What is the best refugium setup?

[nyreef]

Ok folks need help will be setting up a refugium I have a 20 gal tank that I want to use for the refugium for my 55gal tank what is the best setup for the 20 gal ? Do you put a seperator in the refugium and use it like a sump or whats the best?

 

[alti]

IMO the refugium should have a much lower flow rate than the average sump. too much flow and it will not have enough contact time with the water to remove the excess nutrients. before mine cracked and had to be removed, my refugium was set up right next to my sump. i used a small powerhead to pump water from the sump and an old overflow box to return it to the sump. i'm no expert on the subject, but you would probably be better off having a seperate sump and refugium.

 

[jonthefb]

your gonna wnat several chambers in your fuge, one where the water comes in and flows over to the actual fuge area, then another that the water, again has to flow over to get to a return pump that would then spit the water back to the sump or tank. if you can, i would plumb the fuge separately from the sump, that way the critters and things wont get skimmed out if you have the fuge first. threre are a ton of different options when settign up a fuge. do a search on all the forums for a diy refugium, and you should get a ton of nce pics/photos as to how to set one up! good luck
jon

 

[nyreef]

thanks for the help...