Fuge help please

[shinobi9119]

OK iv been toying around with this for quite a while and cant seem to figure it out. In my sump I have an empty space, right under the bio ball chamber. I have been thinking about turning this into a fuge. But I have a few questions.
Right now in that area all I have is a small plastic container with LR rubble and LS in it, I also have one with LR rubble and mud(i guess you could call it that). I recently just got a ziplock bag of cheato. I do not have any lighting on this "fuge" so far.
questions:
1. IF I set it up with cheato and other good stuffs like mabye some pods and such. How would the pods get to the Dt? They would have to make it past the protien skimmer, through the diffuser sponge, through the return pump sponge and into the tank.
2. My qt seems to be having water chemistry problems. It finished its cycle but now its never normal, there is now more nitrites and some nitrates. The Qt is 10 gallons, would it help the water if I turned the HOB filter I have on it into a fuge with the cheato and some LR rubble?

 

[fraggle_a]

Well, I dont know myself.
I can tell you what I see when I go to my LFS though.
Below their Huge corral tank they have a Fuge and skimmer and so on.
The Fuge is the last thing the water passes though before it goes back to the tank.
THe smikker is set before the Fuge, and if memory serves, there is a small rubble filter right before the final return.
Time and again I hear people say that the Fuge is to add more water to the tank. (increase the gallons, so a 55g tank with a 10 gallon fuge would be a 65 gallon system).
It also houses all the useful cleaners that you dont want your fish eating (like the tangs are keen on). Algee, seaweeds, cleaners and so on.
Id love to run a Fuge myself. But I dont have a drilled tank, so I run the risk of OverFlow if something happens...
Soon though!!!

 

[wattsupdoc]

Post up a pic.
The problems you are having are likely caused by your wet/dry you are running. these are beneficial yes, but yours may not be quite set up right or just not mature enough if you have just finished you cycle. Also, die off if you,ve added any rock can cause this. A pic will help. Definitely you can convert it to a fuge, and it's likely to be worth it. You would eliminate the sponges between the fuge and the return pump. I(and most I believe)run NO mechanical filtration at all. Adding a DSB can be simple also, if you have the room for a 5 gallon bucket under the stand with it. Having a small tray of sand in there really isn't doing anything for you.
I have heard time and time again about skimmer before fuge, as if that's the only acceptable way. With the logic being that PODS cant make it past the skimmer. This is not true. My pods are not free swimmers, they crawl along the glass, totally unaffected by the skimmer I never find any pods in my skimmate when I dump it. Sure the larvae are likely sucked in, some any ways, but not all. Additionally having a nice sized pod pile immediately before the return pump more than compensates for the losses.
Second issue claimed is the skimmer then doesn't see all the water and thus not have the chance to skim it. This is true, but unless you have a recirc skimmer that process all the water flowing through the sump/fuge, then it will not see all the water anyway. Blow by is inevitable. Also, what about the fuge? Aren't you essentially reducing the amount of DOC's the fuge can take up?
BTW...there's no problem running a sump/fuge with a HOB overflow box. No problem at all. Many do this.