[shadrak]

Hi I was wondering is it better to have sump and refugium combined or to keep them seperate and where is the best place to get water from for refugium meaning before or after skimmer.

[SECRETREEF]

I'll say it all depends on space.

The refugium would be better to place above the display so that the critters growing inside flow downwards to the tank. About the skimmer I would say before skimmer, this way you give a chance for the critters and plants in the refuge to get the nutrition they need before getting them cought in the skimmer.

If space is the issue then placing them ( the sump & refuge ) together under the display will be fine. Even with the pumps shreding the critters some will eventually make it upstream and feed your animals in the display.

[pogodzib]

There are many different sump design options for you to decide on based upon how much space you have, number of overflows, etc... I'd recommend that you look at Melevsreef.com | Acrylic Sumps & Refugiums

My preference if you have the space is to divide the sump up so a refugium is on one side, the skimmer is on the other end, and hte return pump is in the middle, similar to model F.

[shadrak]

Thanks for the help everyone one more question as far as space it is not an issue I will be building the stand to house my 60"x18"x18" so I can build according to my needs. But a refugium above my disply seem a little wierd I'm new to reefs but not aquariums it just seems like I would be asking for trouble and a lot of work to put it above tank and if I do would I just have an overflow piped to tank or sump.

[map95003]

if you have space below the display tank you would be fine, don't worry about the return pump shredding anything, the pods from your fuge would be OK.

Lots of reefers (including myself) have the sump design Brian described....I think it works great. Even if you don't have multiple overflows, you could split your overflow so part go to your skimmer and the other part goes to your fuge....then they both flow into your return pump section. If you have a big enough sump, this approach also helps with water changes, you could shutdown the skimmer section of your sump without taking the entire system offline while you do a water change....just something to think about.

[carym]

Originally Posted by shadrak

Thanks for the help everyone one more question as far as space it is not an issue I will be building the stand to house my 60"x18"x18" so I can build according to my needs. But a refugium above my disply seem a little wierd I'm new to reefs but not aquariums it just seems like I would be asking for trouble and a lot of work to put it above tank and if I do would I just have an overflow piped to tank or sump.

I have a tank built into the wall with a fishroom behind the tank, I was able to put shelves on both ends of the tank. One shelf holds a 40 gallon breeder which is a frag tank, on the other shelf I have 2 smaller tanks, one is a DSB (Deep Sand Bed) which flows into the Refugium, this then flows into the display and sump. The 40 is also draining back down to the sump. So it isn't impossible to do and it definitely helps that I have a fishroom so you don't have to see the shelves.

[SECRETREEF]

You could also use a hang on refugium.

[shadrak]

Thanks guys for all the information, so if I combine the sump/fuge I can split overflow and have one go to the beginning of sump and second to the fuge but if I do this do I need to prefilter the water or anything before it goes to fuge or are all of the organics and such suppose to go to the fuge. Thanks guys