New tank need help with flow rate on pump

[snichols723]

I need some advice with my tank and sump setup, I just got back in to the hobby after a 10 year break. I bought a drilled 90 gallon with sump and Refugium( at least that’s what iam going to use it for )
1- is my sump set up correctly where my pump is or do I need to spin it I think I have it where the water the water should drain into cause there is a spot for a sock ..

2- should the refugium be first before the sump or vise versa ? I have it set up to drain into the refugium first then sump .

3- I have a reef run g2 4000 , and eve at its lowest setting it’s to much for the drain to handle or at least that’s where iam having the problem it fills up to fast in the refugium and over flows onto floor the refugium has a 1 1/4 in bulkhead and a 3/4 bulk head I assumes to drain into sump ..

What are your guys thoughts and please tell me if iam going this all wrong my tank has only salt and live rock at the moment to start cycling it .and want to get it all working and iam buying a skimmer in 2 weeks .
Thankyou ahead of time for any advice !

 

[Reefara]

that valve at the return pump should be in the drain pipe unless you dont have a controller for the return pump...

you should be including a valve for the drain as well

if the refugium is overflowing that means your pump is not pumping fast enough.
or
too much drainage

which in turns both work together.

 

[Marco_99]

I’ll just say it. That sump setup is a disaster waiting to happen. Having the only way for the secondary tank to empty into the sump is two pipes inches from the top? Basically you’re draining your tank into another tank. Your secondary tank bulkheads aren’t sufficient enough to rid the excess water coming in. You either choke your return pump down and or get a gate valve on your drain pipe going into your secondary tank to help regulate your flow. Anything gets jacked up you have literally no room for error. I would not run it in this configuration but that’s me. That thing has to sound like Niagara Falls lol

 

[snichols723]

I’ll just say it. That sump setup is a disaster waiting to happen. Having the only way for the secondary tank to empty into the sump is two pipes inches from the top? Basically you’re draining your tank into another tank. Your secondary tank bulkheads aren’t sufficient enough to rid the excess water coming in. You either choke your return pump down and or get a gate valve on your drain pipe going into your secondary tank to help regulate your flow. Anything gets jacked up you have literally no room for error. I would not run it in this configuration but that’s me. That thing has to sound like Niagara Falls lol

Ok I think I rushed this little . So I think iam going to redo everything , do you think I can keep the lick rock and water in the 90 gallon with something to move water around for a week or two till I can re configure sump and refugioum ? Also do you think re drill the lower tank ? Or remove it ?

 

[Cramtechnician]

You could route the tank water into the sump section rather than the Refugium and then run a small pump in the sump that just feeds the fuge.

But I agree the better option is just a new sump setup all together.

 

[Marco_99]

The rock will be fine in the tank. I don’t know what your purpose for the refugium is planning to play, hold fish? Macro algae? Live rock? Corals? The two things are you have no mech filtration (you don’t have to) and if you were to farm macro algae how are you going to keep it from clogging the pipes. My main concern would be you aren’t leaving yourself much room for water fluctuation in that tank if something gets tweaked.