Sump/Refugium DIY Drawing: Advice Sought!!

[captained]

I want to convert my sump to a combo Sump/Refugium. Please take a look at my drawing (link below) and let me know what you think.
Considerations for the Design
1) I understand its not good to have the refugium return go through the UV.
2) I want a lower flow rate in the refugium than the UV and overall flow back to the tank.
Possible Problems (?)
1) Any backflow problems?
2) If I understand gravity right, then I should only have "overflow" from the left hand side of the sump into the right hand refugium side of 75 gph (see drawing).
3) Any problems with one side or the other getting "sucked dry?"
Thanks in advance for any suggestions/comments!
Sump/Refugium Drawing

 

[dburr]

It may work, but..
I have just the opposite.
My overflow is tee off with most of the flow going in the sump. I use a ball valve on the refuge side for the slow flow. The refuge spills back into the sump.
X
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
l X X l
l X ___________X________________l
l X l l
l____X____l l
l l l
l l l
l l l
l l l
l l l
l_________l____________________________l
Refuge is on the right, spills to the left.
1 pump to handle the whole thing.
does it make sense? I have had no problems at all.
good luck.
BTW- I do not use UV in my reef nor do I want one. I think they need a slow flow to work don't they?

 

[dburr]

Typing drawings don't work sorry, I don't have a website.

 

[johnnysalt]

Hey Cappy!
I'm not a plumber, but I'm not sure that will work the way you want it too.
1. Will the return water from your sump try to go THROUGH the slow pipe from the refugium? Again, not a plumber, so I don't know for sure.
2. Why even have a gate valve on only 75 gph?? That's slow enough as it is.....even if you didn't have the gate valve it's not even going to amount to 75gph b/c of the elbow fitting and the distance it has to travel from refugium to sump return pipe.
3. To simplify it, just have the refugium water pumped back into the sump! That'll save on pvc pipe and that gate valve.
Check out my diagram below for other ideas!

 

[daluminum]

Dont think it will work. The 75 will have to hold alot of head pressure. Gravity + the amount the 350 is pushing. Plus I dont like the overflow into the ref. try a syhpon hose into the ref. this will keep from worrying about gravity. And also why do you not want the water going from ref. into UV. Im not aware of any problems this will cause. If you cant use a PH to pump it back into the sump try using a seperate return from the ref. .
You know why you get a penny for your thoughts. yet you always put in your two cents?? because when your put in your two cents its twice as much BS as anyone wants to hear!!

 

[captained]

Thanks for the input. OK, here's a few modifications/clarifications.
1) I was thinking about the gate valve in case I wanted to shut off the refugium side, but I got a pump that won't allow backflow, so its out of the picture now.
2) The flow rates (350/75) are actual rates including the lift- the pumps are Rio 1700 and 800s with built-in gate valves and I have a flow meter so I can adjust them. I may want the 75 to be more like 40... still reading up on that.
3) re: the UV. I want a rate of 350 through that, and I read in a couple of places that you really don't want your refugium to go throught it because it will kill some of the things you are trying to grow and get up into the tank. Of course, eventually everything will go through it, but at least not on the first pass. BTW, I put the UV in about a year ago and have not had a single case of Ick or anything else since.
4) The "350" won't force back down the "75" side- I'm enough of a plumber to know that, but not good enough to know how much it might increase the head oresure needed to get up to "75" now prbably revised down to "40"
5) If this doesn't work, I can always take out the "75/40" and split the return like dburr. I'm not sure about DAluminum's suggestion for a siphon- why would I need that instead of just an on overflow?

 

[daluminum]

syphon is much easier. And keeps gravity out of the picture. tanks edges dont overflow very well. I think you were talking about using a normal glass tank. maybe you meant an overflow box. wich is the best yet. but not worth the money for your purpose.

 

[johnnysalt]

gimme your email Captain Ed...I wanna email you a revised pic/diagram with a couple ideas on it for ya!
put your email addy in your profile if you can.

 

[captained]

Success! It is working as planned, and I am a happy camper. Thanks to everyone for the ideas...I made a few final mods based on feedback (and the realities of the final plumbing), so we're off and running. If you click on the "schematic" link on This Page you can see the final drawing.
Just to clarify, the sump/refugium is a single glass tank that is partitioned into 2 sections with an acrylic divider (nearly died from the silicone adhesive fumes doing that) and rather than spill over the top of the divider, I drilled 1" holes along the top of it.