Refugium

[iFish]

I would like a refugium, but the ones online are 100 dollars. How do I make a cheap, quiet one?

[quiksilver5768]

Refugiums arevery easy to make actually. Can you tell what size tank you have so I can tell your what size refugium your could use? If the refugium is going to be under the tank then you can even use a 5 gallong rubbermaid container. The only thing about it being under the tank is having an overflow. Im guessing your tank isnt pre-drilled so you would need to make an overflow. I made mine above the tank and it was made from one of those TOP FIN 5 gal flat back plastic acrylic tanks. I drilled a hole in the back for a gravity feed and attached pvc piping through there so that would be the constant water level. I then made another whole above the back hole for the water to go in. I stuck a 1/2 piece of flexible tubing through it. I put the end of the return pipe to run into the top of my HOB filter so that there wouldnt be bubbles after it went through like there would be if you put it directly in the tank. If you do this...dont put the end of the return pipe into the water in the filter..;put it on the surface of the water otherwise it will have to build up pressure to push trhough which could cause an overflow in your refugium if it ever got clogged. Go ahead and fire some questions back about this if you need to...I like giving advice about things which have worked out successfully for me

[JWalters77]

Hey Quicksilver, I am setting up a 10gal nano. I have a Dynoflo HOB and a Rio powerhead....I would like to setup a refugium for it but I am not sure how to do it...The tank is an All-Glass and is not drilled...any advice  would help:)

My email is jakewalt@megagate.com

 

Thanks

Jake

[quiksilver5768]

Hey,

 

 Well it first depends on where the refugium is oging to go. If your 10 gal nano is already set up then it would be easier to get some type of plastic or pre rilled glass tank to work as an above tank refugium. The rio powerhead can act as the intake for you refugium. You will need to make a whoile somehwere in your refugium for a gravity feed. The water will constantly remain at this whole so there is no worry of flooding. I made a whole in the back of my refugium with just a normal wood bearing drill bit (not the corkscrew kind). Since the tank I made was plastic, any drill bit would work. It was one of those top fin all-in-one setups with the udnergravel filter... I then used a male and female pvc adapter to screw it together with the plastic in between. I put some sealant around the male adapter(screw part) and some along the edgeds after i screwed it tight with the plastic back of the tank wedged in between. I then connected flexible clea 1/2" tubing into the 1/2" pvc female adapter and used tomse silicone around it for no leaks. This clear tubing runs into the top of my aquaclear200 and goes into the tank from there. I didnt want to run it into the main tank due to a bubble and splash problem since the gravity feed also sucks in air and not just water. Basically, thats it....Im using a micro-jet 450 to push up the water (pushing up 2 feet on medium flow, 90 gph, without the little sponge at a pretty fast rate). Email me if you have any other questions. quiksilver5768@yahoo.com