Question about refugium
- Thread starter coral boy
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heavenly damsel
Member
We have a 10 gallon refugium under out 105 gallon tank and it works fine. Used an overflow box to get the water from it to the sump which sits right beside it, all is gravity which works great in a power outage. Feed it back into the area of the sumo that goes directly back to the tank so the pods are not going through the skimmer.
coral boy
Member
Jon
I also have a wet/dry filter running what i was thinking was to use an old 10 gal. tank i have sitting around. Sounds like i need to do what heavenly damsel did but not sure how to set it up i'm worried about an over flow if the power goes out. also i need to know how much sand to put in it and how do i get the pods and all that good stuff.
I went to the LFS around here and he was no help at all he kept trying to sell me an eco system with miracle mud he said LS would not work so i walked out of there not knowing any more then i did when i walked in. A refugium is all new to me so sorry if i sound stupid well i guess i am when it comes to a refugium
thanks Sam
I also have a wet/dry filter running what i was thinking was to use an old 10 gal. tank i have sitting around. Sounds like i need to do what heavenly damsel did but not sure how to set it up i'm worried about an over flow if the power goes out. also i need to know how much sand to put in it and how do i get the pods and all that good stuff.
I went to the LFS around here and he was no help at all he kept trying to sell me an eco system with miracle mud he said LS would not work so i walked out of there not knowing any more then i did when i walked in. A refugium is all new to me so sorry if i sound stupid well i guess i am when it comes to a refugium
thanks Sam
nm reef
Active Member
Sam....any type of a refugium in my opinion would be a positive addition. Mine is rather large and gravity returns to my display...but the idea you have would work also. I'd suggest you find a way to take water from your filter and feed the refugium......you could probably gravity return the refugium back to the outlet side of your filter ...which would return to the display.
To set up a 10 gal refugium I would suggest a low flow rate....anywhere from 1"-6" of sand...maybe some crud/rubble if you have access to any.....lighting sufficient to grow macro algaes(I prefer lights over my refugium be on 24/7)...to seed your refugium I'd suggest you check with LFS's that sell cured LR....talk them out of the crud from the bottom of curing tanks. Its great stuff to seed a refugium or LSB for that matter.
Let us know what you decide to do...and keep us posted on your progress.
To set up a 10 gal refugium I would suggest a low flow rate....anywhere from 1"-6" of sand...maybe some crud/rubble if you have access to any.....lighting sufficient to grow macro algaes(I prefer lights over my refugium be on 24/7)...to seed your refugium I'd suggest you check with LFS's that sell cured LR....talk them out of the crud from the bottom of curing tanks. Its great stuff to seed a refugium or LSB for that matter.
Let us know what you decide to do...and keep us posted on your progress.
jonthefb
Active Member
a refugium is a litl emicro-ecosystem that is connected to your main reef tank by way of overflow that has a deep sand bed with lots and lots of macroalgae (caulerpa) which acts as a filter. teh sandbed, as well as the macroalgae utilize excess nutrients in the water, adn the caulerpa gows from it. at the same time that a fuge is filtering your water, it also provides a sort of safe house for tiny inverts such as copeopods, adn other microfaunae, that would normally be gobbled up in the tank. If you have your refugium set up to gravity return to your main tank, you are providign your system with a constant source of food as well!
sounds like a good plan on using the ten gallon coral boy. as NM suggested, i would splice off of the the line going to your wet dry and placing a ball valve there that way you can manually adjust the amount of flow that is going through your fuge. i would go with as deep a sandbed as you can afford, and also use the reef rubble as NM also suggested to seed it with bacteria/pods, etc. then all you need to do is get you a healthy frond of caulerpa and your ready to rock!
good luck
jon
sounds like a good plan on using the ten gallon coral boy. as NM suggested, i would splice off of the the line going to your wet dry and placing a ball valve there that way you can manually adjust the amount of flow that is going through your fuge. i would go with as deep a sandbed as you can afford, and also use the reef rubble as NM also suggested to seed it with bacteria/pods, etc. then all you need to do is get you a healthy frond of caulerpa and your ready to rock!
good luck
jon
bobothewizard
Member
what about a refugium in the middle of your sump. I have as 30 gallon long tank i was thinking of sectioning it off into maybe 3 different sections. 1 for the line from the tank, 2nd part for the refugium, and 3rd part for the calcium reactor / skimmer / return pump. Would this work? And if it would work does anyone have a good picture of theres and also what would you use to attach the acrylic sections to the tank?
jonthefb
Active Member
yeah you could definately do that, however id just make two sections, one for the fuge, and one for the skimmer, and have them fed independantly from two separate returns from the tank. this way you dont have to pick the lesser of two evils in havign the skimmer first then the fuge or the other way around.
as far as attatchign the plexi, all you need is some aquarium silicone and a bead on both sides, as well as teh back, and you are done!
good luckk bobo, and keep us posted!
jon
as far as attatchign the plexi, all you need is some aquarium silicone and a bead on both sides, as well as teh back, and you are done!
good luckk bobo, and keep us posted!
jon
broomer5
Active Member
You can certainly use a "glass" 10 gallon tank as a refugium - many people do.
As Heavenly Damsel said, you'll need another overflow on the fuge to get the water over the edge of the glass tank, and back to the sump. Or have the sides of the 10 gallon drilled ( not recommended ! )
Another method is to use a plastic or acrylic container for the refugium, and cut holes in the side of it, up near the top, facing the sump.
Install bulkhead fitting(s) in these holes.
These holes/fittings MUST be higher than the top of the sump ( wet/dry ) sides in order for this to work.
Rubbermaid type containers normally allow you to use a larger size than many glass tanks.
Using some cheap pvc elbows and short lengths of pipe, you can easily make one or two "spillways" that allow the water in the fuge to "flow" through the bulkheads and "fall" into the sump ( wet/dry ).
This eliminates the need for the additional U tube overflow on the refugium. I don't like to use U tube overflows on LOW FLOW situations. It's possible they will accumulate air in the upper curve of the U, and lose prime/siphon.
As far as feeding the water to the refugium, yes you can certainly rob some of the draining water from the display tank as it falls to the sump. Teeing off the drain line will allow this.
Personally, I prefer to rob some of the return pump water with a tee in the return line, and redirect this water to the refugium.
What goes up must come down.
I will adjust what goes up - but will not adjust what comes down.
I let it come down unrestricted.
Additionally, the refugium feedwater line now is under pressure, not relying on gravity. This makes it a lot easier to run your tubing/piping. You force the water over to the refugium, can regulate it very accurately with a small 1/4 turn ball valve ....... and not disrupt your tank draining.
I avoid wet floors as we all do - this set up has worked 100% since February/March - and didn't cost much at all. Everything excluding the Rubbermaid containers is available at Home Depot.
If you aren't into using Rubbermaid, then glass or acrylic is still a good option.
As Heavenly Damsel said, you'll need another overflow on the fuge to get the water over the edge of the glass tank, and back to the sump. Or have the sides of the 10 gallon drilled ( not recommended ! )
Another method is to use a plastic or acrylic container for the refugium, and cut holes in the side of it, up near the top, facing the sump.
Install bulkhead fitting(s) in these holes.
These holes/fittings MUST be higher than the top of the sump ( wet/dry ) sides in order for this to work.
Rubbermaid type containers normally allow you to use a larger size than many glass tanks.
Using some cheap pvc elbows and short lengths of pipe, you can easily make one or two "spillways" that allow the water in the fuge to "flow" through the bulkheads and "fall" into the sump ( wet/dry ).
This eliminates the need for the additional U tube overflow on the refugium. I don't like to use U tube overflows on LOW FLOW situations. It's possible they will accumulate air in the upper curve of the U, and lose prime/siphon.
As far as feeding the water to the refugium, yes you can certainly rob some of the draining water from the display tank as it falls to the sump. Teeing off the drain line will allow this.
Personally, I prefer to rob some of the return pump water with a tee in the return line, and redirect this water to the refugium.
What goes up must come down.
I will adjust what goes up - but will not adjust what comes down.
I let it come down unrestricted.
Additionally, the refugium feedwater line now is under pressure, not relying on gravity. This makes it a lot easier to run your tubing/piping. You force the water over to the refugium, can regulate it very accurately with a small 1/4 turn ball valve ....... and not disrupt your tank draining.
I avoid wet floors as we all do - this set up has worked 100% since February/March - and didn't cost much at all. Everything excluding the Rubbermaid containers is available at Home Depot.
If you aren't into using Rubbermaid, then glass or acrylic is still a good option.
fishfood
Member
to follow up on broomer5's idea you could just put a small pump in the sump and pump the water into the fuge and have it flow back to the sump the way broomer5 mentioned. My 20g fuge is built that way but the water flows into the smaller portion of the tank and then the small pump takes some of that water into the fuge section and the water just flows over the divider. I found it easier to do it this way because i had extra powerhead laying around and didnt' want to mess with my return line.
frankl15207
Member
Originally posted by coral boy
Jon
I also have a wet/dry filter running what i was thinking was to use an old 10 gal. tank i have sitting around. Sounds like i need to do what heavenly damsel did but not sure how to set it up i'm worried about an over flow if the power goes out. also i need to know how much sand to put in it and how do i get the pods and all that good stuff.
I just built one out of acrylic because I needed a custom size to fit next to my wet/dry sump. A small powerhead feeds the water in from the sump with a bulkhead return to the sump. Properly setup, it can't overflow. The intake and output are at the same level high in the tank, so in the event of a power failure, the water level will only drop about 1/2 inch in the tank itself.
I have a pod kit and macro algae set to arrive on Wednesday.
blondenaso1
Member
Here are a couple pix of my new setup. The refugium is "inline" which makes it almost impossible to control the flowrate, but so far so good. These pics are only a couple days old. It is looking a lot better now. Some of the Macros have taken root and started to grow and yesterday I saw my first sign of life, a small bristle worn crawling around.
blondenaso1
Member
Sorry they are so big.
blondenaso1
Member
Sorry they are so big.
http://community.webshots.com/photo/...51139464SOUkVM
http://community.webshots.com/photo/...51139464SOUkVM
heavenly damsel
Member
We pump from the protien skimmer to the refugium, have an overflow bow from the refugium to the return side of the sump, then pump to the tank. We we have a power outage, or shut the system down everything stops running because of the gravity feed from the refugium to the sump. Works great.
My husband could give you more detail, that is his part of keeping our tanks. He is an engineer.
My husband could give you more detail, that is his part of keeping our tanks. He is an engineer.