Alittle help please

[cdn_beaver]

I would like to add a sump/fuge to my 25 gallon tank to help with the bio load aswell as have a safe place for pods to propogate. I have an extra 5 or 10 gallon tank around that I would like to use for this. Unfortunately, after about 4 hours of reading, Im still alittle confused. At the bottom, I have included a picture of what I would like to build.
I understand that Im not able to use a pump to pump water into the fuge from the main tank, and that I need some sort of overflow. I have a glass tank, and I not at all interested in drilling it. How can I get the water from the tank and into the fuge? I have heard of HOB fuges, but how do these work, and can I build one myself?
I have enough room to mount the sump/fuge either, under, over, or behind the main tank. Which is best, and does this effect the way the water is transfered to and from the main tank?
Finally, with a sump/fuge, will it still be necessary to have a HOB filter, and if so, where should it be placed to do the most good, main tank, fuge?
Any help would be appreciated, and I appoligize for adding yet another sump/fuge thread.

 

[wildemon]

I am skeptical that a skimmer will fit into a 10 gallon with room for the main pump and the refugium as shown in your diagram, although the diagram does illustrate a proper sump. In the diagram, you would have all the tank's flow through the refugium and this might be excessive. Using a gravity overflow on the main tank to the sump below works well.
If the refugium was above the main tank, you would have a powerhead in the main tank pumping up and the overflow would need to be in the refugium & drain down to the main tank.

 

[bang guy]

There are Hang-On overflows too and they will work fine with this setup.
Your drawing is excellent!!!!

 

[squidd]

On a small sump/fuge like that you can maximize fuge area by running a HOB skimmer...Small chamber for overflow drain line and minimal room for return pump but creative baffleing to minimize micro bubbles...
This is an older 10 gallon "flow through" design I ran for awhile...
Just skip the filter loss by the return pump (not needed)

 

[bang guy]

oooh baby! Put a reflector on that puppy!

 

[squidd]

Yeah, it was a bit bright...
But it was also an experiment in RDP so it wasn't quite the nuisance you might think...
Although a reflector would have directed more light towards the tank...

 

[cdn_beaver]

I'm thinking about using a 1 1/2" return line from the sump-fuge back to the main tank. What size powerhead would you recommend?
:help:

 

[squidd]

:notsure:
Where are we at with this...?
Is this a fuge over tank with a 1 1/2" bulkhead...? (I thought you weren't going to drill...??)
Or is this a lower sump/fuge with HOB overflow and return pump...??

 

[cdn_beaver]

Sorry for the confusion.
I've decided to go with an over the tank sump. I didnt want to drill the main tank for fear of making a mistake, however, Im not as paranoid about drilling my smaller spare tank.
I plan to use a PH to pump water from the main tank up to the sump/fuge, and have it gravity feed back down to the main tank. :happyfish

 

[squidd]

So for the purposes of this thread I will assume you are still using the 10 gallon tank as the S/F above the tank...
If you run it as a "Fuge" only then you would run 3x to 5x fuge volume or 5x to 7x depending on whats in the fuge..
So your looking at a relitively small PH around 70 to 100 gph (it'll lose a little as you "pipe" it to the fuge..
If your going to divide the tank into a fuge AND sump to house the skimmer it get's a bit more complicated..
You want the skimmer to be skimming "raw" water rather than re-skim the same water over and over...
So you will want to pump at least the gph the skimmer is turning over into the "sump" part to feed it and then again, 3xto5xto7x whatever "fuge" volume you have left into the fuge to feed it...
Or to simplify things (assuming a HOB skimmer) run it as a fuge only with HOB skimmer and don't worry about the "re-skimmed" water...Your goig to have a relatively "small" system as it is so the skimmer turnover will "probably" only be 200-300 gph anyway...
I ran one that way for a while...in fact the pic above shows a 10 S/F with Sea Clone 100 on a 20 Nano...
The second suggested setup would be more complicated but more effecient...

 

[cdn_beaver]

Thanks for all the help squidd, I really appreciate it.
Just afew more questions.
Could I run as a fuge only, and still house a HOB Skimmer, thermometer, and HOB filter, Or would the low turn over rate make it useless?
What I was worried about most, is the PH pumping in more water to the sump/fuge, than what was able to drain to the main tank through a 1 1/2" return line.
Thanks again. If you have any suggestions, on what I can do with a 10 galon, to make the most of it, please let me know. My resources are limited, so I really want to make the most with what Ive got.

 

[squidd]

I don't want to discourage you because "something" is better than "nothing" so it wouldn't be "useless" but it would be minimal...
Also "nothing is or has to be permanent" so you can add and change things as time and money allow...
In that vein, I would suggest using ALL of the 10 as a fuge with a small powerhead to feed it...
Then run the HOB skimmer on the tank where it'll get the most "raw" water...
And loose the HOB filter...with enough LR and good circulation in the tank an efficient skimmer set up and a fuge for nutrient export you should have a pretty decent setup...
Then when you get the new Reef Ready 90 gallon set up you can use the 25 as a sump and add another 40 for a fuge... :joy:

 

[cdn_beaver]

Then when you get the new Reef Ready 90 gallon set up you can use the 25 as a sump and add another 40 for a fuge...
:yes: