Refugium / Sump plumbing

[MaiNpHRaMe]

I have a tank with a built in sump in the back (Clear for Life) and I have been wanting to add a refugium, a calcium reactor, and a chiller for obvious reasons but my tank did not have any bulkheads. Now it does have a 3 inch area where I can tap off with water. Does anybody have any input, how I can siphon water from the back of the tank and return it back? do I need one pump? two pumps? Is it even possible?

I guess diagrams would help as well.

[fijiwigi]

you need an overflow box setup to flow water into the sump via gravity and a return pump to pump the water from the sump back to the tank with a little plumbing from the return pump to the tank. The overflow rating must be rated to handle the return pump rating so they match up. What size tank is it and how much space do you have for a sump? Do you have a sump already.

[MaiNpHRaMe]

My tank has a built in sump in the back of the tank and I have my protein skimmer attached to the rear of the tank (Hang on) but I definately want to relocate all of that into the bottom of my stand due to noise issues. I also have been wanting to add a refugium in the bottom to keep some sea horses but my plumbing expertise is not all that great. I was wanting to avoid adding an overflow box in the back because of added wasted space in the back. It may be the way I go but I am worried in the event of a power loss. What happens to the gravity fed systems do they keep going until it floods down below or does it shut down as well once the return suction quits. Do bulkheaded systems flood in the event of a power loss? I am assuming that gravity and the weight of the water in the top tank will keep trying to seep its way down to the lower tank in the event of power loss, right?

I was thinking of was running a pump first from my sump then a U pipe to my refugium and returning the water with another pump from the refugium to the tank but a chiller also has a built in pump also? right? I am open to and appreciate any suggestions.

[fijiwigi]

In a power outage the return pump stops pumping and stops filling the tank the overflow will drain until the water reaches the set height of the overflow box. Some people drill a small hole in the overflow tubing at the level in which they want the siphon to stop the air from the hole breaks the suction(from what I understand) Plus the overflow box has a height adjustment that determines how much water enters the overflow box based on the level of the box.

You say the tank has a built in sump? are you using it at this time if so why not put the skimmer and stuff there instead of hanging on the tank. Adding a seperate refugium sounds like a great idea if you have the space. A refugium really should be something pleasant to look at so many people just section off a section of the sump for a refugium zone for the benefit of adding macroalgae. But having a dedicated refugium would be really beneficial and nice to look at. Putting Seahorses in there would be a nice display for sure. I hear Seahorses can be very challenging to keep and require prestine water conditions at all times very intolerable of any changes in chemistry.

How many gallons is your tank, how many gallons is your sump, and how big of a refugium where you planning on???