[oscar3411]

I purchased the 120gal Oceanic tank from CaptSammy. By the way, thanks Sam! I'm planning on using a large plastic container as a refugium and an old wet/dry as a sump. I would like to plumb the refugium and sump together. The tank has dual overflows and so one would drain into the refugium and the other into the sump. I was planning on cutting a hole in the refugium and a hole in the sump and connecting them with a pvc tee which would connect to an external pump. The output of the external pump would also be split to return water back to the dual return pipes. My question is what external return pump would you recommend? Also, do you see any potential pitfalls with this setup? Thanks

 

[traip93]

i'm not a plumber, but I'd think that if the refugium and the sump were not equal in size that one or the other would overflow at some point because of the different flow rates in each return line or one would drain faster, the pump might take more water from one.......I would just have the overflows dump into the refugium that plumb the refugium to the sump and have the return pump only draw water from the sump.......

I use a littel giant on the same tank with a 30g sump, it's awesome; very powerful, quite and reliable.........

 

[rcassidy]

I've never owned one, but am starting to become a HUGE fan of the Ampmaster 3000's. They are a reatively decent priced pump that gets you a good bit of bang for you buck. With that pump you should be able to get all the flow you need in the tank too.

Or if you want to scale it back a little, check out the Mag 24's. There was one floating around here for $75 which was a great price.


Ryan

 

[georgiajams]

In addition to what Traip said, I think having even one drain to the refugium is going to be too much flow for the refugium. Even if you put a valve to control flow, you might need that extra draining power one day. My sump on the 120 REALLY churns.

Although I'm not sure how to do this with the plastic tank and sump you described, I'd plumb the refugium to somehow empty into the sump. Perhaps a drain at the top of the refugium that empties into the sump (refgium must be slightly taller than the sump). Then send both drains from the tank to the sump. On your return line from the pump, T a smaller pipe with a ball valve to the refugium so you can control the flow.

I have a Dolphin 2700 (kin to the Ampmaster 3000) on my 120 and only have about 4-5 ft head. Seems to be more than most have, but I like the flow. Besides an extra pump for the skimmer it runs my whole system. I have it plumbed to a spraybar hidden in the back.

 

[oscar3411]

Thanks for the replies guyz. I like georgiajams' idea of having both drain into the sump and having a smaller T/with ball valve to refugium. As far as the return pump, I wanted to go with an external because I heard the sump pumps (Mags) generate too much heat and others are too noisy. What are your thoughts on GenX Mak4, Velocity T4, Mag12, Ampmaster?

 

[Darkfrog]

Okay, I hope this top-down view makes sense. I have a 120g that drains into a larger refugium (ecosystem 36") and a smaller sump. The fuge has a 1" bulkhead that drains to a tee that is connected to the dual drains from my sump (I had to use 2 since the sump was already drilled when I got it. Both the sump bh's are 1", they drain into a 1.5" pipe that meets up with the tee on the fuge. This way I don't restrict the flow to the Ampmaster 3600. I do have a ball valve on the line coming from the refugium before it meets up with the sump line so that I can adjust the level in the fuge separate, since they have different flow rates.
It seems to work out okay. I can try to bring the camera home from work and take some pictures if you want.

 

[oscar3411]

Thanks Darkfrog,
I would love to see a picture. BTW, did you attach something because I couldn't see it.

 

[Darkfrog]

Did the diagragm not show up? It looks okay on my connection.

 

[oscar3411]

Sorry, I can't see it

 

[Darkfrog]

Try this

 

[oscar3411]

Thanks, got it!