Refugium Construction

[lilyicu]

I have decided to construct a refugium out of either a 10g or 20g tank that I have at the house. I have been doing research and have come up with one question,

Do I need a mag pump on the return line and another pump on the intake line? Or is there only one pump?

Thanks in advance

 

[ZOOT098]

if you have a sump you should pump out of your sump and into your fuge
then let your fuge gravity feed back to your sump, via a bulkhead

 

[lilyicu]

I don't have a sump and my main tank was not pre-drilled with an over flow box.

 

[lilyicu]

I have also been looking at a hang on back refugium like this one:

AQUA-FUGE 2 HANG-ON REFUGIUM Small by CPR Aquatic - AquaCave

It is smaller than the 10g or 20g but would serve the same purpose. I am not the most creative person and trying to construct something that could potentially flood my house scares me.

 

[dcantucson]

That's a nice looking HOB refugium. I've been thinking about something like that too.

 

[bigploch]

Lily - I would think if you were going to create a refugium and you had no sump, You could purchase an overflow box and use a pump for the return if you could put it under your display tank. Try this site, their boxes are just like the more expensive ones but half the price! http://shop.aquatraders.com/Overflow-Box-s/29.htm THis would be much cheaper than buying the refugium if you have the room beneath your tank. I believe the larger volume would increase the benefit over a 2.5 gal refugium.

 

[Ted]

well i dont know about the aqua traders overflow but i did buy their hob fuge. To me it looks like the cpr one and I have been running it a week. Skimmer is working just fine I have cheato in the fuge. In the week I have run it, my tank is crystal clear trates are finaly below 20 for the first time and I havent had to scrap my front glass of algae all week. For the price I payed I think it is the best thing I have purchased so far. It was 109 shipped that included the pump and the light. I did put some sponge filter material in the return tube to stop micro bubbles. I plan on rinsing that out weekly when i do water changes so the sponge doesnt become bio active. Just thought i would pass on the info. :D

 

[lilyicu]

Ted, where did you get yours and what size did you get?

 

[daugherty]

look at dr foster and smiths for overflow boxes they should have some good ones

 

[Ted]

Ted, where did you get yours and what size did you get?

I got my hob fuge from aqua traders its the small one. They have two sizes the bigger one was a inch to big inside the tank because of the power head. Im glad i bought the power head they recommended. I was gonna use the one from the bak pak 2 that I took off the tank it wouldnt have fit the in let pipe is a different size. Also the odyssea ph is not as noisy as the accela ph that was on the bak pak 2. Seems to get just as much gunk out of the water. Now you have to understand that this isnt a premium skimmer its no octopus, but in my opion for the price is does pretty well. Heres the link to there site I will try to have it set where you can scroll down and see the one I bought.http://shop.aquatraders.com/Hang-On-Back-s/37.htm Its the first hang on back fuge. Price 49.90 with the power head w/sponge kit and the 13 inch light was around $108 shipped. Ditch the sponge just use what the sponge goes over. I actually cut the sponge in half and put half of it in the return line to eliminate the mirco bubbles worked liked a champ for it.

 

[Ted]

Oh if you do buy one they dont come with instructions so pm me and ill go over how I assembled mine. :D

 

[Ted]

Heres some pics of mine. The brown you see is because i changed to sand in my tank from cc so I have a diatom bloom going on right now. The cool thing is its almost all in the fuge very little in the tank.

 

[bigploch]

I had a great experience with Aquatraders and they came highly reccommended to me. And the product I received was of good quality for half of the CPR one.

The fact that the algae bloom is in your fuge and not your DT is exactly the point. Glad to see it worked.

 

[lilyicu]

Thank you so much for all the information. I have a couple of questions:

How did you know that the bigger one was too big for your tank? I have glass tops on my tank and want to make sure that it will fit.

Is this the only protein skimmer that you are using? I have a Marineland (I know people don't like them) that I am using right now that works great. Should I just use both of them?

 

[Ted]

As far as the fit. on the website it gives eternal and internal dimensions my tank is a corner tank that the two biggest sides are 24 inches on the bigger fuge the internal dimension is 26 with the power head on. Question 2 ,yes this is the only skimmer I am using my tank is 48 gal before sand and lr. so it works for me. If it was a 75 i would run the bak pak2 also. (i would also have the bigger fuge) Oh I have a glass top also (custom cut) the gap on that side is 2 inches fits just fine for me. The glass doesnt hit the return pipe but just by a 1/4 inch. My next step for me is to upgrade lighting. Im gonna go mh so the glass top will probably get the boot, for cooling issues. Just noticed that your tank is a 72 if you have the space then imo i would run both, really up to you. About the mareland skimmer you have, I have never used one but people on here dont like the bak pak 2 either so we are in the same boat, welcome aboard. lol

 

[lilyicu]

Thanks again for all of your help. This one sounds like a great idea to me. I will let you know when it comes in :)

 

[Ted]

anytime, it isnt hard to setup if you have any trouble with it pm me. :D

 

[lilyicu]

Ted - is there anything special that I should know about maintenance of the fuge? Cleaning etc?

 

[Bifferwine]

If your fuge is going under the tank and your tank is not drilled, you will need one overflow box and one return pump.

 

[Ted]

Ted - is there anything special that I should know about maintenance of the fuge? Cleaning etc?

well apart from cleaning the power head and trimming the cheato from what I have gotten from everyone is let it be. I went ahead and put tiger pods in mine they eat algae and the fish will eat them when they get in the tank. Im hoping to eventually get a mandarin so I want a good stable pod population.