Can you setup a fuge witout overflow or drilled?

neowind

Member
I was wondering if there was a way to setup a Refugium without having your tank drilled or having an overflow? I was thinking maybe you could setup a pump that pumped out then back in but I have never ran a refugium before so I am not sure. Can anyone help me on this?
 

robchuck

Active Member
The two pump idea wouldn't work and would drive you nuts at the same time. Both pumps would need to flow exactly the same amount of water, otherwise you would have constant floods.
A better suggestion would be to build an above-tank refugium. You wouldn't have to drill or use an overflow on your display tank, but would need one of the options on the refugium. You would need an in-tank pump pushing water up to the 'fuge where it then overflows back to the display. This is actually the best type of 'fuge to use because pods flow straight back into the tank without going through a pump.
 

krishj39

Active Member
The only way I know of that you can get away with it is if you modify a hang-on power filter to be a refugium. RockChuck is right, there is no way you want to mess with 2 pumps, it WILL result in overflows. He is right again about the above tank refugium. That plan requires that the fuge be drilled or have an overflow box. It doesn't need to be more than a few inches higher than your display tank, by the way. Back to my powerfilter idea. With this, you would take a powerfilter, remove all the insides and put a little substrate in it and then put a light on top of it and add some macro algae. This is only going to be effective on small tanks. Also, someone makes a hang-on refugium that does this exact thing, except is was specifically made to be a refugium, obviously. This will really only be effective on a small tank as well. IMO, if you have a tank that is bigger than 30 gallons, you will need more than a hang on refugium.
 

aldog51

Member
I have mine hooked up in that same fashion. No drilling and no
overflow. And it will not flood in case power goes out, also pods will flow freely into the tank without getting ripped up by a secondary pump because gravity takes the water back down into the tank.
 

aldog51

Member
this is the PVC fitting (T connector) connected to the bulkhead going down into some 3/4 inch pvc
 

aldog51

Member
And this pic is the tubing that is bringing water into the fuge via a submersed Rio 1400. I also placed a ball valve to regulate flow. I got it at about 250-300GPH.
 

aldog51

Member
It is one of the best investments you would ever make on your saltwater tank. All my levels Nitrate, Ammonia , Nitrite are at 0PPM. I could never control my Nitrates they used to spike up to around 30-40ppm but since placing the fuge I have not had this problem.
 

wrassie86

Member
Can you setup a fuge witout overflow or drilled?
Yes it can be done fairly easy without the fear of flooding.
I've had mine running for 3 years now with out a problem.what i did was.
my 20g fuge is.fed by a rio 200(mounted near the water line in the main tank) into a troff waterer mounted at the top of the 20g.Its basicly a ball valve that cuts the water supply off if it gets to high.they sell them at menards or home depot for 6 bucks,good thing is it uses a garden hose style fitting.
for the return to the main tank i used a little giant pond pump (there alot cheaper than a big rio) that i bought at menards for 50 bucks and a flow valve to regulate the flow of course.and hooked the line to a U shaped pipe from and old filter and cut this off above the water line so the is no chance of back flow.
i belive it all costed me less than $100 for pumps, hoses,tank.like i said ive been running this same system for 3 years now and it works flawless.
 

diddley

Member
it hangs on the back of the tank like a powerfilter. most people run lights on their refugium at the opposite schedule of their tank lights to prevent ph fluctuation.
 
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