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My 5.5g pico with built in Fuge


Sandeep

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Another question for you. The divider between the maxi jet chamber, and the chaeto chamber, is that divider directly in the center? Or is one chamber bigger or smaller than the other? If so, could you give us dimensions in that direction?

 

Also - where did you drill that hole for the MJ 400 to stick through exactly? I can't tell how high it is. I don't want the MJ too high or too low right?

 

Thank you!

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1) Chamber sizes are roughly equal. You want the sump chamber to be large enough for you to get in there are take out the pump for regular cleaning. You want the refugium partition to be big enough to accommodate a lot of macro-algea.

 

2) You want to drill the hole as high as you can to that the upright maxi-jet still has a bit of clearance below your glass top for the aquarium when it's installed in the hole.

 

3) Yes that light is essentially the same but better - more wattage, individual reflectors instead of shared reflector, nice price! Go for it.

Edited by Sandeep
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i hope you dont mind but i think im gona coppy that whole tank design and how u built it i might get T5's tho they will be a lttl bit bigger than the tank btw its gona be a 10 gallon there 100$ at petsmar round where i live but 1st i got finish setting up my sisters freshwater

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oyy so I ordered this light...

 

they sent me the 36watt anyways ><

 

 

i think that is because only the 36" + are out w/ the SLR. i could be wrong, but i also ordered the 24" and they sent me the old fixture. they told me the 24" wasnt released yet. might be the same for that one. i just returned and ended up getting a sundial....

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The divider between the two compartments does not extend all the way down allowing water to flow from one compartment to the other. Here is a diagram I came up with which should make pretty clear how this works and how to build it with the 2 pieces of plexiglass required.

 

TankFlow.gif

can you just explain how that works? please

 

how hard was it to build. and can you give the meshurements for the chambers please thanks(sorry bout spelling)

 

how much did that whole setup cost?

 

i think thats the only thing ill be able to get my mum to let me get but idk lets see what i get for christmas

Edited by coralcor
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Jenna et al-

 

Having just been researching this very same issue (size of hole for a Maxijet) what I came across was that the outer diameter of the nozzle is 1/2". So I would be drilling a 1/2" hole or perhaps a 9/16" hole were I you.

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oyy so I ordered this light...

 

they sent me the 36watt anyways ><

 

edit:

 

called them up, they were really nice, sent me out the 40 watter

 

So they sent you the correct light now? The 40watt 18inch version? Because I am planning on ordering this up tonight.

Edited by eddiecorrea
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can you just explain how that works? please

 

how hard was it to build. and can you give the meshurements for the chambers please thanks(sorry bout spelling)

 

how much did that whole setup cost?

 

i think thats the only thing ill be able to get my mum to let me get but idk lets see what i get for christmas

 

Ill step in for this one since i ripped of sandeeps design a couple times over (thanks sandeep!).

 

They are VERY easy to build, if you screw anything up you just remove the error(d) parts and start over after cleaning the glass.

 

The size of the chambers does not really matter, as long as you can fit the heater and pump inside of the chamber...your good!

 

My tank was free, and the glass was under $5. I think the plastic for these from Home Depot (or any builder supply house) is under $10 + $5-$10 for a tube of silicone.

 

I used 1 piece of glass (most will use plastic where i use glass, i am glazer so cutting glass is pretty easy for me lol), and once smaller piece of glass for the divider inside the fuge/sump area. First glue the larger piece in place to create the falsewall. Let that setup over night (you can skip letting it setup, but allowing it to setup really makes things easier), then slide your second (smaller) piece of glass into the sump/fuge area and glue it in place. You can use duct tape to hold it in place while it sets up. Once that is done, drill a hole for the return pump to sit in and cut some slots or notches in the overflow side.

 

Good luck!

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Ill step in for this one since i ripped of sandeeps design a couple times over (thanks sandeep!).

 

They are VERY easy to build, if you screw anything up you just remove the error(d) parts and start over after cleaning the glass.

 

The size of the chambers does not really matter, as long as you can fit the heater and pump inside of the chamber...your good!

 

My tank was free, and the glass was under $5. I think the plastic for these from Home Depot (or any builder supply house) is under $10 + $5-$10 for a tube of silicone.

 

I used 1 piece of glass (most will use plastic where i use glass, i am glazer so cutting glass is pretty easy for me lol), and once smaller piece of glass for the divider inside the fuge/sump area. First glue the larger piece in place to create the falsewall. Let that setup over night (you can skip letting it setup, but allowing it to setup really makes things easier), then slide your second (smaller) piece of glass into the sump/fuge area and glue it in place. You can use duct tape to hold it in place while it sets up. Once that is done, drill a hole for the return pump to sit in and cut some slots or notches in the overflow side.

 

Good luck!

 

I did it different than that. I used Lexan. Much stronger than glass. I believe its over 100x stronger. The standard 8x10 sheet(I believe that is the measurement) fits inside a 5.5 AGA with only needing the top trimmed about 1/4 inch. It fits perfect after the slight trim on the top. I used Loctite Control Gel Super Glue to glue the Lexan divider onto the large piece. I drilled and cut the slits first as they are much easier to do before in the tank. I then siliconed them to the tank and held it in place for 20hrs with a small clamp. I had my tank up and running less than 24hrs after I started. I bought the cheap PH from Wal-Mart that works great. I had to trim the prop slightly to cut down on the flow. I just cut them off where they start to taper and now it works perfect. And for $15 you cant beat it.

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So they sent you the correct light now? The 40watt 18inch version? Because I am planning on ordering this up tonight.

 

 

They sent me the correct version, the one with individual reflectors ect, however the box still says 2x18watt and the stamp on the bulbs says 18watts also.

 

I called up dr fosters and smith and they told me that the bulbs are actually 20watts but are mislabeled at 18.

 

I don't know what to think of this really...

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After over a year of successful operation this tank has now been shut down and all inhabitants moved to a new 5.5g with a fish breeder mod.

 

This is what the new tank looks like

PicoJan6_09a.jpg

 

You can follow along my thread on the new tank here:

http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=179470

 

I'm glad that this original thread of mine was able to inspire so many people to create these 5.5g mods with built in sump/refugiums. Happy reefing

 

Sandeep

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  • 2 months later...

Do you think i can use the silicon that AGA uses for their tank to bind acrylic to glass? They sell it at my local LFS. Otherwise, what do you guys recommend?

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Do you think i can use the silicon that AGA uses for their tank to bind acrylic to glass? They sell it at my local LFS. Otherwise, what do you guys recommend?

 

I believe Sandeep said earlier in the thread that the silicon was used to bind acrylic to glass (where the refugium wall meets the tank walls), as well as acrylic to acrylic (where the refugium wall meets the divider).

 

Here's my question - I love this tank, and would like to do something similar, but I'd like to use an acrylic tank due to its non-standard size. Assuming the tank itself was constructed properly (i.e. not with silicone), could I still build this sort of refugium with acrylic and silicone it in, or would I have to use weld-on? In this build, there's only one joint where acrylic meets acrylic. If I used an acrylic tank, I'd have four. Is that too many? I know I can get acrylic easily at the local Home Depot, but I'm not sure about the weld-on.

 

And, can I win some kind of award for "most uses of the word 'acrylic' in a post"?

Edited by DPRoberts
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I had two questions..

 

1). I noticed you have a glass top on your build, do you find that this prohibits gaseous exchange?

2). I'm looking in to building this in June, but I was concerned about the pump. I have a rio 180, which has a slightly larger gph than the maxijet... I'm sure I could hook this up, my main concern is having the main area of the tank overflow, or having the pump run dry because of a lack of flow in the sump chamber. Have you had any trouble with either tank overflow, or lack of water in the sump?

 

Thanks

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  • 3 weeks later...
I had two questions..

 

1). I noticed you have a glass top on your build, do you find that this prohibits gaseous exchange?

2). I'm looking in to building this in June, but I was concerned about the pump. I have a rio 180, which has a slightly larger gph than the maxijet... I'm sure I could hook this up, my main concern is having the main area of the tank overflow, or having the pump run dry because of a lack of flow in the sump chamber. Have you had any trouble with either tank overflow, or lack of water in the sump?

 

Thanks

 

I can answer the second ? The pump can be larger but you would just need to adjust the slits in the wall to keep it from overflowing the DT

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  • 1 year later...
  • 1 year later...

The crabs in my 5.5 gallon pico-reef tank including an emerald crab, two porcelain crabs and a hermit crab. Here are some photographs of them.

 

 

PicoJan6_08b.jpg

 

 

 

Hello Sandeep: Can you tell me what kind a camera you have and what kind of lens you use for the shots?

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  • 2 years later...
  • 1 year later...

I just built this design and will be setting it up soon for my pet stone crab. I'm soaking some old dead rock in some fresh ocean water with circulation and this will be my base rock. I also have 9 cleaner shrimp, some strange rock shrimp, 2 blennys, a goby, and lots of copepods. I'm a recreational stone crabber and all the livestock came out of the seaweed clinging to my crab trap floats. pics soon to come

1491411022311789460463.jpg

1491411114637606159773.jpg

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