Adding in a Refugium HELP

[cj10488]

Ok I was thinking about adding a 10gal refuge to my system and placing my Aqua C remora in it under the tank.. The reason being 10gal Is thats all that i believe will fit under the stand.. I want to have a 5-6" DSB in the refuge and add LS form my display tank to seed the refuge.. I was wondering what would be the best way to pipe in the refuge.. My current system is a 55gal tank with a Cpr Cs90 overflow that drains down into a Wet/Dry without media and then the Rio 2100 pumps the water back into the tank.. For lighting on the refuge I was going to run it opposite hours of my tank to help any ph changes at night.. What I was thinking is setting up a pump that will pump water into the refuge at one side and then another pump in the refuge to pump the water back to the tank.. I would probably use the current rio 2100 in the refuge to pump back to main display tank.. and using something alot smaller to pump from the wet/dry into the refuge.. Please help as I am new to this.. Btw I was planning on using Marinelands NO florescent tube that was the original that came with my 55gal.. I believe its 15watt or so.. will this be enough or should i look for something else like a 55watt 10pc light???

TIA,
James

 

[sumphead]

While I am no expert I have done extensive research in the fuge field. With macro algea in the fuge it is recommeded to run your lighting 24/7 in the fuge. Also check out he lighting that comes with other fuges. Like eco-systems; it seems as though our lighting will be fine as long as you aren't housing anything else in there with other lighting needs. As far as plumbing goes I am an uber-idiot still looking for the right answers myself. HTH in at least some way.

R-

 

[cj10488]

<BUMP>

 

[cj10488]

Wondering If this post got lost in the Mass postings lately..


James

 

[fishfreek]

For fuges with macro algae I would light it on a reverse light cycle form your tank. So when your tanks lights are on your fuge is off and when your tank lights are off your fuge is on. The purpose of this is to help stabilize the PH swings that natually occur at night and day due to changing levels of oxygen and carbon dixoide.

In the book Reef Inverterbrates its suggested that refugiums should be approx 20% the capacity of the main tank.

 

[cj10488]

I understand that but what I am needing help with is how to plumb it into my system.. I am not understanding an easy way of how to do this...



TIA,
James

 

[fishfreek]

Think of your fuge as a mini tank connected to your wet/dry. Thats about the easiest route to plumb it. If you have the 10gal fuge drilled then position it so its higher than the wet/dry in the stand and plumb your drain line from the fuge to your wetdry and then put a small pump in the wet/dry to supply the fuge.

Having a rio2100 in a 10 gal fuge is IMO just asking to have macroalge sucked up into the impeller and cause problems. ALso having water flow so fast thru the fuge is not giving the marco algae a chance to process the items in the water.

have the hole drilled maybe an inch or so from the top of the 10 gal.

 

[cj10488]

ok i think IO should be able to figure it out.. I hope.. If not I will just mess around with it until I do lol...


anyways Thanks Again,
James

 

[justDIY]

6" dsb in a 10 gallon isn't going to give you much room for water ... 10 gallon is what, 12 inches tall?

if you're not interested in having your refuge tank drilled (which is *strongly* recommended), you can setup a siphon return as well.

you need to have the refuge and the sump level with each other, and you connect them using some 1"+ pvc pipe, assembled in a U shape. then you pump water from your sump into your refuge and the siphon will be there to drain it back out.

hope this helps

 

[cj10488]

Yeah I believe you are right about it only being 12" high.. I think i will do a 3-4" DSB... I think that I will drill the tank.. The only thing is that where its going to be going is about 4" higher than the sump(wet/dry).. I should be able to figure it out... I will find a small pump to pump water into the fuge and the it drain back into the sump.. The plumbing is going to have to go around a corner kindof to get to the sump with it should work.. I was also thinking that I might even get some acrylic sheets and make a refuge that will fit perfectly under my stand.. The area under my stand is roughly about 23" wide 14" high and about 14" deep I know a 10gal should fit there and I am even thinking that maybe a 20gal may fit there as well..

Thanks again,
James

 

[loganj]

IMO, drilling the 10 would be the best route to take. I wouldn't use anything much larger than a Maxi Jet 1200 to supply the water to it...a 10g tank doesn't offer much space and you don't want Niagra Falls in there. In this case, as fishfreek said, you'll need to position the fuge a little higher than the sump.

Using a pump to send water to the fuge and another to pump water out of the fuge is not an option because you'll never be able to perfectly balance the flow from the pumps...one will eventually outrun the other one.

Should you decide to go the siphon route, I think you'll have to have an internal overflow box in the fuge and another box in the sump. Just having a siphon presents much the same problem as the two pumps...trying to balance the pump output with what the siphon is draining. You'd also have to run the water level pretty high in the sump to prevent the siphon from breaking. Having the box in the sump insures that there is a constant water level for the siphon tube and will lower the chances of breaking the siphon.

If you put a DSB in the fuge, I would keep it about 4". As was mentioned above, a 6" sand bed won't leave you much room for water. I would also run the skimmer in the sump if at all possible. I think you may lose some of the critters you are trying to culture by having the skimmer running in the fuge. You could sit the skimmer beside the sump with the PH in the sump...sort of run it external...if you have room for that. You might have to extend the hose from the PH to the skimmer to do that though.

IMO, drill the fuge for at least a 1" drain and use a Maxi Jet 900/1200 to supply the water to it. I think that will give you the best results with the least danger of a spill.

 

[cj10488]

Thx Logan,

I believe that I am going to go that route.. The skimmer I heard back from an email to Aqua C which gave me some ideas to mount it into the sump.. It is now located in the sump... Now all I have to do is wait until tomorrow when I can go out and get the largest possible aquarium to fit under this stand..

I HATE this stupid stand.. When I move this thing is going to be Gone... as you can see from my posting I have 2 seperate sides which both have a space roughly 23"w 14"d 14"h each.. Not enough room at all for anything.. I should be able to figure this out now pretty easily..

James

 

[cj10488]

Well I went and got the Tank and ordered a few pumps.. Dr fostersmith.com had Via aqua pumps on sale.. I picked up a 152gph and a 200ghp they were less than $8.00ea... I added a 4" DSB to the refugium and using the regular NO lighting.. The sand I chose to use " only one Avail" was quickretes playsand... I am going to get my Kalk in about 10 days and hopefully get this all together..

Since there is no heater in there as well as no water movement I should not add a few cup fulls of sand from the main tank to seed the yet correct??? or would this be ok...

Also what would be some good stuff that I should put in the refugium.. Should I pull a piece of LR out of the main tank and Throw it in the Refugium as well or just do sand and algeas and such..

Tia,
James