Betta Testing Sapphire 14" HOB Fuge

[RaSooch]

For all of you who were drooling over the 18" version and were awaiting the 14" version, I have some great news for you.

 

Kyle has given me the opportunity of preforming the betta test on his new 14" refugium. I have recently finished setting it up and I am now awaiting some cheato.

 

Here's the Pics....

 

I also purchased the nanocustoms 3.1 fuge light which is a perfect fit.

 

Here is a shot with the skimmer in place.

 

Now the installation was the tricky part because I wanted to keep the stock hood and to do so I had to do some cutting. I know that I was going to have to lose the hinges but well worth the benefit. Think about it, what did we all do in the past before tank hoods had hinges? So I decided it wasn't a big deal at all. I started with removing the hinge pins on the back of the hood.

 

Then I used saran wrap to cover the tank so plastic debri wouldn't get into the display or fowl up the pumps while I dremeled off the hinges on the rear of the tank.

 

To figure out how much I needed to remove form the back of the hood, I dry fitted the fuge and marked the hood for the cuts. No comments about my dremel skills please.

In order to free up the power cords for the lights I used a sheet metal cutter to save my fingers and not risk damage to the wires.

 

Here is the refugium installed and secured on the back of my tank.

I placed the refugium pump into the middle chamber on the lowest setting.

[RaSooch]

side shots.

 

here's one with the hood on.

 

and the light.

As you can see there is no light seeping into the main display.

 

After setup and running the fuge everything works great but there are a few small issues that kyle and I have dicussed and the kinks are being worked out.

Kyle is currently working on the fixes and a few ideas that we bounced off one another to improve the design.

 

As of now I will be running the refugium as is. I may do a bit more cutting to improve the space in chamber 1 and a few more adjustments here and there but nothing major.

 

Hope you all enjoy.

[Periette]

This is excellent news for smaller cubes that want to maintain the clean look but have expanded room for their fuge/equipment. I'm wondering, how is the water level affected in the fuge when you turn off the pumps? Do you still have to empty the skimmer collection cup prior to doing so or can you turn them off w/out problems w/the skimmer overflowing when they come back on? Good stuff.

[RaSooch]

This is excellent news for smaller cubes that want to maintain the clean look but have expanded room for their fuge/equipment. I'm wondering, how is the water level affected in the fuge when you turn off the pumps? Do you still have to empty the skimmer collection cup prior to doing so or can you turn them off w/out problems w/the skimmer overflowing when they come back on? Good stuff.

 

When I am feeding, I turn off the tank pump and the fuge pump and keep the skimmer pump going and I have never had an overflow problem.

 

So when I turn off the fuge pump the water level drops in the fuge due to the overflow return pipe. And if were to turn off the tank pump only the fuge would remain at the same level because of the overflow return pipe. So there is no chance for the refugium to overfow or for the skimmer to cause an overflow.

 

Kyle is working making the fuge walls a bit higher to avoid any problems with a potential overflow but I haven't had any incidents yet. He is also flip flopping the overflow return and skimmer position to coincide w/ the BC's as of now the configuration is set up for the NC's. We have also bounced a few ideas off eachother and came up with and idea to include the media trays like the 18" version has. Intead of the trays being on the side of the skimmer we came up with media trays that would act as a stand for the skimmer to sit on top of and have a handle to remove it for changing the media. So all of this is in the works right now.

 

Here's a simple drawing that I did of the idea.

Fuge_design_1.bmp

[adinsxq]

i'm more interested in your review of the nanocustoms LED light. what are the dimensions? how's the color? is it bright?

[RaSooch]

i'm more interested in your review of the nanocustoms LED light. what are the dimensions? how's the color? is it bright?

 

I don't remember the dimensions off hand and I am at work right now, but Chris or Nick at nanotuners would be able to answer that for you. The light is extreemly bright which I was definitely surprised at since it is only three LED's The color seems to be tha same as a daylight PC. My Cheato is thriving under this light.

[alpha]

Price?????

[BioCube]

that mod is hardcore!

[RaSooch]

I am not sure of the price, right now is stilll in it's testing phase. If you email Kyle at http://www.sapphireaquatics.com/ I am sure he'll get back to you with answers quickly. Kyle has great customer service.

[alpha]

I wanna get a new stand, and after that -- I'm gonna get one of these. The 18" is $299.00, so I'm hoping it's gonna be less.

[RaSooch]

I would guess the cost to make the smaller version would be less so I would assU&me that it would be cheaper than the 18" version. I am guessing that you would need to purchase the skimmer as well then?

[alpha]

I am guessing that you would need to purchase the skimmer as well then?

 

You guessed right. The skimmer will be smaller too, which will make it less right? The $299 price (NC24 edition) was with the skimmer.

[RaSooch]

That is correct. The smaller 14" HOB would include the NC12 skimmer.

[alpha]

Update?

[RaSooch]

Spoke to Kyle on monday and he is working on the new refugium this week. I expect to here back from him soon. I will keep you posted about it's progress along with any new pics.

[Bossman47]

Any updates?

[RBuddha]

"beta test" a refugium? Now ive heard it all.

[mjaustin22]

updates please, I really want one of these for my BC14, thanks.