sump/refugium

[mhart032]

Im doing a 40g hex stretch SW reef im starting to peice all my equipment together. i wonder if for this tank a sump/refugium is necessary/recommended i want it to be the best i can make it and make sure its going to be good from the start. also can i do a sump/refugium w/o drilling my tank? is their an overflow that can hang or can i maybe use a second pump to pump the water into it? i should also add that i have a Red Sea Prizm Pro Protein Skimmer that i was going to use for my filtration and a rio 1100 pump and i do have a Emperor 400 power filter but i wasnt going to use this. it came with the tank.
thanks
Matt

[gzeiger]

You can get a hang on back overflow. Do not use a pump for the sump inlet. The point of the overflow is that it will constantly and automatically adjust its flow rate to match the output of the return pump. Using an electric motor for both would make it impossible to maintain sump and tank levels in balance. You would either empty your tank and overflow the sump, or vice versa.

A HOB overflow just needs to be primed, as it will work by siphon action.

[mhart032]

Great! so this is the best way to go? would i still use the skimmer and/or the filter and could i use my rio 1100 to use as the return? and would this be enough flow to move enough water for ideal filtration via live rock? What size sump would be ideal for a 40g tank? i was thinking of a DIY mod to a 10g tank.

[melosu58]

Moved to General Hardware and equipment discussion forum.

I totally agree with the HOB overflow. I had one for 7 yrs before I got the 125 tank I have now. As mentioned above just let it feed by siphon. I had a 10 gallon tank for my wet dry sump when I had my 55.As far as the return pump size you`ll need to find out what the HOB overflow is rated at.