium? Will post pics,from center where the skimmer is ti the right there are 5 circular openings on the bottom.The overflow falls into left side if sump have floss egg crate and bags of carbon and phosguard.Then runs off into center section where skimmer and pump for phosban reactor is then flow goes thru these five holes on the bottom to the right where return pump is.

 

Sure you can, but you really need to reconfigure it. The holes on the bottom are not going to work. You at least need a baffle before it to fix that... but then you need a clean dry tank to do it on. You could do it in a day and let it sit over night. You do not need the skimmer of reactors, but you may need the aeration provided by drains and skimmer. You could put some air in the tank.

You sump looks like a 20g... they are easy to come by for cheap and you could just make one and switch them out. But either way, you do not have to work around what you have, you could just make what you want and call it good. The refugium only needs one baffle, the skimmer compartment could make do with two, but 3 is best for bubble traps. 3-4 panes of glass and some silicone. you are done.

But I will say you definitely do not need all that rock in there. Put it where it belongs so it can do it's job in the tank. All it does in the sump is collect poop. Unless of course you have very little in the display tank. Then you should put it in the display tank.

 

Isn't petco doing the dollar per gallon sale at the moment. Pick up a new tank, add your baffles etc. The move the stuff from your current tank to the new fuge/sump system.

 

How much room do you have under in your stand? With enough room you could add a 5g or 10g tank for a fuge. You can go about adding a fuge a number of different ways, but with your current setup, this may be best.

If you have the room under your tank for a 5 or 10g fuge you can do it this way.
Drill some holes in the tank to be the fuge for an overflow, or run a siphon into your return section.

Put a T or a Y fitting on your drain line with a ball valve just after it to adjust your flow to the refugium.
Put a DSB (Deep Sand Bed), mangrove, macro algea, and some pods with a light over the top and you are good to go.

Now back to your original question about your sump. You could transform it into a refugium? You could but it wouldn't be an idle setup. Most people want the refugium to have their flow at 20x the volume of the refugium at the most. This allows for your inhabitants to have a safe place to live and reproduce without getting completely swept away into your system. Using a siphon or overflow will allow your pods and plankton to transfer into your return system, to get to your DT, and not get caught in your skimmer and DIE, lol.

I hope this helps in some way.

 

Of course you can make refugium in that sump Even if you dont have place for a big one, a small one can help too. My refugium is awesome, its pretty big compared to my tanks current size (20 gallon, 5 gallon refugium). I grow small amphipods and copepods in there, and sometimes they come out with the pump and into my main tank, and my dottyback catches them and eats them. He loves them I've seen my anemone catch a BIG amphipod too. Its awesome. Can definitely reccommend it I also see that my chromis are eating plankton from there, so that grows back there aswell.

 

Thanks guys,really good info thinking about a 125 gallon and building from scratch..lol This is very addictive

 

yes, it is You probably have the fever

 

Oh no, another one with the FEVER..... What will your spouse think???? Hope you enjoy your stay here in 3reef...

 

Im a bachelor ,lol the fish cant go anywhere!! Lol

 

I would say lucky you, but I love my wife and wouldn't trade her for the biggest reef tank in the world. Wait a sec maybe, nope I still wouldn't trade her. lol