Input for a Fuge?

[MarlinHooker]

I'm just about ready to start pumbing my new 150g mixed reef system and thought I had a plan but now I'm not so sure. The atch pic is how I was planning to plumb the system so here's my question:

Is there anything 'wrong' with having the input to the Fuge be 'dirty' water from the main tank or should I plumb the system so that the Fuge is fed with 'clean' water teed off the return pump?

I have no experience with Fuges so I'm unfamiliar with the pros & cons of this? Any help would be appreciated. thanks

[lsher]

pic??

[MarlinHooker]

sorry, got side tracked & forgot pic ...

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/showp...t=1&thecat=500

[MarlinHooker]

bump ...

[dahenley]

plumbing "dirty water" into the refugium is good!!! the out put of the refugium should go to the return pump though. otherwise all the good stuff and pods will be skimmed out when it goes through the skimmer section. you might put a "TEE" on the drain from the right side of the drawing.(put a valve to slow the flow in to the fuge, and the rest of it you will need to plumb to the left side.) your refugium wont be able to handle all of the drain. a refugium needs medium to slow water feed compared to the sump. (if the water is too fast, the fuge is useless. the water doesnt have any contact time with the macro)

[dahenley]

here is a sponsor, he builds custom sumps. you can get a lot of ideas from his site.
here is a link to one of his builds. it shows how he linked the plumbing together and has a valved output for the refugium. (one of the pictures looks like the return pump is pluged into the refugium, but it actually has a chamber behind the refugium for return.) i hope this helps.

[LPS_Blasto]

Run dual overflows and put a Tee in the line going to the refugium. Install a valve so you can slow down flow into the refugium and divert excess flow into the skimmer section.

[MarlinHooker]

Thanks all. some clarification on things I left off my design ...

1. Currently I do tee one of the tank returns so that part goes to the Fuge & the rest goes to the sump micro filters & then to the PS.
2. Not shown but planned was a valve in order to slow down the input flow into the fuge since I have learned that the Fuge needs slow water to function.

It makes sense not to run the Fuge output into the sump where all the good stuff gets skimmed off so couldn't I just run the Fuge drain into the last section of my sump where the return pump input is? This way I avoid the micron filters & PS skimmer. Since water only flows in one direction in my sump the Fuge output water won't be able to get into the micro filters or the PS section ...

Also, there was no link for the sponsor you mentioned ...

[LPS_Blasto]

http://www.melevsreef.com/

Look at the DIY & Acrylic section.

[MarlinHooker]

updated plan showing fuge input valve & new output.



Are there any pros or cons to dumping Fuge output back into the last section of sump vice directly plumbing into the return line?

[dahenley]

thats a good drawing. if you are worried about micro bubbles, you can put your fuge output in the bubble trap before the pump section. that way if there is any, they will be removed.

as for the first section, is the can a filter sock? if it is, it doesnt need its own section. it can be incorperated in the skimmer section and allow for a larger sump section for the pump. filter socks remove micro bubbles. the only time you get any bubbles from a sock is when it starts overflowing. and then, its not bad. just another tip.

[MarlinHooker]

thanks! Good point about putting return into bubble trap vice return section. Yes the first section are 200 micro filter socks and I thought about the need for bubble traps because of the socks as well but the guy who build my sump suggested them, particularily if I ever decided to go without socks.

The sump is already built so it is what it is but the PS section is huge already (26") since it has to house a RO Ext 300 skimmer ...

[dahenley]

just some info, the bigger the return pump section, the better. it allows for more evaporation while not effecting water level. if it is small, you can only have a little evap before it lowers and you start sucking air and getting micro bubbles.) just for future reference.
if your tank isnt too big or if you dont have a lot of evap, then no problem. my 240 got to where it would evap 5gal a day and if i didnt top off every day or day and a half, i was sucking air.

[MarlinHooker]

yeah, good info. I've set up an auto top-off system using a medical IV drip system which drips water into the sump at approx the same rate at which water evaporates which should have mitigate that ...