DIY Filter Refugium

[AmberSunrise]

Materials used.
1- Aquaclear 70 or larger
Superglue gel
Scissors
Box cutter or knife

Take out the plastic basket that holds the sponge and filter media

Cut the basket into 3 pieces as shown

Take the bottom piece and cut 2 small notches evenly down each of the raised lines

Take one of the side pieces and cut off the top

Get your handy dandy super glue gel

Take bottom piece, line it up with the water over flow with the newly cut notches pointing in toward the back of the filter box and super glue into place holding it for about 30 seconds then letting it dry for a few minutes

Take the side piece that you cut the top off of and gently slide it down into the grooves that you cut out

Take that huge sponge they gave you and slice it in half, save the other half for the next time you need to change it out

Slide the half sponge in sideways on the side where the water flows into the box

Insert any cheato or carbon bag that you prefer into your new large open box!

 

[OhNoNemo]

Very cool,i did something very similar with my old aqua clear 110 .....i had LR rubble in the bottom and was growing mostly hair algae ...

 

[Rufio808]

I want to get the same filter and do this. My current filter is tiny!

 

[AmberSunrise]

Very cool,i did something very similar with my old aqua clear 110 .....i had LR rubble in the bottom and was growing mostly hair algae ...

Yeah I plan to go to just rubble and the cheato that I ordered from Biff, just waiting for it to come in the mail.

 

[OhNoNemo]

I'm going to put the one i made on my sons new 10 gallon ,,,may have to order some of that cheato too

 

[carter]

i love those filters, they are so cheap looking when they are on the shelf next to emporers and fluvals, but man they kick so much a$$ i kinda did the same thing but actually made a fuge

 

[Rufio808]

Which Aquaclear model size would you recommend for a 10 gallon? Would the AC 20 have enough room?

 

[carter]

i have a a.c. 30 on my 3 gallon and a.c. 20 is dinky id say no smaller than a 50 just for capacity, plus it acts like a mini powerhead the water flowing and all

 

[raggedreef]

would that be a better setup with the 50 gallon model running on a 29 gallon tank than the original way that they were designed?

 

[AmberSunrise]

would that be a better setup with the 50 gallon model running on a 29 gallon tank than the original way that they were designed?

If you want to grow cheato and pods then yeah this will give it more room and prevent it from getting washed into the tank.

 

[AmberSunrise]

Which Aquaclear model size would you recommend for a 10 gallon? Would the AC 20 have enough room?

I would go with the 50 at least just cause it will give you plenty of room for growing the pods and cheato it wont hurt to have it bigger than what is called for and you can adjust the amount of flow that comes out to some extent.

 

[raggedreef]

the fifty worked great on my ten gallon tank as originally designed and would be even better for it with this setup

 

[Rufio808]

the fifty worked great on my ten gallon tank as originally designed and would be even better for it with this setup

Did you still need to place a powerhead in the tank? I have a Koralia nano. You think I would still need it even with the added flow of the AC 50?

 

[little_tuna]

Hey i have a 29 gallon and i deleted my sump/refugium to reduce the risk of overflowing in my apartment. However i really want to keep a Mandarin Goby, do you think a 70 gallon Aquaclear will be enough to sustain him with pods? Or maybe a 110 gallon Aquaclear??

 

[little_fish]

Maybe, but you would really be pushing it. Either way, you should wait at least 6 months before adding one and try and find one that eats frozen so you can supplement.

 

[little_tuna]

If I went ahead and built a 110g one do you think that would be too much water movement? Ill also have a HOB Reef Octopus BH-100 and a Since Voyager 1

 

[BL1]

Those HOB filter won't add near as much water movement as you think, You;l definitely be fine with it. As to your first question, I don't think it would be capable of supplying your tank with enough pods to keep a mandarin long term. I had a 20L refugium on my Nanocube for a while and it still couldn't supply enough for my mandarin.

 

[AmberSunrise]

Cant you buy those pods in a bottle though? My LFS just squirts some in the tanks and the fish eat them. Seems like a waste of a tank to use it just to grow pods when you can buy them as you need them.

 

[little_fish]

Ya, you can. But each one of those bottled pods costs around $20, and to feed a mandarine i would estimate you would need at minimum, two bottles a week. That adds up fast.

 

[Rufio808]

True little_fish. I know John at reefcleaners started to sell pods. Looks pretty promising.