Help converting ATO to Refugium (IceCap 15)

[RSG1211]

Hi All,

I am building a 30 gallon shallow reef tank and have an IceCap 15 sump. The sump has an ATO reservoir built into it and I want to convert the ATO res to a refugium...

My question to you all is this: where would I want to drill the holes to allow the water to flow into the refugium? Of course it needs to go in from the main (skimmer reservoir) and out to the return pump reservoir, but I'm having trouble visualizing where to drill the holes. I think it will change the way the water level gate works but again, can't visualize it.

Included some photos to help show what I'm trying to do... Green dots are where I'm thinking the holes would go. But please chime in with your thoughts!

Thank you!

 

[TexanCanuck]

The height of the hole that discharges water from the refugium to the return section will determine the depth of the water in the refugium

And the height of the hole that allows water from the skimmer section to the refugium will influence how many micro bubbles you will have to deal with in your 'fuge (assuming your skimmer makes a ton of micro bubbles like mine does)

Putting those two thought together, it seems to be that you want the hole providing INLET water to the 'fuge to be LOW, and the hole providing OUTLET water to the return section to be HIGH

Two concerns, however:

(1) if the outlet from the 'fuge is higher than the weir between the skimmer section and the return section, you're not going to get any flow through the 'fuge. In fact, with this approach you might have problem with sufficient flowrate through the 'fuge no matter what ... might think about putting a small pump in the skimmer section with the discharge hose routed up and over into the 'fuge to make sure you get the flow you want

(2) if the hole for the outlet from the 'fuge is too high relative to the running water level in the return section you are going to get more noise ... which may be a concern.

 

[RSG1211]

The height of the hole that discharges water from the refugium to the return section will determine the depth of the water in the refugium

And the height of the hole that allows water from the skimmer section to the refugium will influence how many micro bubbles you will have to deal with in your 'fuge (assuming your skimmer makes a ton of micro bubbles like mine does)

Putting those two thought together, it seems to be that you want the hole providing INLET water to the 'fuge to be LOW, and the hole providing OUTLET water to the return section to be HIGH

Two concerns, however:

(1) if the outlet from the 'fuge is higher than the weir between the skimmer section and the return section, you're not going to get any flow through the 'fuge. In fact, with this approach you might have problem with sufficient flowrate through the 'fuge no matter what ... might think about putting a small pump in the skimmer section with the discharge hose routed up and over into the 'fuge to make sure you get the flow you want

(2) if the hole for the outlet from the 'fuge is too high relative to the running water level in the return section you are going to get more noise ... which may be a concern.

Thank you! Very good points.

What if I drilled the outlet hole from the fuge and installed a gate valve to control how much water flows out of the fuge?

Additionally, does this idea create more problems than it would solve?

Thanks!

 

[RSG1211]

The height of the hole that discharges water from the refugium to the return section will determine the depth of the water in the refugium

And the height of the hole that allows water from the skimmer section to the refugium will influence how many micro bubbles you will have to deal with in your 'fuge (assuming your skimmer makes a ton of micro bubbles like mine does)

Putting those two thought together, it seems to be that you want the hole providing INLET water to the 'fuge to be LOW, and the hole providing OUTLET water to the return section to be HIGH

Two concerns, however:

(1) if the outlet from the 'fuge is higher than the weir between the skimmer section and the return section, you're not going to get any flow through the 'fuge. In fact, with this approach you might have problem with sufficient flowrate through the 'fuge no matter what ... might think about putting a small pump in the skimmer section with the discharge hose routed up and over into the 'fuge to make sure you get the flow you want

(2) if the hole for the outlet from the 'fuge is too high relative to the running water level in the return section you are going to get more noise ... which may be a concern.

Wait...wouldn't a better idea be to make the return pump reservoir the fuge and the ATO res the new return pump res?

So, water would flow over the gate, through the (new) fuge, and back to the (old) ATO reservoir, which would now be the return pump res.

Thoughts?

Thanks!

 

[TexanCanuck]

Yes! That would be much better.

you’ll have to make a weir overflow from the (new) fuge section to the (new) return section, and the height of that should (ideally) be the SAME as the weir from the Skimmer section to the (new) fuge ... but you may need to have it slightly shorter in order to get a decent cascade from one section to the next

(my fear would be that if the weirs are both the same height, the water volume in the new fuge section would not sufficiently circulate in that section, since it would be possible for water to simply move horizontally across the section)

So it’s been a while since your original post ... what did you end up doing? Would love to hear your experience!