The float is the fail safe and goes in the sump right next to the optic sensor, optic sensor is the main level sensor, plus run time limited. It's the only one I would really on so yes it is in my sump.
Thank you, that is exactly what I have going on in my 40 breeder refugium. Lots of sponge, feather duster, brittle stars, spaghetti worms, all from live ocean rock placed in the refuge. Did not know it had a name. That is the reason I don't run filter socks. It is it's own environment full of life. I keep finding new creatures all the time.This explains it better than I can
Cryptic Zones in the Refugium
What are Cryptic Zones, Anyway? The planted refugium and its associated cryptic zones have gained a lot of traction among reef aquarists in recent years.www.algaebarn.com
Ok. Guess I misread(skimmed). 200 seems plenty reasonable given the amount of money we put into our tanks. I've been feeding a float valve directly from rodi unit. No failures in about 9 years with the same float valve that I never clean. But tds creep and the possibility of failure is my concern. Currently designing a reservoir/ top off solution to resolve both. Do you think the included pump will push water from 30 feet away(3 or 4'head height) without issue? Or would a booster pump, on a timer, feeding a float valve be more appropriate? Or some combination of both?
Going on 7 or 8 here I think
Thanks for this absolute made me think how the filtration works as a whole that was a great readThis explains it better than I can
Cryptic Zones in the Refugium
What are Cryptic Zones, Anyway? The planted refugium and its associated cryptic zones have gained a lot of traction among reef aquarists in recent years.
I know a FIJICUBE Stand when I see one...lol I have their 108INT & Stand...love itHere's mine! A very simple setup with a large refugium, a skimmer section and my return chamber.
You'll see that theres no socks and no roller; i rely on my refugium as primary source of nutrient export
So far so good..
Do you use filter sock ? I see one in pic I’m really thinking on not using one after all I’ve read through this threadJust setting up a RSR 450 and added a baffle to creat a refugium like my 350.
The glass broke a while back on the 350’s refugium but it still works well. No water changes in over 2 years!
This is s Cade 1200
Show me your Fiji?
The cup is empty. I fill it with poly floss when needed, but it’s mostly empty. I think the refugium does a great job of removing not only the nutrients but filtering out the visible particulate matter (PM) , it also allows a place for PM to break down and be consumed by the refugium’s ecosystem.
Well, Dam...I was wrong on that assumption...This is s Cade 1200
Here is a short video I did in October
That’s a very pretty sump tank there
The water from the down pipe spills over the tray holding the sock and cup and then goes down into the first chamber where the fuge is. Then flows through the slotted gate into the second chamber where the skimmer is. Then flows through the sponge bubble trap into the return chamber. I keep a bag of chemipure blue in the media cup primarily for the carbon and purigen filtering.
Cheers, I've been scouring everywhere for cryptic sump reading. Read the algae barn stuff above, everything available on reef farmers. As much as I can here, and the whopping 5 videos on YouTube.This explains it better than I can
Cryptic Zones in the Refugium
What are Cryptic Zones, Anyway? The planted refugium and its associated cryptic zones have gained a lot of traction among reef aquarists in recent years.
Good Job on researching. You did a much better job than I did lol. I read a dark area with rock and flow and I was off and running. My rock is from a mature tank but I have seen an increase in sponges and filter feeders already. Tank was started 3/12/24 . I have algae starting to grow in my ATS so I'm happy so far. I'm not planning on a skimmer but have a couple laying around if I need them. My flow comes from the bottom then up through the rock and over into the next chamber. Flow rate is basically what is coming through the socks. I haven't bothered calculating how much. I've never been too concerned with turnover rates and such.Cheers, I've been scouring everywhere for cryptic sump reading. Read the algae barn stuff above, everything available on reef farmers. As much as I can here, and the whopping 5 videos on YouTube.
The premise(s) I have gathered are as follows...
1- Cryptic zone (refugium) is dark, preferably blacked out so it doesn't grow algae
2- pretty slow flow (however @Subsea has great success with high flow in canisters and reverse flow under sand plenum filter), but "slow" is up to debate. Someone posted a link with a velocity calculator (https://www.sensorsone.com/volume-flow-and-area-to-flow-velocity-calculator/) and talking about attaining 3cm/s velocity and something like 30 times turnover per hour.
3- lots of surface area for sponges, feather dusters, bivalves to colonize and for detrivores to populate. So, lighting egg crate or rock rubble is the way to go to fill the area
4- don't use a skimmer because you're exporting nutrients that could feed your cryptic fuge and/or it could grind up the microfauna that populate the crypt
5- uses silica and can reduce nitrates and phosphates (seems like assimilatory denitrification as the microfauna build their bodies out of the nitrate and phosphates and so on)
6- sponges, et cetera, put out some form of dissolve organic material (DOM) that is somehow beneficial to corals, although what this exactly is, eludes my digging.
As I put some thought into sump building, I have the following thoughts on above.
1, easy to black out a sump
2, convert gph of flow directed to the crypt in sump to in^3 / cross sectional area is rough flow rate (edited for bad math) or pump flow / volume of crypt for approximate hourly turnover rate. I can pretty easily achieve a nice 25 times per hour, which should be pretty sedate and allow plenty of settling of solids. It sounds fast, but with the cross sectional area I'm looking at it should provide plenty of distance /time to settle. I've been looking into waste water treatment processes and solids settlement to help design baffles and flow direction.
3, easy, live rock or lava rock are easy to source, I have buckets of lava rock available
4, I have scrapped idea of using a skimmer, but plan to use a small water pump with a venturi to aerated the sump. It's commonly accepted that the microfauna survive going through the return pump so this shouldn't affect the critters
5, here I get lost. I read someone saying they get playsand from the orange or blue big box to 'dose' their crypt. OK, so how in the world do the sponges uptake silica from sprinkled sand? I can't see it dissolving. Do the bits of sand need to land on the sponges for them to directly take them? Or can the crypt just have a light layer of silica sand on the bottom to be utilized when necessary?
6, I would love some clarity on what DOM the crypt puts out that the corals in DT love so much.
Ok thanks for reading my summation and musings.
That's great looking! Very jealous. Yeah, don't really need to get into crazy calcs. Whatever your flow from dt to sump is, as long as the spillover across that wide weir lip (top of your baffle to rest of sump, is gentle, I think you're good. If it was a narrow outlet and the water height above the lip of the weir was significant, that I would call some fast flow.Good Job on researching. You did a much better job than I did lol. I read a dark area with rock and flow and I was off and running. My rock is from a mature tank but I have seen an increase in sponges and filter feeders already. Tank was started 3/12/24 . I have algae starting to grow in my ATS so I'm happy so far. I'm not planning on a skimmer but have a couple laying around if I need them. My flow comes from the bottom then up through the rock and over into the next chamber. Flow rate is basically what is coming through the socks. I haven't bothered calculating how much. I've never been too concerned with turnover rates and such.
I like your style. I run my freshwater tanks no water change unless truly needed. Lots of plants, dose fertz and trace as necessary.I don’t use any mechanical filtration
I don’t do water changes
I don’t run a skimmer
My middle section is a cryptic zone with sand, live rock, algae scrubber, and natural sponge, pods, worms, etc
