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My 5.5g pico with built in Fuge


Sandeep

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ha i shoulda guessed.

 

so does that fuge act as your filter as well. i really like how its all in one with sucha clean look.

 

but im confused. dont fuges need lights 24 7 ?

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ha i shoulda guessed.

 

so does that fuge act as your filter as well. i really like how its all in one with sucha clean look.

 

but im confused. dont fuges need lights 24 7 ?

 

The light he has over the tank has a moon light built in, you can see a pic of my tank with the same light over it with the moon light on here: http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.php?...20&start=20

I'm not sure if this is enough light to run the fuge though.

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I find that the tank light on it's normal 12hr cycle provides plenty of light to the algea/plants in the refugium. Because the plexiglass wall of the refugium is transparent it gets plenty of light and the algea/plants have been growing and spreading.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I have the maxi-jet 400 as well, and the reason i had that piece on the powerhead was because otherwise the water went up to the plexiglass top, but I tried taking it off. I think it might have just been the specific ricordea because it was coming off of its rock in my other tank as well whereas none of my other ricordeas are doing so. If you could take a picture of your ricordea in your tank for me that would be very appreciated, maybe I will try putting in a different ricordea if you're having success with yours then.

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  • 4 weeks later...

Here is an updated picture of the tank.



NanoDec4_07n.jpg

 

NanoDec4_07l.jpg

 

New inhabitants include two Porcelain crabs which are reef-safe filter feeders and a emerald crab who eats algae. Here is a close up of one of the Porcelain crabs that you can see in the cave near the center of the coral island in the picture above.

NanoDec4_07m.jpg

Edited by Sandeep
  • Like 2
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Looks good, a lot nicer than mine looks...The front of my tank has green algae thats apparently caked on there really well...and doesn't feel like coming off with my mag float :(

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Fantastic job on this set-up! You know what's funny? I was considering doing a very similar set up as this. I have several 2.5 tanks (I breed betta's!). I ordered a 12" Current USA light just to clear the free shipping thershold from petmountain a while back. I figured that I could use it as a fuge light or something... My main objective was the 24" dual satellite light though. Anyways, Once I saw these pico forums I thought I would jsut use the 12" light and a 2.5g tank to start my own pico reef. I threw an old Aquaclear 200 HOB filter on the back, and a 50watt Tetra heater from Wal-Mart ($13!) that fits inside the filter chamber, so you can't see it inside the tank for a pretty clean look.

 

Anyways, I considered picking up a 5g tank and bulding a fuge into one end much like yours, but then I decided to just set up the pico, with what I have, and use my 24" light on a 30 long tank, and build a fuge on one end, like yours. I wasn't sure how it would work, but after seeing yours, I'm convinced. You inspired me to do the same thing, but on a little larger scale.

 

Thanks a lot for the inspiration, and sharing your creation please keep us posted!

 

Johnny

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Hey Sandeep,

 

What is the distance from the refugium wall to the back of the tank?

 

Also what is the height distance of the space between the 2 sides of the refugium?

 

Did you use aquarium silicone or acrylic silicone?

 

Thanks!

 

You've inspired me :D

Edited by Rubicon06
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The distance from the refugium partition to the left side of the tank is 13cm.

The height of the gap between the two sides of the refugium which water flows under is 4.5cm.

I used standard aquarium silicone, seems to be quite solid.

Edited by Sandeep
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looks great! im actually in the process of doing something similar!!!! check it out sometime i havent started the build yeat as i am still buying parts and figuring out exactly what i want. What is your water change schedual

Edited by dubsmcfly
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This set up is amazing...nice and clean!!!

 

I have a 5.5g tank that sits in the garage and I'm so tempted to work on it, but I still have to complete my 3g pico first.

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Love the porcelain crabs! I've always wanted one. If I didn't already have an emerald and a pom pom in my 5.5, I'd sure add one or two. Hmmmm...wonder if I could, anyway?

 

:)

 

--Diane

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fuge is not mechanical filteration or chemical , its biological filteration with cheato and live rock and stuff

 

So, is "stuff" a technical term :lol:

 

Tank is looking great Sandeep

Edited by evilc66
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I've added a sponge to the intake of the Maxi-Jet 400 as I noticed some plant matter from the culpera was sticking to it. The key to good water quality is really the weekly water changes which you need to keep up with religiously and not over feeding the tank. I feed the tank twice a week, once DT phytoplankton and once mysis or Cyclopleeze.

 

It's my understanding that crabs live in quite high densities in the wild. So far I have not noticed any hostilities between the two porcelain crabs, the emerald crab and the skunk cleaner shrimp. I don't think it would be an issue to add another filter feeding decorative crab to your tank.

 

No plans to add any major additions in terms or corals, it will be more interesting to see how things grow out while maintaining a coral island in the middle of the tank rather than stacking up and creating a large coral rock wall against the back. I just did add a small rock with yellow polyps and am currently fighting with the xenia to grow along the back ridge of the coral island rather than it's attempt to creep to the front.

Edited by Sandeep
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