Should i convert a 29g with 7g sump to a 29g with ~30g sump?

[AlgaeBarn]

Well, I have a 29g acrylic with a 7gallon built in sump(totals about 36g). By adding an additional acrylic baffle, I could create about a 2 gallon refugium that I could place chaeto and maybe some LS but I feel that would be insufficient to house a mandarin or two due to insufficient pods.

Now, I could drill where the sump portion is, add a bulkhead and have that go to a 30gallon tank with place for sump and refugium. This would allow a much larger refugium(I could be add live sand as I want to break down the 55gallon and make the 29gallon pimping lol) but then I have to worry about leakage and whatnot. It seems pretty straightforward, but there are some various holes drilled to allow the water levels in the sump and DT to equilibrate(easy fix, get some scrap acrylic and bond it over the holes.)

So my question is:
Would a 2gallon refugium even be worth it? I haven't created a sump or a refugium before but I feel I have done quite a bit of research(I've read pretty much every page on melev's reef). I could definitely try the 2gallon refugium, see how I feel about it and then maybe upgrade to the 30gallon if i didn't like it. However, that would require me to break down the tank to drill and whatnot.

 

[Boogie]

Go bigger now...you know deep down inside that your "upgrades" would only be temporary...

 

[AlgaeBarn]

haha, I've been itching to complete a bigger upgrade

 

[Boogie]

move up to a 75g now. lots of them on cl for reasonable pricing. Great size tank imo.

 

[AlgaeBarn]

I have a 6 bulb T-5 that would fit a 75 gallon perfect but as I college student I want to hold off on spending more money at the moment. I figure I can slowly snag deals on CL until I have what i need for a 75gallon.

 

[B-Willz]

I have a 75 sitting in my basement. But either way go with a bigger sump. I know someday I will have a tank bigger than my sump, its a 90 gallon.