Need help/info on refugium setup

[bkdivergirl]

I’m new to the hobby. Could someone help me with some advice on setting up a refugium. I want it for Phosphate and Nitrate purposes, but also to breed copepods. I’m attaching pics of my sump. I’ve been told and learned through research, that I just throw some cheato and a decent light in the middle chamber of the sump. As you can see my skimmer is in the first chamber. This pic is not current, my pump is now in the chamber on the right.

My question is…do I need any mechanical filtration between the skimmer and the fuge? If so, how do you suggest this since there isn’t much room between them and I those baffles are not adjustable? I don’t have the built in filter socks (nor do I want filter socks).

 

[ianw163]

I mean you should

 

[ianw163]

Technically