Plumbing in an external refugium

[Johnny Reefer]

Is there room for you to "float" the 10g in your sump (ie: partially submerged, with the top edge higher than the water level in your sump). Then all you'd need is some "eggcrate" for the top to keep the macroalgae in and a powerhead to feed the 'fuge. The overflow just spills over the side of the 10g back into the sump. You could have it sit on some plastic baskets inside the sump. Then you could still have Live Rock underneath, if that is what you already have now. The local grocery store that I shop at is selling Japanese oranges that come in a plastic basket. Personally, I've got two uses planned for these handy items in the future. One is to sit a skimmer on top of and the other is to sit a canister filter on top of. This will allow for the shallow water depth the skimmer requires and for the canister it will facillitate it being in the sump but will lift it high enough to keep the filter head clear of the water (not that that is a problem the way they are gel sealed these days).
Anyway, I'm rambling.

Cheers,