Sump / Refugium Question

[goavs21]

I am amidst my sump & refugium design, looking for a little direction.

I am planning to split the overflow, to allow some water to enter directly into the refugium, and the majority to flow right into the sump.

My question is about the return, as I am only running one pump, how should I combine the two volumes??

(Current thinking, and still open to new ideas. Not sure if either of these considerations will work..... somewhat worried about the addition of air into the main tank.)

Option 1: Plumb refugium's 'out' bulkhead into the end baffle of the sump.

Option 2: Plumb refugium's 'out' bulkhead into a Y right before entry into the return pump.

 

[Nelliereefster]

Option 1 will work, provided the connection is big, like 1-1/2 inches or so. Gravity/static pressure head will ensure the sump doesn't overflow.

If you do the pump "y" thing, differential head pressure may suck one place dry while the other is semi full.

 

[ReefLion]

Agreed. To the extent you can use plain old gravity, do so.

Tim

 

[reefsRcool]

my setup is dirt simple cheap and very effective. i have no trouble at all wityh microbubbles that many ***** about often. i used a regular 30 gallon tank and put a partion roughly in the middle. one half is refugium one half is sump. i split my return and put a gate valve on the side going to the refugium so i could regulate flow, what can't flow that way dumps right into the sump. i cut a notch in the partition so water will flow only over the wall in that one section. it really is that simple, don't try to get overly complicated it dosn't need to be.