smoothlarryhughes Posted September 1, 2004 Share Posted September 1, 2004 I set up my AC500 fuge yesterday. The flow seems to be pretty much...I have it on the lowest setting too. I don't use my powerhead anymore. How much does the skimmer attachment reduce flow? I have a baffle separating the sand and rock from the heater. I was also afraid that my clown would get sucked onto the intake but he seems to be doing fine. Is this too much flow for him? I have about an 1.5 inches of sand and a small piece of LR in the fuge part. Gonna add some macroalgae whenever I get some. I wanna try and find some at the LFS, but if not i'll just order some off the web. My tank seems cleaner with more flow for some reason. Link to comment
cronicreef Posted September 2, 2004 Share Posted September 2, 2004 You might want to fence the intake on the refuia. I have had 2 of my clowns go into my overflow box. I got to net them out the nexted morning. They were ok but looked really bad. Looks like they swam a hundred miles! I realy like your Refuge! Do you have any lighting over it? Link to comment
smoothlarryhughes Posted September 2, 2004 Author Share Posted September 2, 2004 I posted another topic that shows the light I got. Here it is. http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/showthread...&threadid=38671 I have some macro algae in it now. Any idea what kind I have...the guy at the fish store did not know. Link to comment
doody Posted September 2, 2004 Share Posted September 2, 2004 I'm not too sure that you want that sponge up against your heater like that. Link to comment
smoothlarryhughes Posted September 2, 2004 Author Share Posted September 2, 2004 ok, thanks for the info. Link to comment
swull Posted September 6, 2004 Share Posted September 6, 2004 I have 2 small clowns In My tank And they seem to be fine with the flow. And I have a small powerhead running also to break up the flow from the fuge. With out the powerhead, the flow from the ac500 was digging a hole in the sand. What do you guys use to fence the fuge? Link to comment
smoothlarryhughes Posted September 6, 2004 Author Share Posted September 6, 2004 I used the sponge holder that came with the ac500 to fence the overflow area. Also are you running two heaters in your fuge? How are 2 clowns in your tank? All parameters ok? I have one clown but would like to add another...is it smart to add another clown in a tank that already has a clown in it. Link to comment
swull Posted September 6, 2004 Share Posted September 6, 2004 Im running two 50 watt heaters in the fuge, because i have a 20 gallon Tank. I put 2 small clowns in at the same time and they are constantly swimming together. I not sure if a 7 gallon will be big enough for two. If they are small clowns you might get away with it until they get to adult size. Link to comment
qualudethunder Posted September 7, 2004 Share Posted September 7, 2004 I have been running the same setup for about 3 months now. The AC surface skimmer will slow the flow down plus it does an awesome job of keeping the surface crystal clear... and they are super cheap so its worth trying. If you want to really make your macro grow... replace the bulbs in your coralife mini with 65k bulbs. You can buy them at a decent hardware store. Link to comment
hmpitags2006 Posted September 21, 2004 Share Posted September 21, 2004 Swull, Do you have any light spillover into your main tank? I have almost the exact same setup as you except that I made my own light and cover for the light, but I can not keep it on my display tank due to the light spillover from 24/7 lighting. -Glenn Link to comment
i have crabs Posted November 17, 2004 Share Posted November 17, 2004 I am bringing this back to life. Would this be a better fixture for an AC500 fuge? It is said for freshwater, but since it is two 6700 k daylight bulbs, sounds like it would work fine. http://bigalsonline.com/catalog/product.xm...ategory_id=2543 Here is the other choice, the one swull is using http://bigalsonline.com/catalog/product.xm...ategory_id=2543 Would it be better to use this and add another 10000k bulb and get rid of the actinic? I want whatever algea I use to grow like crazy. I am thinking about getting this when I get my ac500, so any advice is appreciated. Link to comment
Cesar Posted November 17, 2004 Share Posted November 17, 2004 Those lights are 9 inches long? How long is the AC500? Is it like 13 1/2 in long? Are those lights good for that 500 Swull? They seem to fit perfectly dude. Link to comment
bower23 Posted November 20, 2004 Share Posted November 20, 2004 I just set up a 30g tank and was looking at this setup because I don't have a lot of space... my question is... would this help my 30g or is it to small to do any good? Link to comment
Cesar Posted November 20, 2004 Share Posted November 20, 2004 Are you talking about the AC500? If so, it will work very good for you. If your talking about the light the no. It's too little for a 30. But if you only have fish then I guess it's ok. Link to comment
bower23 Posted November 20, 2004 Share Posted November 20, 2004 I'm talking about using the ac500 with light as a fuge.. on a 30 gallon tank. Link to comment
alistair Posted November 30, 2004 Share Posted November 30, 2004 Just built an AC500 refugium for my 26gal bow front. I installed the baffle as close to the water inlet as possible to maximize the amount of space for sand. There seems to be alot, alot of flow as the water flows over the baffle and into the tank. Being new to the hobby I need some help..... Should I drill a couple of small holes lower down the baffle to reduce the flow on top, and increase the flow just above the sand line? How much sand should I have? I have a good 3-4 Inches. How do people block the refuge light from spilling into the main tank? Link to comment
Mike Maddox Posted December 7, 2004 Share Posted December 7, 2004 I'm having light spillover as well...sucks becuase my aquarium is in my bedroom and I need perfect darkness to sleep : Link to comment
alistair Posted December 13, 2004 Share Posted December 13, 2004 I recently converted an old ac500 into a refugium for my 26g bow tank. I installed the necessary baffle and the flow in the refuge does not kick up any sand, however the flow/drop into my tank is excessive and if my water levels drops over 1/2" it messes up my tank sand bed. Any ideas how to reduce this flow into my main tank? Link to comment
louisxyz Posted December 14, 2004 Share Posted December 14, 2004 Use a surface skimmer: http://www.hagen.com/usa/aquatic/product.c...=01002400020101 it will reduce the flow Link to comment
bigbenji Posted December 14, 2004 Share Posted December 14, 2004 I took the black ring off of the intake, right before the impeller. Now I can swing the intake arm back and forth to adjust the flow better. I can go from full throttle down to a slight trickle. Sometimes I get a little whirlpool right above the impeller, but with the baffle in place my sandbed and chaetto in the fuge aren't moving at all. I've got the flow set so low that the trickle actually splits before going into the tank. Link to comment
the deacon Posted December 22, 2004 Share Posted December 22, 2004 I had the same light spill over issues with my tank and came up with a great mod that has almost eliminated it. I used black opaque plexi. I'll post some pics when i get back from vacation. Link to comment
canuckzilla Posted January 9, 2005 Share Posted January 9, 2005 Anyone have suggestions on how to cut out the center of an AC lid ? I liked the way Swull cut out the center of the AC lid and covered it with acrylic. The AC lids seem a little brittle so I'm guessing that a drill and jigsaw aren't the right tools. thanks Link to comment
WaterWorldAquatics Posted January 9, 2005 Share Posted January 9, 2005 great thread here. I am now thinking for my lil bro's 10g to use a AC fuge. Think it'd be best to just use LS and rubble LR in it? pretty much a "nemo" tank, so i dunno if i would need macroalgae in it.. Link to comment
canuckzilla Posted January 10, 2005 Share Posted January 10, 2005 I've included this post here since this thread is what inspired my mods on an existing AC300. The only thing that I may have done differently is that I rebuilt the existing AC sponge/carbon holder to create a baffle and a mini sponge holder. I also created a cage of sorts as temporary pen for wayward crabs, etc. Still outstanding is an acrylic top for the light. Pics can be found at my gallery. Click on the pics for a description. The gallery automatically resorted the order of the pics...sorry about that. AC300 refugium pics comments more than welcome... Link to comment
tippmann03 Posted January 12, 2005 Share Posted January 12, 2005 I've been wanting to do a refuge for my 10 gal, but i dont really want to shell out the $90 for a CRP aquafuge, so the idea of moding a ac 500 seems interesting to me. However i have a couple of questions: 1. Dimensions? 2. Do you need to have lighting 24/7 over it, or is it just better that way? 3. how intense does the lighting have to be? thanks Link to comment
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