Refugium Ideas?

[Foogoo]

I currently have a 10 gallon nano. I want a 5 gallon or so refugium for it. The way the tank is setup, I can't place the refuge over it and depend on gravity, it's going to have to go under. Any ideas on how to circulate the water without having to drill my current tank?

[gobies]

Yep, overflow box time. I looked at the normal/large-size overflow box I have compared to the size of a 10g tank. It looked amusing. You could probably use the inside-the-tank part of the overflow as an additional mini-fuge, or at least a good place to put the heater. I'd go with a DIY overflow box, at least for the inside part of it. Start with one of those little plastic/acrylic display boxes that you get at the craft store.

[tinyreef]

you could also just use a plain siphon but you wouldn't get the surface skimming gobies method offers. but it's quick, cheap, easy, and could be temporary if necessary.

[glazer]

The problem with a "plain syphon" is that you have to match the amount being syphoned out with what is being pumped in.. EXACTLY! Close ain't gonna cut it... one or the other will catch up eventually.... syphon too fast and you lose the syphon then the pump overflows the tank, pump faster than the syphon, overflow the tank.... drilled or overflow is the only way to go.

 

(sorry tinyreef, not slammin' you... just have never seen this setup work... would love to though and if somebody has done it and it works longterm I will gladly eat my words)

[Dave ESPI]

an overflow will take up too much real estate in a 10 gal.

Drillit on the back glass and out a bulkhead and a drain stem. U can use a U - tube on the return, but drill the tank, it is only like 10.00 or so to do it. Tank to DJM about this, he needs a pistol whipping too HAHAHAH:P

[tinyreef]

glazer,

 

that's ok, we're just throwing darts on the wall.

 

you've got a point but i was just thinking of a simplified overflow. it may vary in the velocity going down to the sump but it should work (in theory). a glorified u-tube overflow. or with a little money, foogoo can use the python siphon which can be choked back to adjust to the return pump's capacity.

 

how about a HOT? drill out the media chamber for the pipe going to the sump. oversize the HOT's pump versus the drain line. any overflow would just go back into the tank. as you said, there is a trick to this though. the return pump's capacity has to be mated to the drain line's capacity otherwise the sump may run dry. hmmm, sounds like a project for me to try.

[Strife]

who trust overflow's anyways...big chance that those things "WILL" cause a flood, unless of course you have a powerhead to push the water though it...

 

my suggestion is, drill a hole..or build an above tank refugium...

[kimura]

I've been trying to figure this one out too. The only way I can see it is if you put a valve on either the intake/output. But by adding back pressure to the powerhead, i'm wondering if that would be bad for it.

 

As far as drilling it, I wouldn't know how to do it. I'm looking to have a pro. glass cutter do it for me. I want to keep it as simple as possible, plus it's a bow front and it cost me some $$$, so I don't want it to get messed up.

[gobies]

Sounds like I have one of the more complex overflow boxes...? The intake box has a notched rim, so if the water gets too low in the main tank, the siphon stops. The U-tube goes into a compartment in the second box. This compartment is about 1/3 the width of the box and 2/3 the height of the box. The compartment has to overflow for any of the water to get out of the box. And the outflow cone screen thingy is 3" above the bottom of the outflow box. I haven't had the setup to try it yet, but I think it would be safe in event of a pump failure, presuming you size the second tank/sump appropriately.

[printerdown01]

Is there any possibility of putting a 2.5 behind the tank?? or even next to it?? If so I could send you pics of my set-up which was increadibly easy, and CHEAP (sorry but I'm a college student and the latter is an important feature!). If not do this: go look at bigger systems!! Find someone with a 55 or a 100 gallon, these things will probably be running on a system VERY similar to what you are looking for - a "sump"!! If you put lights above the "sump" it looks a lot like a refugium to me ... If you cant find any let me know, via PM and I'll find someone with diagrams... Another recomendation: if you do create something similar to a sump, purchase both a 5 gallon and a 10 gallon tank!!! Put the 5 inside the 10, that way if the power goes out you won't come home to a giant puddle... This water can then be pumped back into the tank without any problems!! -Let me know if you need any help!

[tinyreef]

printerdown has a point with the 2.5g. you could put a small elevated tank behind (for ex. 1g hex) and bulkhead it back into the main tank if you can settle for a smaller target than the original 5g you were looking for. quick, simple, and cheap.

[jonah]

Couldn't you just set up a big HOB (ac500, Emperor400) turned down to low (or grind the impeller down) fill it with rubble/macro and hang a light on it? You'd have to fashion a net to hold in the algae.

 

I've actually ordered an AC500 for just this reason. Hopefully it will arrive this week so I can get going on my 20high nano.

[reefitis]

how about a cpr HOB aquafuge?...just slap it to the back lip and instant refugium. comes in lengths of 12" 18" and 24." don't know if it works though...anybody give it a try yet?

 

http://www.cprusa.com/products/citr.html

[Strife]

<<<<<<<<<<<, wants one for his 7 gallon

[kimura]

Jonah,

Let me know how your project is going. Someone here on this board posted that idea to me a couple of days ago.

[anthony812]

All you guys have great ideas, but there is something that i see wrong witht he CPR HOB design, they are using a Rio600-1200 to power that puppy but with such small area, that is a really HIGH flow rate, where the water will not stay long enough in your refugium for the Macro and LS and all the critters to do their job right. The best way i believe is to set up, if you can, an identical size tank as a refugium as the water will stay in there as long as possible before it is returned to your main tank. With a drilled refugium over the main tank is a bullet proof way to set up but if you have to do a under tank style, i would just drill a whole in your 10 gallon (be Very careful as it crack easily!) and have 5 gallon tank, divided into 3 compartments, as the middle will be the resting area for the macros and your DSB, and the section where the water from maintank overflows in, have a sponge or a cloth bag to filter out the wasts/stuffs, and have a return pump in the last section of your 5 gallon where as it will not sit directly in your Refugium section. ok..i know its confusing, but you will figure it out..and as the return pump, depnd on how low you will keep the refugium, use more powerful ones as they will have to fight the gravity to bring your water back up to your main tank.

[printerdown01]

Ok, here is basically what I did.... I simply took the rio 90 (powerhead) that already existed in my tank, and attached 2.5 feet of plastic tubing that was dropped into the 2.5 gallon tank behind the main tank. These tanks are EQUAL in height. One is NOT higher than the other... If you do raise one tank I highly suggest that you drill the fuge and let it pour back into your main tank... But this is not what I did. Instead I used a U tube ($5) to pump the water back into the main tank.... If the power goes, the water level in the main tank and the refugium will be level, thus I have no spill... However, if the U tube looses suction I could be in trouble (this however is not likely, unless you allow your U-tube to fill with air).

My terrible 5 minute drawing of the system

[anthony812]

it took you 5 minutes to draw that picture????? hahhahaahahha..j/k:P

[Dave ESPI]

Eco systems Is comming out with a new over tank Fuge.

Its so new I dont have a pic, or stats.. Im not sure if its on the web yet, but here is the address : www.ecosystemaquarium.com

FWIW , it looks decent

[jonah]

My ac500 showed up today, but I had to take my oldest boy to his football physical tonight so all I've done is hook it up. It looks like the Coral life skimmer will fit inside of it. Supposedly, an ac500 on low will pump 166gph. That's the number I've gotten on the net and one source told me the number came from aquaclear but I haven't verified it yet. If that's too fast I'll grind the impeller down to lower it a little more.

 

I'm going to put some sort of grid on the return to hold in the macro. Then attach some sort of light.

 

If it pans out I'll come back and post the results on a new thread.

 

I checked Hagen's site and they do claim 166gph on low.

[ekudl]

Hi Jonah, I too have a 20 Gl High and am looking for options for a fuge. I like the idea you have for an AC500 housing the fuge but there are two problems with that 1) You have to slow down the pump to much slower than 166 Gph, I have read that it should flow about 1 to 2 times the fuge size and hour. I assume the AC500 holds maybe a gallon at a flow of 2 Gl an hour may not be possible and 2) That may be too much weight to hank on a 20 Gl High Glass tank which may crack, unless this tank is acrylic.

 

Good idea though let us know how it works.

Thanks

 

PS I have 10 Gl below setup now that I am considering using as a Suimp/Refuge its just that it is in my office at work on the 6th floor so I really can't afford a leak at all. I am exploring my options

[loganj]

I recently built a DIY refugium for my 10 gal. Rather than post the whole thing here again, I'll post the link to the original post. So far, this thing is working great. I haven't got lights on it yet, but that will be incorporated into the new canopy. Mine has a place for a heater and CC skimmer, but it would be very easy to modify it for a straight refuge. Check it out and see what you think.

www.aquariumadvice.com/viewtopic.php?t=1097

Logan J

If anyone is interested, I'll post some pics of it on the tank...let me know .

[ekudl]

Hi LoganJ,

 

Yes I would like to see pics of it on your tank. How is it doing? Do you have any DIY plans or specs drawn up on it that you would like to share? Were you able to get most of the parts at Home Depot? My biggest fear of doing this myslef is a leak of course. My tank is in my offcie so I really cannot afford a leak. I am also looking at the HOB Refugiums that cost aroung $100.

Thanks in advance

[loganj]

I'll post some pics of it here. You will notice that photography is not an area that I excel in. It is built of 1/4 acrylic cut on a table saw with a 7 1/4 fine plywood blade. I used Weld On #3 and #16 to put it together. No leaks. I never use silicone on acrylic, but you could as an extra precaution against leaks if you wanted...just don't stick it together with silicone. This one is doing great so far and I have had no problems with it. Capacity is about 4 1/2 gal.

[loganj]

Well, I'm not having much luck getting the pic to upload. Here is a link to the whole post at another site where I was able to upload the pics.

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/viewtopic.php?t=1097

All the pics I have are there...sorry for the inconvenience...not sure why the pics aren't working here...have uploaded them before. ???

Logan J