Canister filter into refugium?

[Qball77]

 So I am relatively new to running A larger reef aquarium and I’m wondering; can I let my canister filter drain into a refugium tank and then use a return pump to return the water to my main tank? I have a penn plax 1200 running right now. My plan is to have water come from my DT, into the filter, into a 10 gallon tank that will have chaeto and a skimmer, and returned to the DT via a pump. My only concern is if I turn down the flow on the canister will this damage the motor on the canister filter? Is there anyone out there running this kinda of setup or am I crazy? I don’t want to drill my DT or have a HOB overflow. Just brainstorming and looking for suggestions. Thanx

[Naekuh]

no...

 

power gets cut, it will siphon from the top to the bottom in reverse, unless u have one way valves attached.  

[Natereef]

Sounds like a bad idea. You will have the danger of siphon as Naekuh said, plus you wont be able to match the water output of your canister filter to the output of your return pump, even if you get the same gph, there are too many variables.  There are hang on back refugiums available if youre really set on a refugium. There are a lot of people with beautiful tanks without refugiums. Its not a must have.

[Qball77]

That’s the thing, there is no siphon. The canister sucks out the water from the DT and returns it. It works as a pump. If the power goes out, the water movement stops. As far as I know 😄 

[A.m.P]

You know how a gravel siphon takes water from your tank to a lower point like the sink? That can happen with your canister filter, if you have it draining to a lower-tank (your refugium), because the pump still creates a vacuum.

[Panther_spawn]

Did you ever try this op?  I'm thinking of doing the same. Not sure about the siphon affect, as the sump will be same level or higher than the cannister filter, which is where the water comes from, not the tank itself.