Which Comes First, The Fug Or The Skimmer?

JawaReef

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Hi All,

My questions is, is it better for the refugium to be set up in the sump before or after the protein skimmer? Would having the fug either after the skimmer or just bypassing the skimmer all together, be more beneficial? The thought being here is all the beneficial organisms that come out of the chaeto will be sent right back into your tank without any lost through the skimmer or other filtration sources. But at the same time, having the fug before the skimmer, it would have a chance to process more protein coming straight from the tank, rather than processing whatever is left from the skimmer.

With both of these thoughts in mind, I bought a Eshopps R-200 Sump, where the Fug is separate from the skimmer completely. Is this the best balance of both?

61UbqSYbKdL._SL1000_.jpg
 

CC13

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Hi All,

My questions is, is it better for the refugium to be set up in the sump before or after the protein skimmer? Would having the fug either after the skimmer or just bypassing the skimmer all together, be more beneficial? The thought being here is all the beneficial organisms that come out of the chaeto will be sent right back into your tank without any lost through the skimmer or other filtration sources. But at the same time, having the fug before the skimmer, it would have a chance to process more protein coming straight from the tank, rather than processing whatever is left from the skimmer.

With both of these thoughts in mind, I bought a Eshopps R-200 Sump, where the Fug is separate from the skimmer completely. Is this the best balance of both?

61UbqSYbKdL._SL1000_.jpg

I put mine after the skimmer but I have seen some put it before.
 

Rcpilot

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I think one school of thought about placement is to avoid skimming your beneficial pods or simple life forms that are part of the food chain. Those are fostered and grown, mostly in the refugium. It doesn't make sense to grow those and then run them through the skimmer immediately. Most people would drain the display into the skimmer section, then into the refugium and finally into the return section. Of course, anything that goes through one of the overflows in the display is going to end up in the skimmer section. It's all a trade off.
 

Rcpilot

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You could run a split sump and put the return in the middle. You still run a single drain to the skimmer section. Return in the middle. Refugium on the other side. Put a tee or wye in the return line. Pipe a small branch line and valve over to the refugium to provide the flow. Regulate flow with the valve. It drains back into the return section through a set of baffles.

shrimp1.jpg
 
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JawaReef

JawaReef

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You could run a split sump and put the return in the middle. You still run a single drain to the skimmer section. Return in the middle. Refugium on the other side. Put a tee or wye in the return line. Pipe a small branch line and valve over to the refugium to provide the flow. Regulate flow with the valve. It drains back into the return section through a set of baffles.

shrimp1.jpg


That's essentially what the Eshopps Refugium Sump is set up for. So i guess then what I have will work over all.
 

DesertReefT4r

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The general accepted theory is you want the skimmer before the fuge because it can skim out good micro fauna before it can get upmtomthe display to feed corals and picky fish. I run my skimmer before the fuge. Here is my reasoning why, of coarse the general accepted theory, help keep fuge cleaner by removing waste before it settles in the fuge, keeps macro algae from cloggingbthe skimmer and gives the dirtiest water to the skimmer first. That is just my 2 cents on it and that said it really does not matter if the skimmer is before or after the fuge. Some sumps the skimmer and fuge are totally split and have their own drains from the display. Its really down to what will work for you.
 
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