Adding on to the Surge Device

[flaunt]

I'm thinking about adding a refugium on to the surge device ( see http://www.nano-reef.com/cgi-bin/forums/to...orum=7&topic=54 )that I made.  I drew a crappy little picture and scanned it to show the basic idea of what I want to do:

 

 

It's pretty straightforward.  The surge container would have to be raised up a bit to accomodate a reasonably high refugium tank.  The lowest water level in the surge container (which I figured was at about 4" from the bottom) is where a piece of PVC would be attached to go between the surge and the refugium.  As the water goes into the surge container and reaches the connecing pipe, water begins flowing through the pipe and over into the refugium, raising the water level in the refugium along with that of the surge container.  When the surge device drains, the water from the refugium also drains out to the point of the pipe running between the two.  I think that would create enough water flow in the refugium, and while the connecting pipe is submerged, organisms would be able to swim to the surge device and would get flushed into the aquarium.  The top of the refugium would have to be higher than the overflow joint in the surge device to prevent an overflow on the refugium.  Something else to consider is that more water will get flushed out into the aquarium because of the portion of the refugium water that will get flushed.  The overall system, however will contain more gallonage, will hopefully help reduce nitrates (through algae cultivation and an additional sand bed), and will help feed the main tank.  I think it might be worth doing.

 

Here are the reasons I want to attach it to the surge container rather than the main aquarium:

 

1) the main aquarium is glass, and I don't want to go to the trouble of drilling/having it drilled.

 

2) it would be easier to view the refugium next to the surge container

 

3) the surge device takes care of all the water flow that is needed

 

Are there any obvious design flaws?  Anyone have any suggestions about what kind of tank/container to use for the refugium?  I'd like to use something completely clear like acrylic I think...

 

 

 

 

 

(Edited by flaunt at 6:08 pm on Mar. 14, 2002)

[Jefe12234]

That sounds like a pretty good idea. I like the fact that it doesn't require an additional pump. It looks like you will get a significantly larger surge, but I think that will only increase the duration of the surge, not the velocity. Velocity is increased by raising the entire device, which you aren't doing. So you should just get a larger fluctuation in your main tank water level.

 

As for the refugium, building it out of acrylic would probably be the best thing. You could also just use a clear rubbermaid container. I've done that before. Are you going to run the refugium on a reverse daylight photoperiod? If so, you may want to consider the light that would spill into the main tank with that setup.

 

Otherwise, I can't think of any flaws. Sounds great. You'll have to let us know how it goes.

 

-Chris

[flaunt]

Actually there will be some increase in velocity, because in order to be able to put the connecting pipe at a reasonably high position on the refugium, the surge device will need to be raised higher.  I plan to add more output tubing to keep the output at the bottom of the aquarium.  It is also true that I will have a larger fluctuation in the main tank water level, but hopefully I'll be able to decrease the amount of water being pumped in to compensate.  Hmm it also just occurred to me that raising the surge container means more work for the powerhead pumping water into it.  :confused:  Not sure about that one.

 

I was thinking of maybe getting a little acrylic hex aquarium at walmart, but I'm not sure about that.  I think they typically come with a little light, which would be good.  God, I used to have one of those little aquariums...  Funny how things like that disappear when you can actually use them!    Do they make rubbermaid containers that are see-through?  I'm not sure I've noticed one like that, usually they're translucent.  I'll also look around for something like that.

 

Actually I don't see what would be wrong with running the lights 24/7 since one of the points is to grow algae.  I'll probably go with the reverse photoperiod though since that seems to be the consensus.  I don't think there will be much of a problem with light filtering into the main tank.  Most of the light would be coming from above the main tank, and I have two strip lights over it, so most of it will be blocked out.  A little bit might come through but probably no more than something like moonlight level.

 

Thanks for the tips!

[Delph]

(Edited by Delph at 10:27 am on June 3, 2002)

[djlanius]

Seems like Petco & Petsmart always carry several different kinds and sizes of small cheap acrylic tanks with built in lights, also filtration & heat though you don't need that. Might not be worth the price if you can find the clear rubbermaid. Though a real aquarium might look nicer (if that's important to you).

Haha, i just had a funny thought that your system is going to look a little bit like a habitrail, only with pods running through the tunnels instead of gerbils! I mean that in a good way! Sounds kinda cute! Now I'll really have to try it too...

[flaunt]

Well, the refugium has been added!  I looked around quite a bit for the perfect refugium container... I almost went for the 2 gal hex setup because it contained a light and a good container, but I didn't really want to shell 20 bucks for it.  It also didn't seem right to use as a refugium since a 2 gal hex itself could be made into a nice looking nano.  Anyway, I ended up going with a 1 gal clear rubbermaid container in the shape of a jar.  It was one of the only totally clear rubbermaid containers I could find.  I would have liked one a bit bigger (about 2 g), but I think this size also works well.  I also got a light for it that just has an incandescent bulb (ballast says max 40 watts but i'm not sure how strong the bulb that came with it is).  Will this work for lighting?  I thought it would because I've read elsewhere that people just throw a light on their refugium.  Also, algae like the yellow light.  I've heard of people throwing 13W PCs on their refugium, but that seems kind of wasteful to me.  I would have gotten one of those little lights that come with the hex aquariums but I couldn't find one that was sold seperately.  In the end, I ended up spending about 7 bucks for my refugium.

 

I drilled a hole in the surge container about 3.5" from the bottom and raised the surge container about 4".  I drilled a hole in the refugium about 7.5" from the bottom and connected it to the surge container with some PVC.  Making a removable connection between the two containers was a little tricky but I think I have something that works and doesn't leak.  I put about 5-10 lbs of aragamax in the refugium which made a 4" or so sandbed, and threw in a small piece of LR that I wasn't using in my main tank.  Seeing the device in operation, I think maybe i should have drilled both holes slightly lower.  This is because the refugium water level only rises/lowers about an inch.  I think it's ok, but it would be nice if there were more "connection time" between the two.  I don't yet have any algae or critters in the refugium.  I'll probably just let the hair algae grow on it's own, but I'll try to get some LS with critters to seed it.

 

I'm not sure about a few things, including whether the light I'm using is adequate...  One is the amount of LR.  I only have one piece in there and it doesn't reach the waterline in the refugium.  Should I just leave that one piece in there or add some more?  I was wondering whether larvae and other stuff would more easily reach the connecting tube if the rock were closer to the water's surface.  I don't really know anything about how the copepods and such live/spawn.  I'm also not sure whether there is enough current in it.  I can't tell real well how much current is created from the water going in and out because there isn't anything to flow in the current yet.  I know there isn't too much current because the sand doesn't blow around or shift.

 

Delph, I've never made a chiller in my life!  I don't see though why a design I saw online wouldn't work...  Get a little fridge, drill a hole in the side toward the top, run a bunch of water hose into it and coil it up inside the fridge, then stick it out the other side and back to the tank...  then fill the fridge with water so that it covers all the hose.  Should work well I would think  The tricky part would be changing the temp of the fridge after it's filled with water.  Not sure about that part, but it would probably require some rewiring...

 

dj, that's pretty funny, I had never considered that it might look like a habitrail.  Looking at it now though I can definitely see similarities!  I guess one big difference is that habitrails don't typically have "trap doors" where the gerbils get flushed out to a bigger cage with hungry snakes

 

I'll put up some pictures soon..Thanks for the suggestions.

 

On a side note, this weekend my gf was beginning to show interest in my reef tank, so I took her to the LFS and ended up caving for a coral banded shrimp.    He's a nice addition to the aquarium.