Refugium

[PrettyFishies]

I'm planning in replacing my sump with a new one since my DIY job was a disaster.

I found a good price on EBay that includes a refugium chamber and I wanted to get opinions on the subject.

I did it before with my own design and the baffles broke, the sand from the DSB got everywhere and I have no clue how effective it was.

I'd like to discuss the merits of a DSB setup as well as the alternatives.

I'm all ears!

 

[Frankie_Garcia]

Aqueon and eshopps makes some good sumps, little pricy but worth it. What size tank do you have? What kind of live stock?

 

[Frankie_Garcia]

Look up "Adding a Deep Sand Bed" by Newyorksteelo on YouTube very informative!

 

[PrettyFishies]

125g, mixed reef w fish.

I'm investigating the cost of an acrylic build.

 

[Frankie_Garcia]

Check out New York steelos channel I think it will help out a little!

 

[PrettyFishies]

Thanks Frankie. I remember him from a while ago and I checked out some vids yesterday. Got some good info.

I came up with a design for my sump/refugium and I wanted to get input from the group. I won't be doing a DSB, just miracle mud and chaeto - maybe culerpa with a 24/7 light schedule.

Does anyone see any problems with the plan?

 

[Frankie_Garcia]

I take it your skimmer is going in chamber 1? And that's why it is so big? Put a filter sock in there. And then in your bubble trap put a filter pad to catch any debris

 

[PrettyFishies]

Yes, that's the skimmer chamber and the plan has a place for a filter sock as well as a sponge or something in chamber 3 to break up the bubbles.

 

[PrettyFishies]

updated plan

 

[Frankie_Garcia]

Anyway you could make chamber 1 smaller and refugium bigger? Or will that take away from skimmer space?

 

[PrettyFishies]

Not really. The skimmer footprint is 9.5 x 15". I could place it diagonally, but that may only get me an inch or two.

 

[Frankie_Garcia]

You should be good! Mine is not that big but here is my setup. I built like a acrylic box for my water to drain Into and have a filter sock with carbon and some mix in it.

 

[PrettyFishies]

Cool. No skimmer in your sump. I'm following some of nysteelo's ideas and another design with some of my own thoughts. I'm leaning towards getting a custom acrylic done because I screwed up the glass one and have no acrylic experience.

 

[Frankie_Garcia]

My skimmer is in my main tank. It's sleek ad skim and just looks like an overflow in the corner

 

[Frankie_Garcia]

It's a hydor slim skim nano

 

[PrettyFishies]

Current sump

 

[Frankie_Garcia]

And what happened? A baffle broke?

 

[PrettyFishies]

ALL of them lol

 

[Frankie_Garcia]

Oh dang talk about bad luck. Sorry about that! Tough situation. Because you be without a sump for like a week with repairs .

 

[PrettyFishies]

Not bad luck, poor craftsmanship on my part. Used acrylic that was too thin. It's all good. You live and you learn.