Fuge ???????????

[Flsprophet2]

many people have suggested a fuge for my 29 gal which by the way is an eclipse set up.

I am new to this as some of you already know and was wondering if this is a costly thing to do or is it fairly cheap? What exactly is a fuge and what is needed to start one up. Thanks for everyones help I have learned so much from the people in this forum!!!!!!!

[RMPD109]

I purchased a pre fab refugium from ebay. You could easily make your own from a small 10 gal tank. Split the tank into 3 chambers. One chamber is the initial receiving chamber that flows to the second refugium chamber that flows to the return chamber. In my fuge I keep my skimmer in the first chamber and the fuge section has a DSB and macroalgae(both aid in nutrient export) and the third chamber houses the return pump.

You would need an 1 overflow box, 2 refugium, 3 light, 4 return pump and hoses

[foma2000]

well i fuge can be many things. most of the time it is set up with a deep sand bed(over 5 inches) to help with nitrates. macroalgae also often planted to help take out c02 and reduce nitrates. its also wise to also through in some rock(base rock is fine) to harbor bacteria.
yet sometimes its just set up be a place to put animals that arn't getting along

[Flsprophet2]

I do have a 10gal sitting at home I think i might be interested in building one.
anyone know of a site on building one of these or maybe one of you kind souls can help me out.

Thank you all

[Gonzo82]

I too am in the process of designing a fuge for my 29g. I have a drawing i did that i think might work. I know that the heater needs to be moved to the other side with the skimmer though. But i think it might work!? I just need to find an overflow and a pump that are the right sizes, and cheap. I might make the overflow myself with some acrylic that i have out at work.
Here is a good sight that i got a lot of info from. http://www.melevsreef.com/

And this is my design for a 10g fuge that will work with my skimmer and such. The dimension might need to be change for your equipment. The way i figure it gives me about 8.5 more gallons of water and the fuge part is about 5 gallons a little more. I think it might also save me in the case that the overflow stops. The design will only allow about 1.5-2 gallons of water to be pumped back into the tank which wouldnt be that bad b/c it seems like my tank is always on the low side no matter what i do. I have also been toying with the idea of drilling the tank but it is full. Some say it can be done but i dont know if i can convince myself that i can do it or not, maybe i am just a wuss, dont know it seems risky. The pluming part i havent figured out though. That sight has a lot of good ideas on how to do that too.

Any improvement, ideas, and input are more than welcome. Sorry about the crappyness of the drawing i did it one night about 4 when i couldnt sleep. Just like now.

[RMPD109]

The drawing lloks good. A few suggestions though.
1- make the supply line empty below the surface (noise reduction)
2- 1st baffle only needs to be a single from the bottom to the desired water height
3- increase the DSB to at least 4 inches for proper denitrification
4- 2nd set of baffles could be a double- 1st is from the top to an inch or two above the DSB and the second should be from the bottom to the desired water height.
5- the only sponges needed would be prefilters to the skimmer pump and return pump

Your setup would work but these changes may simplify things

[Flsprophet2]

Cool I think I have a good idea on how to do this. I'll let you all know how things work out thanks everyone