rcbruce
Member
I have a 55 gallon tank setup for about a year and a half now. I run it on what I call the poor man's system, which basically means I can't afford the "BEST" of everything. I don't have a sump, but I do have a strong canister filter.
Well, I want a mandarin goby, but my sixline wrasse has pretty well wipped out my copepod population. I need a safe place to grow pods, which would be a refugium, but I did not want one half the size of my tank that cost just as much, so I came up with this idea.
I had an old 2 1/2 gallon acrylic betta tank in my shed. I already had the oak box I made on the end of my tank as I use my tank as a room divider and have my canister lines, light cords, and protein skimmer in it.
I moved the skimmer to the back of the box and hard lined it in with pvc, building a pedestal inside the box so the skimmer would sit at the right height. I then built a second pedestal for the betta tank so that it sat lower than the skimmer, but just above the rim of the tank. I had the discharge from the skimmer go into the betta tank. I then drilled a hole in the betta tank and har lined a discharge into the tank.
Everything is working fine. The skimmer is removing as much gunk as it ever did, the the clean water discharges into the refugium causing a swirling movement, and then returns to the tank. I put LS and 5lbs. of LR rubble in it.
GROW PODS GROW!
Well, I want a mandarin goby, but my sixline wrasse has pretty well wipped out my copepod population. I need a safe place to grow pods, which would be a refugium, but I did not want one half the size of my tank that cost just as much, so I came up with this idea.
I had an old 2 1/2 gallon acrylic betta tank in my shed. I already had the oak box I made on the end of my tank as I use my tank as a room divider and have my canister lines, light cords, and protein skimmer in it.
I moved the skimmer to the back of the box and hard lined it in with pvc, building a pedestal inside the box so the skimmer would sit at the right height. I then built a second pedestal for the betta tank so that it sat lower than the skimmer, but just above the rim of the tank. I had the discharge from the skimmer go into the betta tank. I then drilled a hole in the betta tank and har lined a discharge into the tank.
Everything is working fine. The skimmer is removing as much gunk as it ever did, the the clean water discharges into the refugium causing a swirling movement, and then returns to the tank. I put LS and 5lbs. of LR rubble in it.
GROW PODS GROW!
