so i'm the guy who took the first dive and bought the eco-lamps fixture (http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=192977)

I recently went about constructing my own glass display fuge. I decided to build my own as there really wasn't anything that I thought would look at home in my modern-style bedroom.

I had some 1/4" glass custom cut for me at a local glass supply/cutter. I fitted and sealed them with aquarium silicone.




I then bought some aluminum flashing/strips from lowes which I dremeled to length as edge pieces. I contemplated a frameless design but i'm a big fan of brushed metals and thought this would be more 'in place' with the setting. Here it is in the garage sink undergoing the first water test.


cleaned up and ready to go


in place and plumbed


its a simple design with overflow (with strainer) and the return on the other side. The return is plumbed with a valve to an mju900 with an intake in the display chamber of the bc14. The drain returns straight into the tank and is in need of some sort of bubble trap. I already have an idea in mind but I'm open to suggestions.


+ H2O


temporary lighting. just some xenon fixture with 2, 20 watt bulbs sitting on a glass shelf. I'm also open to suggestions for lighting for this (12" long). I like the look of one of those pc fixtures on legs that stand it on the edge of the tank.





here is the intake for the pump with a strainer. it's on a flexible black silicone hose. it isn't visually intrusive at all.


here is a view of the drain. You can see the small number of microbubbles it releases here, some simple trap should take care of that soon enough.


the green giant's pubes. The egg crate will be secured soon so the water pressure no longer tilts it forward.


Better view of the strainer on the bulkhead.


there's a sexy in there. liveaquaria.com failed to tape the corners of the bags of sexies 2 & 3, so there is no sexy party for this guy (they died in transit).




and finally the obligatory (ft)^2s


In the fuge i have some miracle mud. I really like the look of it so don't really care how true/false the claims may be. Pods have moved in and are reproducing like bunnies... exo-skeleton covered bunnies.

the sexy spends most of its time on the live rock but ventures into the chaeto for a snack (i suppose) every once in awhile. I need to get him/her friends for sexy time.

Anyways, so far I'm very happy. Most of all I like how it looks solid and not some 'rigged-to-work' project.

The tank itself is 12"x10"x8" with an effective capacity of ~3.6 gallons

There are 4 snails in there for janitorial purposes but I am hoping you guys may have some suggestions for other critters to add in the display area that hopefully won't add much to the bioload and won't fit through the egg crate. I'm a big fan of all forms of inverts. And though not an invert, I have contemplated a pygmy seahorse as it will have a constant supply of pods but idk if it would have worthy longevity in that setting. As you think of suggestions, keep in mind that the main source of pod reproduction will be separated from the display area so I do not fear depletion. I'm also looking for a way to get more fuge-fauna beyond pods (worms, micro-brittles, etc..) but have no idea where. my LR came from liveaquaria and had literally ZERO hitch-hikers.

Thanks for taking a look and for any suggestions.

very cool

I think you should pick up some black Krylon Fusion spray paint and give your white eggcrate a good coat. It will look a million times better.

Very nice, but is it just me or is the stand tilting in the last pic

As for other inverts, I like cerith snails, you don't have to worry about them falling over. I would look into other macro algae to add to the mix. I think you're on to something with sexies in the fuge.

thank you very much.


eh, i see what you are saying but i don't mind the white.


lol you sir, are correct. But i got a level and adjusted the stand so its even now.

In there now are 4 trochus snails. I'm hoping they snail slam and have snail babies in the chaeto.

I like the sexies up there too. I had never had them before but had always wanted. I just read that they tend to munch on corals if they get hungry so i thought this was the ideal place. I just need more now!

I love it! Very nice job. Now for the constructive critique:

1) In the top part of this picture


where you can see the aluminum edge trim you built on the refugium, you might be better served in the future if you extend the bottommost front strips of edge trim (in almost any application) ALL THE WAY OUT to the end of the dimension, so that the front pieces cover (overlap) the ends of the side pieces, rather than seeing the ends of the side pieces exposed to the displayed front. It's a tiny thing, I know, but I think this setup is really nice - obviously a lot of thought went into its design, and it's the little things that count!

2) Is that return pump going to remain stable and safe, suspended as it is from the plumbing alone? I would think it needs to be on a shelf, or some kind of weight support, to ameliorate its vibration, if nothing else.

Now, on to more praise! I really admire the whole idea of display refugiums. And I think that the gentle way you have your return set up, with the chaeto right before a strainer-return, with no pump, is going to just flood your tank with live fauna, and make for great success!

I really like it!

I would not add a consumer, like a seahorse, to the fuge, at least not yet. I would give things time to stabilize. I might try some of the smaller sea-grasses, like paddle grass, since you have the right substrate. A couple more sexy shrimp, like you say, and maybe a couple of peppermint shrimps, so they can breed and contribute to the live food factory.

Sorry for the dissertation - I really like it! Congrats!

lol i enjoyed your paper!

About the trim; I see what you are saying! that would have been more intelligent. I sometimes am more pragmatic than I am creative and tend to overlook things like that lol. In retrospect I definitely should have done that.

I too was worried about the suspended pump... especially when it comes to noise/vibration. I decided that I would run it suspended like that once it was plumbed and see how it worked out. After everything was in place, to my surprise, it was rock solid. And to my continued suprise, the lack of solid contact has eliminated sound conduction. I literally cannot hear the pump at all. It was one of those things in life that worked out better than expected.

thank you for the praise. It does seem to work well for returning critters into the display. At night, the cleaner shrimp and porcelain crabs search for high points on the rock-work to try and catch them as they come out of the drain.

Yeah, the 'consumer' nature of a seahorse is what concerns me as well. I will follow your suggestion and wait to see how things work out and then decide on whether or not to try it. I'm glad you suggested other 'display' macros. I've never kept a refugium before and don't know much about them. I'll look into the paddle grass.

So do peppermints and sexies get along? Like I said, I love inverts so the more the merrier. If they do, i'll put a couple more live rocks in there and get some peppermints. I've always wanted those too

Thank you for the help/suggestions. This has been a learning process and I hope it continues to be so.

_____________________
I'd also like to add for anyone thats reading for ideads of display fuges of their own:

I plumbed the pump below the level of the display tank in a 'u' loop fashion so that when the power goes out, water remains in the U and the pump is constantly primed. I've test this and it works perfectly. A couple of puffs of air when its reactivated but it restarts without a hitch.

Cool, very good.

The only other thing that worries me about the pump is that its weight, and the weight of all the plumbing, is hanging on the drilled hole in the glass. And I don't really know if that's something to worry about or not!

You could talk to johnmaloney, of this forum, about keeping different macros. He and his brother run Reef Cleaners, which is a sponsor of Nano-Reef, and they do a lot with macro algaes and such. He will know a lot more than I.

oh I see what you are saying about the glass. Being 1/4" i'm not too worried. Also the inlet of the pump is hanging on the edge of the display tank taking a large portion of the weight. Not that I planned this, but the pipe going from the bulk head to the pump shoots sideways as opposed to straight back so a force of tension/leverage is converted to torque. The bulkheads have a large rubber o-ring that would distribute this torque in a way that I feel won't cause a problem. I have and will keep an eye on the area though. Thanks for looking out.

I had heard of reefcleaners but forgot the name of the company so I wasn't able to look them up. Thanks for pointing me in their direction. I think I'll send them an email asking their opinion.

Thanks again for the help!

anyone have ideas for lighting?
12" long. I'm interested in CF or similar on legs.

REEF LOBSTER!!!!
REEF LOBSTER!!!
REEF LOBSTER!!!!!!!


get one...

How are things going with this setup?