need lots of advice on creating a refugium

[johnl]

I decided to build a refugium from scratch for my 30gallon reef
i have a 5gal tank i plan to use please tell me what i need overflow lights pump anything you can think of im new to this stuff with refugiums i want to do it to reduce my phosphates want to put calurpa in do i need to keep light on 24/7
John

 

[johnl]

Bump

 

[bang guy]

What does your setup look like now? Do you have room to set the refugium to the side or in back of your tank?

 

[johnl]

kip i have no sump the tank wil be next to the tank about 3-4 ft of tubbing any cheap over flows that you know of do i need live sand or get reg sand and some live rock why cant i keep the light on for 7 hours thank guys
John

 

[bang guy]

There are many ways to do this. This is how I would do it.
I would setup the 5 gal so that the top rim is the same level as the display tank. I would set up a siphon using 3/4" black tubing or 1/2" rigid PVC tubing from the 5 gal to the display. I would put an AquaClear 402 in the display and connect rubber tubing to the venturi intake on the powerhead and put the other end of the tubing in the 5 gal.
When you turn on the powerhead it will suck water from the 5 gal. The water will be replaced by the siphon. I would make sure that the display tank can hold a couple extra gallons of water in case the siphon stops.

 

[johnl]

Bang guy do i need a over flow for this .the rims should be at same height i think then use the 402 to pump water into tank and have gravity feed it ino main tank is bang guy do i need my lights on 24/7 the ocean dosnt even have that and what else shoul i consider do i need lr an ls
Thanks,
John

 

[bang guy]

If the top of the tanks are at the exact same level then you don't need an overflow.
Home Depot sells a Lights of America 28 watt PC lamp that will fit perfectly over the 5 gal. That will be petty cheap lighting. I would light it 14 hrs/day opposite the display tank. 24/7 is fine.
I suggest a variety of algae, at least two types.

 

[johnl]

bang guy i dont need 50/50 lights and do you know what the lights of america looks like ? how much ls or lr do i need is gravity feeding it back to main tank.
John

 

[tony detroit]

Like bang said , run the lights on the fuge when the lights in the tank are off.

 

[bang guy]

Hey John. Can you use more punctuation for me? I'm having difficulty understanding your questions.
I would advise not pumping water into the refuge. If the siphon fails the pump will keep pumping all the water into the refugium.
It doesn't matter what kind of lights you use.

 

[johnl]

Sorry bang guy about the grammer. Do you know the name of the lights of america pc, i live by a home depot. The fuge sould have water pumped out by pump and have incoming water via gravity. I plan on getting calurpa but shoul i get live sand or do 1# of live rock with dead sand ? can my lights be on 14hrs in the day time? I can use std or 50/50 lights on there ? Im making a list of what i need for tmrw.So far i have: 1 Aqua clear 400, have vinal and black tubbings ,have 5gal tank,live rock/sand calurpa,
lights have some floresent 50/50 20inches i probably will get the little pc like you said. do I need any plumbing thing pvc u tubes or strainers?
last thought should i use two small power heads one in fuge one in main tank or is that a bad idea ?
Thank You So Much,
John

 

[bang guy]

Pumping water out of the display is a bad idea IMO for your setup.
The Lights of America light can be found in the outdoor lighting section of Home Depot. It's 28 or 29 watts I think. Truly any light will do that fits over the tank.
I'm a fan of rigid PVC tubing. If you're going to pump water out of the refugium instead of having it sucked out like I suggested you'll need to find a very small powerhead, no more than 50 gallons/hour and you might have to restrict the output to lower the flow rate.
Some dead sand and live rock is OK. A handful of good live sand from somewhere will really do it some good.
If you don't understand how the venturi on a powerhead can suck water feel free to e-mail me & I can explain it completely.

 

[johnl]

Bang guy last question should i go with a aqua clear 100 for my fuge ? Can you give an idea on how my power head with return lines and exit lines from the main tank should be hooked up, and
any special strainers or j Tubes i need - plumbing stuff
p.s Please explain about the ventui stuff to me. my email is johnnl48@hotmail.com
Million thanks,
John