Turning a 30g tank into a refugium - what sort of design is good?

kdx7214

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I've got a 30g long tank that is unusable for a DT due to deep etching of the glass. My wife mentioned that I should grow plants in it, which got me to thinking about a refugium. I have pretty much all of the stuff needed to do this, but I'm not sure how to lay it out. I'd prefer to have it gravity drain into the sump (the DT is too high up). I'd like to grow a variety of macro algaes. I'm having really good growth of a red leafy and red grape macro algae, so that'll probably be some of it. I've had poor results growing chaeto, but do have a very small amount left.

My current plan is to drill the side of the 30g near the top, and run line down into the sump. Not sure about the flow into the tank nor the layout within it. Should I make separators for the different types of algae since chaeto grows as a mat/ball and the red stuff is plant like. What kind of flow rate would be good?

I've google'd for this, but everything I find is relevant to in sump refugiums or HOB setups.

Edit: I've got to get this going. My pH is down around 7.5 and keeps falling.
 

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