External refugium question

[TokenReefer]

One thing to keep in mind and test well is what will happen if power cuts out. Water will drop to lowest points in each tank/sump

 

[Cthulukelele]

One thing to keep in mind and test well is what will happen if power cuts out. Water will drop to lowest points in each tank/sump

I've currently got about a 4 inch head on my 35 gallon sump at outage. My hope is that I can have about a 2 inch "tidal" zone at the top to account for various speed up and slow downs with flow in the new fuge and still have about a 2.5 inch buffer on outage, but it is all scary lol

 

[Tcook]

No need to silicone. Use proper bulkheads or a Uniseal. Set up a float switch or optical sensor to shut off the pump. Also can use an Apex leak detector at base of fuge. You can use a shorter one of these on each drain in the fuge. More surface area so less likely to clog.

 

[Cthulukelele]

No need to silicone. Use proper bulkheads or a Uniseal. Set up a float switch or optical sensor to shut off the pump. Also can use an Apex leak detector at base of fuge. You can use a shorter one of these on each drain in the fuge. More surface area so less likely to clog.

A 1.5 inch slip version of that is exactly what I need! Where do you get stuff like that lol was just going to make my own with pvc and a circular saw lol

 

[TokenReefer]

With your setup both the dt and the add tank will dump into the sump. Just do some maths to calculate how much it can absorb. There's an equation to determine water per inch based on dimensions but I cannot seem to find it atm sorry :thinking-face:

 

[Cthulukelele]

With your setup both the dt and the add tank will dump into the sump. Just do some maths to calculate how much it can absorb. There's an equation to determine water per inch based on dimensions but I cannot seem to find it atm

Appreciate all the feedback. It's nice that everyone has been so helpful and encouraging. I get really nervous about this stuff, so it really helps

 

[Tcook]

A 1.5 inch slip version of that is exactly what I need! Where do you get stuff like that lol was just going to make my own with pvc and a circular saw lol

I got them from Richard Durso's site.
https://shop.dursostandpipes.com/collections/strainers/products/intake-strainer

 

[TokenReefer]

With your setup both the dt and the add tank will dump into the sump. Just do some maths to calculate how much it can absorb. There's an equation to determine water per inch based on dimensions but I cannot seem to find it atm sorry :thinking-face:

Hey I found that equation

L x W x (inches of water) ÷ 231

So for a 36x18 tank there is ~2.8 gallons of water in the top 1 inch. Just measure inches from your lowest points. The sump may have lets say 5 inches for example so you can adjust there to figure out the amount you can absorb.. hope that makes sense

:) Good luck! Happy Holidays!

 

[Cthulukelele]

Work has begun!

 

[Cthulukelele]

My friend John who helped. It held water and siphons at at least 300-500 gph. Basically completely silent

 

[TokenReefer]

Great job! Hole looks clean. I like the diy floating overflow too; good idea.

 

[Cthulukelele]

Great job! Hole looks clean. I like the diy floating overflow too; good idea.

Thanks! Buying the last bit of plumbing to get it to the sump then need to mount everything

 

[Cthulukelele]

Rest of the plumbing supplies arrive Thursday and Friday. Going to repurpose my old media reactor pump to feed the fuge and run some pvc vinyl tubing to the pvc I put together to return the water to the sump

 

[TokenReefer]

One thing I'll mention from my setup (may not apply to yours) is I use my ball valve to turn the return pump off (for feeding, etc) and then when opening it, I only do it maybe 1/4 of a turn and wait a minute for the levels to even out then repeat until fully open. Kind of a pain but I haven't figured out a easier way yet; if I open all the way my return pump chamber empties (because of lag time) and the ato kicks on... Doing it in steps I can run the pump at 70% np with no ato trigger...

 

[BamaCoastPyrat]

No need to silicone. Use proper bulkheads or a Uniseal. Set up a float switch or optical sensor to shut off the pump. Also can use an Apex leak detector at base of fuge. You can use a shorter one of these on each drain in the fuge. More surface area so less likely to clog.

Where can I buy this guy and what is it called?

 

[BamaCoastPyrat]

I got them from Richard Durso's site.
https://shop.dursostandpipes.com/collections/strainers/products/intake-strainer

Nevermind. I should have finished reading the thread...

 

[Cthulukelele]

Time for breath holding! Fill and pump incoming!

 

[Cthulukelele]

It works! Almost completely silent. Massively oversized