want to start refugium

a&m aggie 04'

Active Member
i want to start a small refugium for my 58 gallon. Right now i have a 20 gallon sump. How would i do this? Ill post a pic of my setup, and would like recomendations on how to set this up.
 

a&m aggie 04'

Active Member
dont know if i was clear or not. What im trying to figure out is how to run the water to my refugium?? Should the water come straight from the tank to the refugium, or should it go to my sump, then over to my refugium? or neither. I dont really want to have to drill a hole in my sump, and would rather not have to get one drilled in a 10 gallon for the refugium-- is there any way to do this or am totally off the wall??
How much water flow does a refugium need??
 

broomer5

Active Member
Someting like this would work pretty good in my opinion.
Inexpensive - and almost foolproof ( if you get your bulkhead tight )
You'd have to scoot your sump over to the left - and find a container that will fit under the stand.
You can even use your existing power strip LOL
Just an idea ;)
 

a&m aggie 04'

Active Member
is there any reason i cant just run water directly to the refugium and the sump from the main tank. Then just have the overflow w/ bulkhead on the refugium ultimately eliminating a powerhead???
 

robn70

Member
It might be possable to tee of of the over flow into the refuge and the have that overflow through a bulkhead into the sump. Just put your refuge a little higher then the water level in the sump.
 

a&m aggie 04'

Active Member
im not exactly understanding what you are saying rob. What i was wondering is instead of all the water going directly into the sump from the tank and then using a powerhead to put water into the refugium. And then having bulkhead overflow water back into my sump cant i just have water go into both the sump and refugium and then overflow back into the sump.
Broomer cant i just skip using a powerhead or is it not that simple??
 

broomer5

Active Member
However you wish to add water to the fuge is fine.
Powerhead
Tee off overflow drainline.
Tee off return pump.
Just make sure your refugium bulkhead hole(s) can handle the amount of water you put in it - and all is good.
 

coral bandit

New Member
I'm not sure you want that much water rushing through your refugium. I've always been told you just need a very small amount of water running through the fuge back into the sump.
I have the line comming off my pump tee'd and a ball valve to adjust the water flow to my fuge. Just my 2 cents.
 

skimmedout

New Member
Aggie,
What's that yellow tube, output back to your main tank? The easiest way is to tee off your input tube with a ball valve so that the bulk of the water goes into your sump and a small amount goes to your refugium. With the refugium slightly higher than the sump, the water will flow into the sump without using any electric pump. You just need to use a bulkhead in the refugium for the output. If that yellow tube is your input tube, then it might be hard to tee it off.
 

a&m aggie 04'

Active Member
thats putting water back into the tank (return line). Okay, so i just dont need much water entering my refugium-- ill figure something out.
Thanks,
Mark
 
Top