DIY algae scrubber and sump/fuge

nytrillium

nytrillium

Member
Well im finally ready to do a fuge and i want to hear opinions on my design. Basically i want to do 2 separage things. One is the algae scrubber for nutrient export and to remove nitrates. Two, i want a fuge to grow copods, amphipods etc. Overall i'm hoping to almost double the volume of water in my tank too. The algae scrubber is going to be hidden in the stand but i am making the fuge so it is visible so that i can watch it if i decide to put some creatures in it (cucumber, featherduster, snails or something of the sort)
I attached a crude Paint drawing of my algae scrubber. I will not be putting sand in it and i will have baffles to keep the macro in place. Im going to run my HOT 250 to supply it and dump it back to the sump/fuge. Dimensions will probably be around 14" deep x 6" high x 30" long. It ends up being around 10 gallons not counting the supply baffle and overflow chamber for the outlet.
I've got a spare 10 gal. that i want to use for my sump/fuge. I will probably do diagonal corner baffles for the inlet and return to the tank. I attached another pic of that. I have a mag 9.5 that is running my berlin HO skimmer (a little overkill) so the other question is: Can i use the mag 9.5 to pump water through the venturi up to the DT to run the skimmer and also act as the return to the tank from the fuge? Is that not advisable since i will lose my critters that i want back in my tank? I also have a Quiet one 3000 available but i was hoping to use that in a closed loop system for my DT.

 
bob a.

bob a.

Member
One thing to keep in mind is that if you are using a baffle to separate the pump from the refugium section, the smaller you make that section relative to the rest of the sump, then the greater the fluctuation of the water level will be. If you use a full height baffle, you will end up having to top off the sump almost daily. You could drill some holes lower, that would alleviate the water rising and lowering too quickly, but might let some of the algae and critters get through. I have one sump that does have a baffle with holes and another that uses a full height baffle. The one with the holes is less of a problem with water level.
 
nytrillium

nytrillium

Member
Well i do want to have the critters get through. the whole idea was to establish a huge pod population to try and get a mandarin. I was wondering if they would make it through the return pump and back up through the skimmer.. If they wont make it through the skimmer ill have to rework my design and use another pump or buy one. what do you think?
I'm not sure i follow your full height baffle thing. If i use a full height baffle, the flow to the pump chamber will not be consistant and keep the water fluctuating in depth in the pump chamber? If i use a 2 baffle system (bubble trap like thing) then this wont be a problem? Like you were saying.... Is it even necessary to have a tall baffle there to separate the fuge/return chamber other than to keep out the sand.
By the way the algae scrubber is separate from the fuge. The fuge will not have any macro. only pods and LR rubble.
 
dadummy

dadummy

Member
I have a mag 9.5 that sends pods to the display alive and well, maybe a little dizzy. I have a coralife ss125 that collects almost everything that gets in it. I also have full height baffles for my return pump. Between evaporation and filling the skimmer cup, if I neglected the system for two or three days max, the return pump would suck air and burn up. If I drill holes in the baffles, the whole sump will have to evaporate before the return pump sucks air.
I used acrylic for the sump and fuge, split the supply, some to fuge rest to skimmer. The fuge drains into the sump via bulkhead fittings and unions, they both can be removed from the cabinet.
I would reccomend doing a little research on baffles and micro bubbles, for proper placement. micro bubbles are no fun.
Oh! and there is a fat six-line wrasse that eats pods faster than they can reproduce. I eventually would like to try a mandarin, need more pods and less wrasse. Of course my wife loves the wrasse
 
nytrillium

nytrillium

Member
thanks... could you recommend some threads about baffles and mciro bubbles. Ive read the plumbinb 101 and my search skills arent up to snuff at the moment.
I kinda knew that the 9.5 would probably not kill the pods but i was hoping that the skimmer wouldnt take them out... but i guess they will since thatts what a skimmer does. DUH.....
 
nytrillium

nytrillium

Member
Lots of threads on here explaining what each is but ill repeat it.
Officially a fuge(refugium) is a place for critters to seek "refuge" from things that would like to chow down on them in the DT. This can mean anything from snails, to crabs, to macro algae, to coepods.
The algae scrubber thatt i am referring to is ONLY for macro algae to grow in. THe main purpose for this is for nutrient export, mainly phosphates and nitrates. While many people combine the two to save space, i want to do two separate systems to make each more purpose built and efficient.
Sump- simply put, a place for your tank overflows to collect and add overall volume to your system. The sump is usually connected to the fuge and contains your heaters/skimmer/autotopoff device. If you are building a fuge you will probably have the sump built into the fuge....
I have looked at that site a few times, i cant seem to apply it to what im doing though. Since i only have a 10 gal to work with for sump/fuge total i kinda neeed to make the sump and return compact. I wanted to do diagonal overflows too so that i can make them out of black acrylic to "hide" the return pump. Its going to be like a second display fuge kindof thing.
I think i can get ahold of some glass or maybe just buy some acrylic... would it be worth building a separate sump to put the overflow fromt he tank into, and then do another for the return pump? Im not sure how i could make that work unless i drill the 10... which i didnt wnat to do.
 
dadummy

dadummy

Member
hmm. wish i had some answers, space is the limiting factor, I saw your diy stand post.
I remember seeing somewhere, they put a fuge above the display tank, pumped the water up and let drain back into display. would still have to drill the ten though,
 
nytrillium

nytrillium

Member
Yeah it would also require me to box in the back of the DT, and put posts in the front corners of the 30 to support the weight of the fuge on top. Since viewing area is already at a premium that really wasnt an option. :notsure:
I guess my next thought was to get a 20 long to put in the stand and just partition it to hold my sump, skimmer and returns while leaving the middle open for display. I could frame around the Display part to hide the pumps and other stuff i guess. so thats an option. It also depends how i make the stand because if i did that, i could pretty much do the same stand i ws planning and just change the orientation of a few posts (turn them 90 degrees) to make the 20 long fit. The dimensions of the 20 long are 12x12x30 right?
I kinda wanted a fuge that was a little bit deeper but i guess i could make it work. For the stand it would allow me more storage space underneath that i would loose on the sides where the 20 long would be taking up. Just a thought i guess. I really have no clue right now. I bought the wood for the stand im just waiting to decide what im gonna do right now.
 
nytrillium

nytrillium

Member
ya. i considered that. the DT is going to be 3 feet off the floor, so an 18" tall is too tall.

3 feet - 3.5" (for 2x4 frame) - 8" (for algae scrubber opening and drawer) - 2.5" (for support under the algae scrubber - 22" (for Fuge opening) - 2.5" (for fuge frame) - 1.5" (for load transfer to floor) = - 4 inches for my bottom drawer (no room for storage under the tank.) not good. I had it all planned out so that it would work with my 10 gal. 11.5 inches tall... wait... i had a brain fart.
I was going to use that for a fuge... and thats not even as tall as the 20 long would be. Big DUH to me... after i went and did all that calculation.
So yeah i guess im going to do that ... Now i just need to find a 20 long used for cheap. I may just switch the Algae scrubber to underneath the fuge though to make it more visible.
Sometimes i amaze myself on how retarded i can be. With all my schooling in engineering i seem to forget the smallest details sometimes. WOW...
 
nytrillium

nytrillium

Member
If i end up using my Quiet one 3000 as the return pump would it be possible to hook it up to a spray bar? Would i be loosing too much flow. Unrestricted it flows 780 and it should flow about 600-650 at 3 feet of head to my tank. Its only a 30 gal. So the return from the fuge and what not plus my 250 hot will be plenty of flow in the tank.
i would probably want to do like 4 jets in the tank from the quiet one 3000 return. Are the loc line fittings worth a dam or will they restrict the flow too much. I was thinking of using 1" pvc in a square around the inside of the hood and then T ing off that for each of the jets. Two in the front and two in the back corners.
I havent been able to find the flow loss percentages for pvc fittings anywhere so if anyone knows where i could find this that would be great. I think a 90 is like 5% ?
 
nytrillium

nytrillium

Member
Well i found a 20 long at petkillers for 25$. That will be my fuge but i think im going to do a sump behind it so i can use the whole thing for my fuge. I was going to drill 2 holes in the lower back corners of the 20 long for return overflows to the sump. I need a way to spread the flow out in the fuge so that the flow is nice and even so ill probably try to do around 300 gph gravity fed direct from the overflow in the tank. I think ill use a 3/4" spraybar since i have a 3/4" bulkhead. I also have a 1" bulkhead to supply the sump/skimmer. Anyone have any experience using a 5 gallon bucket for a sump? Its gotta be fairly small since im not going to have much room behind the fuge. Dimensions are probably around 10" x 30"x 16 high... so i was thinking 5 gallon bucket would be nice.
 
lepete

lepete

Member
Originally Posted by NYTrillium
Anyone have any experience using a 5 gallon bucket for a sump?
i am thinking of a 5 gal bucket for a fuge. That's about the only thing that can fit in my cabinet now.
 
nytrillium

nytrillium

Member
haha... im running into that problem now with my big plans for extra filtration

Got a plan of how your gonna do it yet?
Im using it as just a sump and ill be returning from my fuge that will be at the same level.
 
lepete

lepete

Member
Originally Posted by NYTrillium
haha... im running into that problem now with my big plans for extra filtration

Got a plan of how your gonna do it yet?
Im using it as just a sump and ill be returning from my fuge that will be at the same level.
My 5 gallon is a detergent buket. It comes with a nice tight lid. I will install a grow light or screw-in PC. The light will flush against the lid so I can bring the water level pretty high in the bucket.
On two opposite 'side' of the round bucket, I'll put a 1" + 1/2" bulkhead at the same level. The 1" will serve as a return using gravity. The 1/2" will be the input to the fuge and driven by a maxijet 900. The input will be brought to the bottom of the bucket via PVC.
I am thinking of using eggcrate and plastic window screening to contain the macro algae. Or, I can just drop rubble LR and grow xenia. I dont know yet.
One downside to using a bucket is its small horizontal surface area. I think my bucket is about a 15" in diameter. Maybe I can use the vertical space also... You know, install 'bookshelves' and put the macro-algae on them....... or, install a glass tube and put a light down below the water level (scary) kinda like a UV system.
Looks like you are doing a sump and I am doing a fuge... hehe... cheers ...... to sucess!!!
 
nytrillium

nytrillium

Member
yeah that sounds pretty good... im still not sure exactly how im going to do it. I have to get the tank drilled and do the overflow right now.... I think ill probably do with out pumping to the fuge and have it fed directly from the DT overflow. The only problem with this is that if i wanted to put the pump at the level of the fuge i wont have any room for backwash.(not good) So i think im goinng to rethink this a little bit...
I like your idea of shelving the bucket to use the height. Especially if your using one of the larger 7 gallon salt buckets. You could get clear pvc or clear acrylic tubing and cap one end to put CF screw in lights in. You wouldnt really have to worry about them leaking if you do it right.
I sorta did a Paint of what im thinking about. Fuge is the rectangle. its a side view of the whole thing.
 
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