Hang on back refugium

[Mad Steez]

I was wondering if anyone uses a hang on back refugium only as their filtration? I'm thinking of getting one for my new 55gal set up, instead of having a overflow and sump in the way(dont have any room for sump....) Is this practical for good filtration? will it be good enough for a low to medium bio-load? also it comes with a built in skimmer. I will have a power head or 2 in the main to create extra flow. any input would be cool.

 

I plan to have about 45 to 55 pounds of LR and a 1.5" LS bed in the main, and in the refugium, have LS, LR rubble, and chaeto.....etc.

[Withers]

A hang on the back refugium will not have a significant filtering effect on a large tank IMO. I would wager a guess that a skimmer that comes integrated with a HOB refugium would also be insufficient, but without pics or a link its hard to say.

[Mad Steez]

Here is the HOB, Its almost like i will be using LR as my filtration but with a little help from the HOB

 

http://i5.ebayimg.com/07/i/000/b5/2b/c017_1.JPG

[mccorkell]

I had the cpr hang on refugium on my 55 and it worked very very well, the calurpa grew with mad intensity. I also ran a seperate skimmer. Dont let anyone let you think a sump is the only way to go i had great sucess with my 55 gallon. Get one you wont be dissapointed just get the largest one you can hang back there. It also housed a lot of copods and the fish loved it when they came through the over flow at times.

[BlackOcean]

I am currently running a CPR large HOB fuge on my 20L. The volume for this fuge is 4.5 gallons. May be a little small for a 55 but on my tank it works awesome. I am running a remora skimmer as well. I run a ODNO light on top with a 10k bulb. I have never seen cheato grow so fast. I bought my fuge on ebay as a factory second. Nothing visibly wrong with it that I can see. Not that I care if it was scratched. I got mine for $85 shipped.

[midi]

I was wondering if anyone uses a hang on back refugium only as their filtration? I'm thinking of getting one for my new 55gal set up, instead of having a overflow and sump in the way(dont have any room for sump....) Is this practical for good filtration? will it be good enough for a low to medium bio-load? also it comes with a built in skimmer. I will have a power head or 2 in the main to create extra flow. any input would be cool.

 

I plan to have about 45 to 55 pounds of LR and a 1.5" LS bed in the main, and in the refugium, have LS, LR rubble, and chaeto.....etc.

 

I use a HOB on my Aquapod24 and love it for the ability to provide alternate schedule lighting of chaeto and a pod production facility. I also have a small skimmer that I use in a chamber of my AP24.

 

If you get this as a supplement to your live rock and sand you should look into modding the powerhead that feeds the skimmer. At the very least do a venturi mod to something like a Maxijet 900 and I would also look into mesh-modding it. I did a venturi mod (it's as simple as drilling a 3/16" hole) and it works awesome on a CPR bakpak skimmer.

 

Jeff

[Withers]

I guess it can't hurt, I just don't feel like it has a big enough area to be that beneficial to a 55 gallon. At the very least I'd get a better skimmer (an Aqua C Remora would be a good place to start).

[Tangs rule]

i like the fuge benifits but the skimmer may be lscking like others have mentioned.

 

www.aquatraders.com has pretty much that exact same model for $39.99

[Mad Steez]

Thank you all for your in put. hey midi could i get some more info on the mods. also what size do you think is good for a 55gal? Would this one be better?http://www.aquatraders.com/index.asp?PageA...&ProdID=284 the one before was only 14x4x14 and this one is 24x4x13

[Mad Steez]

bump

[autoponicz]

the 34" one would be better than the smaller one on a 55g

if anything....get 2!

 

but one should be fine and ditch the one with the built in skimmer and pick up a good hang on skimmer

[Mad Steez]

yeah 2 would be cool but running out of room quickly. I'm going to look into the hang on skimmers. which skimmer would be best for a low to medium bio-load? Also what is the best bang for my buck on HOB skimmers?

[midi]

Thank you all for your in put. hey midi could i get some more info on the mods. also what size do you think is good for a 55gal? Would this one be better?http://www.aquatraders.com/index.asp?PageA...&ProdID=284 the one before was only 14x4x14 and this one is 24x4x13

 

One that size will hold about 4.75 extra gallons of water, or 10% of your tank, so it's not too shabby as a place to hold chaeto and maybe put some mud on the bottom. Here's a link to the venturi mod for a maxi jet, takes about 5 minutes once you have the 3/16 drill bit and airline tubing coupling.

 

http://www.cpraquatic.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=2875

 

One thing, it can make for a really noisy skimmer. So I took a 12 inch piece of 1 1/2 inch PVC tubing and drilled another 3/16" hole in it and capped one end of the tube and stuck filter floss in the other end to make a muffler. Just stick the airline tubing into the 'muffler' and it will help tremendously.

 

Jeff

[Mad Steez]

One that size will hold about 4.75 extra gallons of water, or 10% of your tank, so it's not too shabby as a place to hold chaeto and maybe put some mud on the bottom. Here's a link to the venturi mod for a maxi jet, takes about 5 minutes once you have the 3/16 drill bit and airline tubing coupling.

 

http://www.cpraquatic.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=2875

 

One thing, it can make for a really noisy skimmer. So I took a 12 inch piece of 1 1/2 inch PVC tubing and drilled another 3/16" hole in it and capped one end of the tube and stuck filter floss in the other end to make a muffler. Just stick the airline tubing into the 'muffler' and it will help tremendously.

 

Jeff

 

aww cool man thank you for the link and info