Proper water flow direction in sumps/refug

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mwilliams

Aquarium Advice FINatic
Joined
Nov 15, 2010
Messages
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Location
Houston, TX
Ok question of the day what is the proper water flow in the sump/refug???

I have been looking at some sumps and has me thinking that question....
Ok one sump has the drain section, skimmer section, refug section and then last is the return section

Then another sump I was looking at has the skimmer and refug section switched around.
Drain section, refug section, skimmer section then the return section....

So which is the better of the two design flows?
 
most designs are basically alike but some are more hi tech with many improvements

I myself run a sump with no baffles just a egg crate screen to keep macro from pumps

I use 2 skimmers their is also a algae scrubber and a reactor . my sump is rather odd but it works for me , my water flows in a circular motion and both intake and output are on 1 side just split with a piece of plexi glass . it was put together with odds and end parts ,



these links will discuss about everything your looking for



Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sumps, Part I by Greg Taylor - Reefkeeping.com


Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sumps, Part II by Greg Taylor - Reefkeeping.com


Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sumps, Part III by Greg Taylor - Reefkeeping.com
 
Protein skimmer as close to beginning as possible is what most prefer.
It is known that skimmers remove organics before they can become ammonia,nitirte or nitrate .
It is not super important the order but I do believe that gives best performance IMO ?
I also have built all my own sumps and think most overflows /baffles are overrated and use egg crate in several locations. No fuge for me just LR and cheato in my sump with needed reactors.
 
Thinks guys... I do currently have a sump/refug right now it is a 75 gallon DIY setup and the guy who did it for me did not do it right are aleast I don't think it is right after all these years (refug sectio, return pump and then skimmer section.... and after looking at other sumps lately I don't think mine is correct...

The last time I tried to clean it I ended up having brusies underneath my arm because it is so high and I have very little room between the top of the sump and the top of the stand inside due to my in-experience of picking out stands and it was a price that I could not pass up but should have... Oh well that is in the past .... So now after all those lovely bruises... I decided to start looking for a shorter sump and I found two that would fit nicely inside my stand one is the Triigger Sapphire 39 and the Trigger System Triton44. The Sappihire has the sections in this order Drain, skimmer, refug then the return all the perfect sizes for each section but I just wish it was longer.
The Trition44 has the sections in this order drain, refug (extra large), skimmer section small and then the return but the length is perfect.
But after talking with a few people around here they said that it would be best for the skimmer to be first and the refug to be next because the pods won't get all chopped up by the skimmer and can go back up into the tank in this order.
I absolutely love the color acrylic that they used for the Trition44 just wish they had the refug and skimmer section swapped around...
 
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