"Plumbing" to a fuge

[I Ate A Cake]

I need some advice on what to do to get water into my fuge. This will be located right next to my tank. I already have my plan for baffles, return pump w/ tubing, etc, but I have two different ideas for how to actually get water into the fuge.

 

Idea1:

Go with a regular U-Tube with siphon suction.

 

Idea2:

I have a Subcurrent internal filter ( http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod...mp;pcatid=18381 ) . I thought I may be able to hook up one of the nozzles to tubing going into the fuge, go acting like a powerhead to push it in. I would find someway to secure it, etc. Would this make sense at all?

 

I like the fact that I would have something pushing the water in mechanically, because if the power ever went out (it did today), then I may have a problem with the U-Tube siphoning if something is incorrect. I am adding the fuge to add more water volume and grow pods and harvest macro.

 

I would still be keeping my filter, my powerhead (K. Nano), etc either way. I just want to know what would be best here. Thanks

[colberag]

For the second idea...I would not use a powerhead to push water into the fuge because if it happens to fail and the return pump is still working you will have a nice flood.

[I Ate A Cake]

Oh, didnt look at it that way. But wouldn't that be the same risk of having a U-Tube?

[showjyr]

Just an Idea.....I use a throttled down minijet 606 to pump from the first rear chamber. It is 100% failsafe....power goes out it only back flows until the water level equalizes, I shut the pump off....same deal. I can even cover 2/3 of the grates and it won't overflow. It's 3.9 gallons, no baffles just the boxed in corner to force water to the bottom, gravity return, and cost me about $25 to build.

 

[eklikewhoa]

Where did you get that fuge deal showjyr?

[showjyr]

I built it

[I Ate A Cake]

Mmm, interesting. I think I may just go with a U-Tube, then.

[colberag]

The fuge he described is different than your idea because he only has one pump - the return is gravity fed. So if that one pump stops working then water level would just equalize. But if you have 2 pumps, and only one of them fails (as opposed to both of them during a power outage) then you will either pump all of the water out of the tank or out of the fuge.

 

I don't know enough about U-tubes to say a whole lot, but I know some HOB overflows work so that if the power fails you still wont get a flood (but I am not sure how it actually works)

[showjyr]

I love this thing.....it's so simple and works so well even I can't screw it up.

[S197]

you could just put the pump/tube/ whatever is actually sucking the water out of the tank and refugium about 1 inch below water level, this way you have some room for evaporation and if 1 pump fails your other one will end up just sucking air after it drains an inch of water. Wost case scenario is the 1 working pump will die because it overheated by pushing no water, but id rather replace a $30 pump in that event then clean up my aquarium off of the floor and replace everything I lost.

[HankB]

Back in the day, all HOB filters had a return pump and used siphon tubes to flow water into the filter box. I was thinking about that because it allows you to direct the outflow from the pump rather than just let it cascade back into the tank. A secondary advantage is that only the siphon tubes and pump outlet need go above the edge of the tank. It seems like that scheme would be appropriate for your setup.

 

I would not go with dual pumps due to the added complexity trying to balance them and the potential problems if one fails. Also pumps add heat. I warm my change water with a Silent One.

 

HTH,

hank

[I Ate A Cake]

I have decided to go with a U-Tube to get water in the fuge, with a powerhead connected to tubing to get it back it the tank from the fuge. I also plan to use the Micro-Jet 320.

 

This is what I think I will build:

The second small baffle is to keep the sand out of where the U-Tube is. I may make it 3" tall instead of 2.5".

Should this design work, with baffles, etc? Let me know if I need to change anything. If anyone has any ideas, then make sure the design is quiet. This is on the dresser right next to my bed, so quiet is a must.