refugium question

[celtic_dude]

I had heard somewhere that it is possible to use a 10 or 20 gallon tank as a refugium set above the main tank. My stand underneath my tank will barely fit a 10gallon tank to set up a refugium so I was wondering the benefits of the above tank. Any thoughts on this. I was thinking in this case set up a shelf to hold the refugium as a little display tank and run the plumbing in the room behind the tanks. And if this is the case is it possible to drill the side of the 10 or 20 gallon tank to make an overflow. Anyone ever set up this way before?

[theotheragentm]

The only difference is that you're not hiding the refugium and you're pumping up from the main tank and draining back down again to the main tank. The reason it's not normally done is because you want to hide the refugium underneath and you don't want a mass of water even higher up.

As far as drilling goes, I have never drilled glass. There is a chance of cracking it when drilling it. The only thing I can think of for drilling is to drill near the stop, but that should be a given.

[Ziggy953]

The major benefit to having your fuge above the tank is that it wil allow your pods to make it to the tank without having to pass through a return pump. That gives them a better chance of surviving. I haven't drilled a tank either but I know it can be done. Have you thought about using an acrylic tank, they are much easier to drill?

Also, you will need to light the fuge and you will want your flow to be low have the drain on one end of the tank and the water flow in on the other. That will maximize your macro filtration.