[Crazy talk thread here....freshwater Refugium? am I completely nutty?]

My first sump was a 30 gallon storage tote with poret foam dividers, lava rock in the bottom, and a tetra fountain pump as the return to filter a 29 gallon. I later upgraded to a 40 long with the same sump, and now have the same 40 long and a 90 attached to a 40 gallon tote sump. What I like about both sumps I made was I placed them on cinder blocks high enough to drain through a spigot on the bottom into a 5 gallon bucket, and I could put the heaters in the tote and make the aquarium look cleaner. This is really cool for my current 2 tank 1 sump setup, because I heat both tanks using the same inkbird controlled heaters. 

Each time I made a sump, I wanted to do a freshwater refugium but hadn't figured out how to make it work. But I may have an idea now partly inspired by the OP. 

Current layout of sump:

 

Inlet [coarse poret foam]               lava rock                    [fine poret foam] return pump and heater 

 

I might switch this to the following:

 

Inlet with lava rock as refugium                     [coarse poret foam][fine poret foam]  return pump and heater

 

I may try putting neocardinia in this lava rock refugium and see how it goes. I could see a possibility for putting fry in here too, but as of yet I don't have a filter sock for the inlet pipes, so the turbulence may be a bit much for the fry if they wander too close to the inlet. This would also mean I need to alter the tote lid to make it easier to access. I already have an accidental snail population in the sump, they are clearly feeding on something in the sump, so why not try putting a colony of neos in there?

[Black pearl killifish]

For this same species, I've been trying to hatch a spoonful of peat with eggs from a breeder, and have only gotten as far as 3 days post hatch survival. 

I'm feeding vinegar eels. First attempt I tried placing them in a new container with an eyedropper, bit gave them like 4 drops of vinegar eels a day. 2nd time I left them in the container they hatched in and gave them more like 2 vinegar eel drops per day, and changed 50% of the water after day 2 (unchlorinated). 

The hatching container is a glass pot about 2.5" high and 2" in diameter. 

What should I try next to improve survival?

My pH is probably 7.8. 

[Easy green rate for tank with sump filter]

On 12/13/2022 at 8:56 AM, Mmiller2001 said:

You dose the water volume total. Keep in mind you have much less than the actual volume of the tank plus sump. 

One way to not have to worry about calculating the correct volume is to dose the water coming in to the tank. If your water changes are 30 gallons, dose the 30 gallons. Over several weeks, you will reach your target dose for the system.

Do I have less than display tank volume + sump volume because of substrate, equipment, decor, and fish?

[Easy green rate for tank with sump filter]

If I have a 40 long, and a ~20 gallon sump, do I dose enough easy green for 40 gallons, or for 60 gallons?

[Suction screen vs overflow box]

So the screen is going straight into a bulkhead instead of attaching an overflow box to the hole in the side of the aquarium via a bulkhead.

Does that help?

[Suction screen vs overflow box]

Has anyone had experience with using a suction screen for the outlet taking water to a sump filter in a freshwater tank? I'm upgrading my tank and the upgrade is drilled, but the overflow box for my old tank is a HOB style, and the top of the new tank is such it won't accommodate the HOB overflow even if I plugged the holes. 

Pros and cons of both?

Thanks in advance!

[Suction screen vs overflow box]

Has anyone had experience with using a suction screen for the outlet taking water to a sump filter in a freshwater tank? I'm upgrading my tank and the upgrade is drilled, but the overflow box for my old tank is a HOB style, and the top of the new tank is such it won't accommodate the HOB overflow even if I plugged the holes. 

Pros and cons of both?

Thanks in advance!