nm reef
Active Member
Been playing with the idea of building on an addition to my current 35 gal refugium...wanted to futher increase the volume of the over-all system and provide increased flow thru the refugium. Plus I've been playing with the idea of adding a second smaller refugium area that would sort of pre-filter the water...then gravity feed that into the 35 refugium for futher filtration prior to gravity returning back thru the wall into the display. The origional refugium works to perfection...but I do get a little build up on the surface and some of this eventually makes its way into the display. So my thinking was a 2 stage refugium...first is a 15 gal with 3"-4" LS and fed with approximately 175 GPH direct from the display. Eventually this will have caulperas. This first stage feeds into my current 35 gal refugium that has 4"-5" dsb with lots of rubble and it is over grown with caulperas. The entire system is then returned via gravity back to the display.
Well its up and running and so far no leaks or overflows. Time will tell if the additional volume and filtration is worth the effort. But based on how effective the origional was I'm betting my system becomes even more stable ... plus there is the extra volume for stabality and even more room for pods and such to multiply and eventually return to the display for late night snacks.Now my refugium volume alone is nearly equal to the volume of my 55 gal display!
Well its up and running and so far no leaks or overflows. Time will tell if the additional volume and filtration is worth the effort. But based on how effective the origional was I'm betting my system becomes even more stable ... plus there is the extra volume for stabality and even more room for pods and such to multiply and eventually return to the display for late night snacks.Now my refugium volume alone is nearly equal to the volume of my 55 gal display!
