Refugium help

Altohombre

Altohombre

The Tennis Pro Reefer
well I feel like my tank is missing something and I feel like I am being a bad owner if I don't have a refugium and a sump. I really don't think I have room for a sump so I was just thinking about making a HOB refugium. They seem pretty damn expensive atm for something that is just an acrylic box.

My questions are:

1- Can a refugium be made less than 4.5 inches wide? Right now I think I only have 3.5 inches behind.

2- How beneficial will this be for me if I already have a canister filter?

3- Would an inside tank refugium be an option?

4- Anyone have any build plans?
 
Basically all a fuge is for is to grow macroalgea and have a safe haven for pods. The macro will help with nutrient export and pods are fish food. It doesn't have to be any specific size or in any specific location as long as it gets enuff light for the macro to grow and it gets decent flow thru it.
It can be inside the tank as long as it keeps the macro confined. You really don't want the macro, expecially cheato, floating around in the main.
You can't really compare a fuge and a canister filter. They have different purposes.
 
Macroalgae can grow in small spaces, so you could have a fuge in that small space. Capt is right, I can't really compare a canister filter to a fuge. A fuge is where macroalgae grows and pods can breed. Totally different purpose than a canister filter.

You can run a fuge inside the tank, a clear tupperware container with holes punched in it works well, just as long as it can get light and flow.
 
I think I was slightly misinterpreted or wrote something wacky. What I was trying to compare the refugium with the canister filter was that I have heard that certain filters can be turned into refugiums to hold cheato and deep sand beds.

So you guys are saying that I could pretty much make an acrylic box lets say 12" x 3" x 12" and as long as it can hold a chunk of cheato and a dsb then it would do the job putting pods into my tank?
 
Lets not get ghetto and do an in-tank tupperware refugium or any in-tank fuge.Space is already a premium so do a HOB refugium.I can't be much help on building.I usually would never recommend Odyssea but they sell a cheap refugium.Personally,I don't trust the pump it comes with but you could always use a Maxi-Jet in its place.

Add a light(which you will need anyways) and you could still stay under $80.
BTW,consider the skimmer as an added O2 device,nothing more.

http://www.aquatraders.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=292
 
If you have room on one side of the tank consider a "show fuge". When it comes to the novice observer of the tank show fuges often garner as much attention as the DT itself.

IMO a dsb of the size you have available for a hang on fuge would be of limited effectiveness. I use to have a 40g breeder set up as a show fuge on one of my 75 gal systems. I also used this area to food train mandarins which were then sold off. The mandarins lived fat and happy in even nanos after that, munching down on frozen mysis. Some even came around to eating pellet.
 
I favor a fuge slightly above and to one side of the display tank. Drill one hole near the top of it for an overflow bulk head and just gravity drain back to the tank. Use either a seperate small pump to feed the fuge or "T" off an existing pump return line. A shelf on the wall behind a tank makes a great place for a refugium. You will need a light if growing macro algae, but no heater, filter or anything else would be needed for the fuge.
 
Alto,

Have you begun working up a HOB fuge or did you decide on putting one inside the tank? I'm trying to work up plans for a HOB fuge (4-6 inches wide) for my 46g. tank and would love to hear how your plans are progressing.

Thanks.
 
Last edited:
Altohombre said:
sorry to disappoint, but I haven't progressed any in this matter. Hopefully you take over and I can copy you.
Click to expand...

No disappointment ... it's a tough hobby in some respects and DYI can save some expense.

I was thinking perhaps some Plexiglas and fittings from Lowes or Home Depot for a simple HOB fuge. I "think" the fuge tank itself should be fairly inexpensive. However, I'm not sure what I should use for pumps to the fuge and back to the tank. I sure don't want the intake to be greater than the outtake.

Also, this is a long term goal. I may not get it done until this fall or winter. I always have more time than money. :mrgreen:
 
If you're building a HOB fuge, and you make the fuge sit slightly higher than the tank, you will only need a powerhead to pump water up to the fuge, and then gravity will make the water flow over the side and back into the tank.
 
A glass fuge would actually be easier to make than an acrylic as the back or side wall of your tank would already supply one wall of the refugium. It would be semi-permanent in that it would have to be cut off by cutting through the silicone. Most glass shops provide cut glass cheaper than acrylic. Just have them sand the exposed top edges. One quarter inch thick plate glass is real easy to work with and would allow you to make the refugium tank as large as 18 to 20 inches tall without pushing it. If you also put a glass lip perpendicular at the top edge you could easily go 4 foot long.
 
Biffer,

I am planning on putting it above the tank so it can run back down without a pump, saving some expense. I am looking at getting two of the Koralia #2 power heads for current (per your suggestion, I might add). Should I get a separate Maxijet just for the fuge or replace one Koralia with a Maxijet? I spent months looking at tank options only to discover the tank is one of the least complicated items.

Fatman,

Great suggestion!!!!:bounce:

I'll have to cut the trim around the back top of the tank. I'm going to divide it into three sections for a possible future skimmer as well (the canister is working well so far and gets emptied each week). I think you just moved up the fuge schedule.

Thanks to both of you! :Cheers:
 
OK, I can engineer a network with confidence, but not an aquarium. :frustrat:

My understanding is the refugium should only allow 1 - 2 times the water volume per hour for flow. The tank is approx. 37" long, but I am only planning on going 30" wide, 18" deep, and four" back (assuming I can verify that I can get a skimmer that will fit in the four" section. This provides me with 9 gallons of water. I want six to eight inches of sand, plus a little rock, in the fuge section, probably 12" long. That removes around 4 gallons, leaving me with 5 gallons of actual water.

My questions are:

1: The tank would be around 60 lbs. or so. Should I simply attach legs to the bottom of the fuge? I was going to just use glass brackets off the bottom of the fuge, using Fatman's recommendation of having the back of the DT as a wall of the fuge. However, I am rethinking how to support it now that I am calculating the weight.

2: Is a 4" x 4" space enough to place a skimmer (very likely to added down the road)? They don't look like they take much room, but I would hate to be wrong.

2a: The other option is to remove the canister when I get a skimmer and put a small sump in the stand. I think I can get a 10 gal. tank in there. I wasn't thinking of all the essential add-ons when I purchased the tank. That may be a better option anyhow as the skimmer can then be kept out of site. Any thoughts?

3: At 1-2 gallons per hour flow, the power heads will move too much water for the fuge to work. The Maxijet 400 provides 106 gph. Even the Microjet MC320 gives 32 gph. Can anyone recommend a specific pump for this type of application?

In case it helps, my long term goal is to add, at most, one or two more fish, then procede with corals. I would like a couple ricordea mushrooms, a neon green closed brian (saw it at the LFS), possibly some button polyps if they don't spread to fast, candy cane, and staghorn (or something simular). This is also a two year plus plan. Appropriate lighting won't even come until the Fall.

Sorry for so many questions. I greatly appreciate everyone's willingness to share information. The 10 gal saltwater tank was easy ... live rock to start, 20% water changes, replace HOB filter one a month, and feed the damsels. This takes so much more research, which is why it's so interesting.
 
I don't think a skimmer would fit in a 4" x 4" space. I can't think of one that would, at least.

Adding a sump is always a good idea. It will let you remove equipment from sight in the display tank. A 10 gallon tank would be big enough to hold your skimmer, heater, etc.

Powerheads are rated for how fast the water leaves them. If your fuge is longer and skinny (like most are), the flow really won't be that much. I use a Maxijet 1200 to run the back compartment of my 12 gallon nano.
 
Biffer,

I think I should be able to set this up without too much difficulty. I'll definitely look at a sump when I go with a skimmer. Sounds like the best way to do it.

Thanks.
 
To support the bottom panel of the refugium just use a few pieces of rectangular glass siliconed under the bottom to the tank back wall. Just spacing them out every 6 inches to a foot would be sufficient. That would mean your fuge bottom would be a few inches above the bottom rim of the tank.
If you wanted you could actually start the construction by siliconing say a one inch wide band of glass where you will be putting the walls and floor of the fuge then siliconing the refugium walls and floor to that strip. Then you would not have to cut away part of the tanks top plastic rim.
 
OK, I checked it out and figure I can do this for $40 or less, plus the pump. Not bad. It would cost well over double at the local LFS. I think I will plan for a small summer project.

Thanks everyone for your help.
 

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