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- Nov 1, 2017
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I haven't started working on converting the ATO box into a refugium yet, but will work on it in the next week or so and I'll post photos at that time. Basically I am going to drill two holes in the side of the ATO tank, one near the bottom to pump water in from the sump using a Neptune PMUP, and one near the top for an overflow drain back into the sump.
The reason I'm heating the mixing station tank is so the water will be approximately the same temperature as my aquarium and I can be more accurate with the salinity level when mixing in the salt. Since salinity measurements can vary based on water temperature, and the water from my plumbing system comes out at about 50 degrees, I plan to heat it up before mixing each new batch of saltwater.
I'm glad you're enjoying the build, and I hope my design is helpful for your planning! Regarding the decision between a Reefer 350 or 425, I'm glad I went with the 425 because the extra couple of inches in depth allowed me to fit all the plumbing in with little room to spare. I'm not sure I could have squeezed everything in with a 350.
It is funny that a year ago I would only have based my decision on the size of the DT but now that is almost secondary to what sort of space/configuration options there is in the sump area (which is, as you pointed out, why the 425 is very appealing). I'll check out the chemistry of salinity at different temperatures but your answer does make sense. In my case I'm not sure exactly how I'm going to handle the creation and storage of my salt water so still coming up to speed on what needs to be done there. I do think I'll be looking for small daily water changes (using DOS) from a large salt water container regardless of how I end up sourcing it.
I'll definitely be checking back in with regard to where you go with the refugium (sounds like another cor20 for the refugium pump?) and how your design is working in general. I have almost no experience with plumbing but I also have some garage/storage space about 15' from where we think we will put the tank so your schematics, ideas and implementation are definitely of interest.