Starting Fuge Build - Advice?

[Sir Ottis]

I have a 90 gal that I want to add a fuge to. It will be mounted under the tank in the cabinet. I have an old 10 gal that I wiould like to use. This will be in addition to a wet/dry that I am currently running. This fuge will operate independantly of my wet/dry. The purpose for this is to house and create pods for a Manderin Goby that one day I would like to have.

I am going to have to use a siphon overflow and am looking at a 300 gp return pump. My current sump return is 750 gph.

I want to house a heater and protien skimmer in this as well. I have looked at different plans available. I am kinda nervouse about getting the math correct because I am afraid of overflowing my tank or fuge.

Any wisdom would be much appreciated here.

 

[ccCapt]

Sounds pretty simple. Just make sure your overflow is able to handle the amt of water the return pump is pumping. Once you have it set up, only fill the fuge maybe 1/2 way, then turn off your pumps to simulate a power outage. Watch how far the fuge fill from the water returning from the tank. Once you know the water level to set in the fuge so it can handle the return from the tank, you're good to go.

 

[mr_X]

you could also drill a hole just under the water line on your return, to limit the amount of water that will be siphoned back when the power goes off.

 

[SparKy697]

Would you consider not running this fuge independently from the filter? Can you add a pump to the filter to pump water over to the fuge, then use a gravity overflow to return the water to the filter? This would allow a little more depth for the fuge and take away the risk of overflow in the fuge.

 

[Ziggy953]

Would you consider not running this fuge independently from the filter? Can you add a pump to the filter to pump water over to the fuge, then use a gravity overflow to return the water to the filter? This would allow a little more depth for the fuge and take away the risk of overflow in the fuge.

This is a far better idea. Trying to use 2 overflows and 2 pumps on a tank is dangerous. You will never get the flow exactly correct.

The best option is to drill the 10g tank and plumb it into your wet/dry. Let the water flow through your fuge into the wet/dry and be pumped back to the display.

 

[ThatGuy619]

go here to get a visual of what zigggy is talking about

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/f14/will-work-104807.html

 

[Sir Ottis]

I have a gravity overflow returning the tank water to the filter now. So then I would take the pumped water from the filter to the fuge....then pump it back into the tank?

If so, I have a 700 gph return pump from my filter and have read you want the fuge to be 1/2 the gph of that. how can I do that with this set-up?

 

[ThatGuy619]

try this

 

[Sir Ottis]

So the overflow will supply directly to the sump only. Then the return from the sump will be slpit between the tank and the fuge...then Fuge back to the sump?

 

[ThatGuy619]

yes that should work. make sure you plumb the the fuge to the wet/dry, sump as high as you want the water in the fuge, i used 1". your wet/dry filter will take all the back flow. also you want to drill a small hole on your return line just below the water line for a siphon break.


if you have 2 lines on your overflow then use my other drawing a couple post up its labeled try this

 

[Sir Ottis]

I do not understand the drilling of the return line to break the siphon. Do you mean to return from the sump to the tank?

Also, you only have 1" of water in your fuge?

 

[ThatGuy619]

okay when you have your return line in the tank its going suck all the water back into the sump if the power goes out. so if you have your return pipe in the water 2" the it will suck the water until the air breaks the siphon. then all that water will go back into your sump and possibly flood the area where your aquarium is. so with that being said

okay the blue is your water level when it is running. the red symbolizes when you have a power outage. the direction the water will flow. where it says drill here thats where you need to put the hole to break the siphon incase of the power outage. you want to drill just below the water line. be careful if you make the hole pointing to the top of the tank it will just shoot water out.

hope this helps you understand it more

 

[ThatGuy619]

also no i put 1" pipe from the fuge to the sump. the higher the pipe the higher the water level in the fuge.

 

[Sir Ottis]

Thanks.

That makes alot more sense to me now.

 

[SparKy697]

Hopefully this will not cause any confusion, but I actually do the complete opposite. I chose to use the water that comes from the tank and split it's flow to direct it to both the fuge and the sump. The fuge drains into the sump just as drawn and the remainder of the water from the tank also drains into the sump.

ThatGuy619, you may have other experience with this setup, but it seems to me that the pump will likely move more water to the fuge than up into the tank. The whole 'path of least resistance' rule.

 

[ThatGuy619]

well you can do it either way

the path of least resistance is true which is why i incorperated a valve on the line going into the fuge. that way it can be 3/4 of the way open. thus providing more resistance then the pipe going back to the tank

on my setup i have 2 drains from my overflow. one to the fuge and one to the sump. on my friends he has one drain and he is runing the system i told sir otis to run. no issues. so really its your preference either way will work

 

[Fierro Nights]

i have 1 inch pipe coming from my over flow to some tubing which i have a ball valve in case i ever want to shut off water flow the fuge, also, some good plants to put in your fuge would be some feather calpura, i put some in my main tank which i saw how fast i was growing, i still have it in there but i put some in my fuge to grow im keeping an eye on it, to give you an idea as to how fast this thing grows ive included a picture, now im not pulling your leg on this one, this all honesty, the really long leaf on the right side of the plant, in just two days, it grew to that size from the tiny leaf just to its left.

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[Fierro Nights]

also i forgot to mention, if the surface skimmer part of your overflow box ( the box that sits in your tank ) to me is the most important thing of having a sump/fuge, keep it as high as you can so that the water level in the tank stays high and so that if the power ever goes out, you will only drain out a very small amount of water.

also, if your overflow box is really loud while it draining water, just get a plastic grocery bag, ball it up, and shove it in the top, works a charm.

 

[ThatGuy619]

also, if your overflow box is really loud while it draining water, just get a plastic grocery bag, ball it up, and shove it in the top, works a charm.

can you say flow slow down!!!!!!

 

[Fierro Nights]

hey, the pipe from my tank leads to a bunch of bulk filter media i have in an upside down water jug w/ the bottom removed as im currently adding new sand to existing sand.

i filter water very quickly, i like it this way, and my tank has never looked better. it looks so clean. i think adding the sugar sized sand on top of the old sand makes a huge diff, i thought my water was dirty till i decided to clean the glass, things are looking great.