Spec V with Display Refugium

[Swordfisher]

Hey everyone.

 

I want to share a little project I've been working on for the past few months. A heavily modified Fluval Spec V I keep in my college apartment! Got the seemingly bright idea to plumb in a refugium to increase the water volume, grow some chaeto, and breed some pods for my picky little court jester goby. A few floods later and I've reached a steady state with the system. Now time to break it apart, isolate the fuge, and drive the display tank home with me for Christmas break!

 

 

Inhabitants:

Court Jester Goby

White Clownfish

Baby Blue Coral Banded Shrimp

Red Leg Hermit

Snails x 2

 

Birdsnest

Acan x 2

Red Montipora

Blue Leather

GSP

Zoas

 

Equipment:

Fluval Spec V Display Tank

8" Glass Cube Refugium

AI Prime HD

LuminiGrow LED

Cobalt Neo-Therm Heater 75W

Aqueon 600 Pump x 2

inTank Media Basket

Floss

BRS Carbon and GFO

Seachem Matrix Biomedia

Vinyl Tubing 1/2"

Vinyl Tubing and Overflow 3/4"

Steel Plate 1/16"

Neoprene Mat 1/4"

Shelf Brackets 8"x10"  x 2

ATO container 2.5 Gal

RODI Tubing Black 1/4"

Needle Valve 1/4"

 

Tank Build Story:

I like fish, and got my first nano reef when I was in middle school and sold it before I went to college. A year ago I got the Spec V and kept a low maintenance planted betta tank. He was a super cool fish and after he make the leap of faith onto the granite, I couldn't replace him, so naturally I went full on nano reef. My first fish was a picky court jester goby. Most beautiful fish ever and way too good for my crappy frozen food. So this meant I needed to build a fuge to grow him some pods. I wanted the system to look clean while serving a purpose, and this is the design I came up with. 

 

Refugium:

The refugium being above the reef means I didn't have to drill the Fluval which was already stocked before I got this idea. This puts the fuge at eye level, so it needs to be attractive. A deep sand bed with a sea shell and some chaeto does the trick. My little coral banded shrimp also usually lives here so I can feed him better, creating a little aquarium of its own.

 

With this refugium, the entire functionality of the built in filtration compartment of the Fluval is maintained. The return pump was upgraded with the Aqueon 600, with an additional Aqueon 600 for the fuge supply sitting under the inTank media which was cut to make it fit on top of the pump. With the tubing installed it is the perfect Tetris puzzle of aquarium equipment. A picture of the back chamber provided the next post.

 

Challenges:

The largest challenge of this entire project is managing the bubbles that result from cavitation in the overflow line. With the overflow feeding into the chamber with the display return pump, the bubbles are easily sucked up creating microbubbles everywhere. The boiling water also creates a lot of salt creep and if its violent enough it can slowly overflow onto the counter. My current solution is a series of trimmings off the stock filter sponge to wedged in any gaps between the overflow return and the pump. This has solved 90% of the problem, with only a few bubbles getting through. Another part of the solution was to put a heavy duty paper clip on the line supplying the refugium, providing restriction upstream of the pump, limiting the amount of flow to the refugium and thus the amount of flow down the overflow, which slightly calmed the bubbles. In the future I may construct a tall and clear hang on back container where I can run the overflow line to and have place to calm the bubbles before the water goes into the return pump chamber.

 

Conclusion:

This build taught me a ton about fluid systems through experimenting with pumps and pressure and head. The display is self sustaining without the refugium, and its small size makes it easy to transport back and fourth 400 miles, 4 times a year between school and home. It is an attractive built which serves its unique purpose. I think the refugium is a missed opportunity in most reef tanks to create another visually attractive part of the system. I hope you can take this build as inspiration in some capacity for your current and future tanks.

 

Happy reefing!

 

Evan

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Swordfisher]

[Swordfisher]

[Swordfisher]

[mbarton2010]

This is legit. I love how it’s kind of like a reverse sump 

[Wolfiefluffy]

Very clever man!!! Thanks for the info and share. I can't wait to try this.

[Okinawa_Reefer]

I’m looking for a small Fuge light like this one that you have. Can you share your thoughts on it?

[Swordfisher]

Thanks guys

 

The light works great, plenty powerful around 12W of pure white light with an in line dimmer and only around $40. If the fudge is in a sump I think the kessil h80 might be worth it because it's optimized for plant growth, but would look a little funny on this set up with its pink light.

[reeferdrew]

Very nice build man! love the display fuge. Did you have to drill that tank? Also for the back chamber to fit that pump under there did you cut off the original black shelf thing so the basket does not go all the way down?