cmak Posted January 22, 2018 Report Share Posted January 22, 2018 Hello I am plumbing a remote sump to the storage area of my basement and have dry fit everything together. Was wanting to run it by you guys and make sure what I'm doing doesn't have any obvious flaws I'm missing or if someone had a better idea before I prime and glue. Using two 1.5" drains from DT, one drain goes to 40 gallon Breeder for a refugium which dumps into the 50 gallon stock tank and the other 1.5" drain goes right to the stock tank. Skimmer, calc reactor, heaters, apex probes, carbon reactor, and return pump will all be in the stock tank. The return pump is plumbed to a 1" return back to DT. I have also wired two dedicated 20 amp gfci outlets to the left of the sump tanks. Any thoughts are appreciated whether it's advice or something I may be doing wrong. Chris https://imgur.com/a/4r5Xh Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atomic Posted January 22, 2018 Report Share Posted January 22, 2018 (edited) The only thing that I see that I would change. This is a personal preference and not a necessity. I would take another 40 breeder exactly like you have for the refugium, and use it for your Skimmer and Heaters using the 2nd overflow from the display. Your currnet design: The stock tank will be the place you see water fluctuations. (assuming you have a ATO in it also.) If the power turns off, the stock tank will fill up with excess water from the display. Then when it turns on, the skimmer will be working for a few min within that stock tank thats full of water = skimmer overflowing nasty sludge back into the stock tank. If you had another 40 breeder (or any tank, could be a rubbermaid) setup like the refugium. That water level will never change allowing the skimmer to be more stable. I would put heaters in here also. If your ATO fails, then your headers are still submerged in water. I might also put filter sock after a skimmer/heater tank. wouldn't do it on a refugium as you want the pods to make the way back to the display. Edited January 22, 2018 by Atomic Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tanknovice Posted January 23, 2018 Report Share Posted January 23, 2018 With the Apex you can program a delay for starting up the skimmer after a loss of power episode so that would mitigate the need to add another 40 gallon breeder On the other hand more water volume = stability Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cmak Posted January 23, 2018 Author Report Share Posted January 23, 2018 I actually plan to add a 10 minute or so delay whenever the return pump regains power. I was gonna add a larger tank before the stock tank for water volume but I only had so much height to work with from the drains. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Indymann99 Posted February 10, 2018 Report Share Posted February 10, 2018 With an APEX I have float switches in the sump (return section) and the water LEVEL controls the skimmer... (also controls the ATO). Works better than a time delay. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
airmotive Posted February 12, 2018 Report Share Posted February 12, 2018 One item that caught my eye in your photo: the drain line from the 40B to the stock tank. That’s an awfully long lever arm tied directly to glass, and the pipe leads to a “working area” in the stock tank. In other words, the first time you bump the end of that drain line, you are likely to shatter the 40B. The end of that pipe just has so much leverage on where it penetrates the aquarium glass. Any reason not to make that a simple 90 degree elbow straight down into the stock tank? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plantguy Posted February 13, 2018 Report Share Posted February 13, 2018 Personally, I would return both lines to the sump, and run a separate pump, or manifold off the main pump to feed the refugium. Two reasons, the first is you will be able to tailor the flow in the refugium instead of being stuck at whatever comes through the drain. Second reason is every time I see a drain fed fuge, its full of detritus, they tend to become settling chambers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cmak Posted March 1, 2018 Author Report Share Posted March 1, 2018 On 2/10/2018 at 5:40 PM, Indymann99 said: With an APEX I have float switches in the sump (return section) and the water LEVEL controls the skimmer... (also controls the ATO). Works better than a time delay. Wow this is great, this accounts for maintenance and anything else weird with the water level in the sump. Thanks I will set this up Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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