$35 custom refugium

I just made a home made refuge for about $35.00. I used a large hang on specimen container (holds about 1 gallon). A power head was placed in the container with the outlet in the main tank. An inverted U pipe (green in color) was used as the inlet. If there is no air in the inverted U tube, as the power head pumps water out, the U will suck water in. I had to add a second tube to keep up with the pump. I glued some acrylic sheets into the container to make separate compartments. I am going to use a 13watt flourescent as light for now. Haven't populated the fuge to much yet, but will soon.

It may not look to pretty, green was kinda my last choice, but it works like a charm. Any input would be great!

taht is indeed exactly how mine is setup minus the diveders. very nice.

how does that work i want to make a totally custom one to, like yours, but i dont understand how it works.

can you explain...

-intake

-how tank doesnt overflow

-power outage

-and pump return

so basic the whole thing minus(-) what goes in side.

It is basically all about the inverted U tube. If you have no air in the U tube, the water level in the fuge and in the tank will equalize. (Not the depth of the water, just the water level) If the water level in the tank is above the fuge, water will flow through the U to ballance the water levels. The power head pump pumps water out of the fuge and into the tank. When the pump removes water from the fuge and moves it to the tank, the tank level will rise and the fuge level will fall. Since the water wants to equalize the water level, it flows through the U tube into the fuge. As long as the U has no air and is large enough, the system ballances. My U tube is double the area of the pumped return tube.

The Intake is simply the green tubes seen in the picture. Since their are 2 intakes, the water velocity is 1/2 the velocity of the return through the pump.

If the power goes out, the pump stops pumping water out of the fuge, so the U doesn't replenish any. The U tube will simply equalize the water level. When the power returns, as long as there is no air in the U, the system will restart itself.

I placed my power head intake midway up the side of the fuge, so if the U tube does stop working due to air or a clog, the powerhead will drain the fuge about an inch then just run dry. You will need to experiment with this a little. This is a key saftey feature if your fuge has enough water to overflow your main tank.

HERE IS THE KEY: In order for the U tube to work, it has to have no air in it and THE WATER LEVEL IN THE FUGE MUST BE ABLE TO BE AT THE SAME HEIGHT AS THE TANK.

If you have any more questions, feel free to let me know!

jmcc@bu.edu

It's an overflow syphon...s'all.

where did you find the hang on specimen container?....

nice work by the way...

My local fish store had one they were using and I convinced them to sell it to me. They are also available online ad Dr Fosters and Smith: http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod...d=6&pCatId=3847

$8 to ship something that costs $7 bucks... what a rip.

CPR factory second 12" Aquafuge.....$74 free shipping!

No fiddling, no overflow, looks awesome....very pleased!

you paid 74 for a factory 2nd cpr aquafuge? Ohh fly, what have you done?

Factory second with a full year warranty.....and no "visable" defect that I can see......much better than $89 +15 s/h from premium aquatics. I'm very, very happy with the purchase!

Where did you get a 'second'?

well next time you want one pm me. I can make you one just as good for half the price.

Details!

Buddha - I have seen your work! You have some mad acrylic skills.....and I'm thinking about a HOB for my 45ga, so you might be getting a PM sooner than later!

Here's the company who sells the seconds: http://amekaaquatics.com/Merchant2/merchan...y_Code=_SECONDS The product is drop shipped directly from CPR, with a nice reef keepers log I might add!

NOTE:

1) You can also use some big HOB filters

2) I built an siphon (weir) overflow with a large and small "convalescent home". LFSs just DON'T sell these things! I have no idea why not, they are SO useful!

3) There is a guy named "acriliccity" that makes HOB acrylic fuges for an average price of $35 so look there (plus shipping from Canada) as well!

V

Be careful with acryliccity. There were some quality issues that arose earlier. Maybe it was just a bad batch. Caveat emptor.

hehe thats my competition, acrylic city. But from the fuges ive seen from them on ebay they're ghetto.

My latest one for Maverick and perpetual wanted me to upload a photo

One of the issues acrylicity had too, was his return was too big and didn't go deep enough into the main tank........causing a trickle overflow, resulting in a ton of bubbles returning to the main tank.

The HOB filter idea was out for me because this is right in the heart of our living room.......part of the deal with the wife, it has to look good! I had already placed my order for the CPR when buddha, let the cat out of the bag that he was doing acrylic work.

Hey Budda, The refugium looks awsome and i can't wait to get it!