Refugia!!

[Guest Kimo]

I'm trying to plan a refugium for my 180 SPS tank - I need some kind of nutrient export...But I need some ideas!

 

I don't have much space under my tank, but I'd like to make the refugium as inconspicuous as possible.

 

Lets see what you have, and we'll go from there!!

 

J

[eddi]

Jamie,

 

I have a 125 gallon, which I believe is the same length as a 180 but not as deep, and inside my stand I have a 60 gallon refugium and a 20 gallon sump.  However, that takes up pretty much all my open space.

 

Does your stand have drawers?  Maybe you can take the drawers out and just glue the face back on the stand for looks.  That will give you additional room.

 

If your room is taken up by equipment, can you place them inside the sump?

 

Siorry, I don't really have any great ideas.  I can take a couple of pics of my set up and e-mail them to you if you would like.

 

 

Eddi

[Guest Kimo]

Thanks Eddi - That would be great!

[xeon]

Like you I didn't have much room either.  My "free" space was a footprint of about 10 3/4" x 22".  With my space the only tanks that would fit would be a 10, 15H and 20XH.  These are tanks that have a 10x20 footprint.  I went with the 10 since it was the most readily available but will upgrade one of these days.  

 

The way that I decided to feed the fuge was via my return pump.  It was too much for my display tank overflow by about 200-300ghp, so I added a t fitting and ball valves on the return and now have this "extra" flow going through the refugium.  The return for the refuge is via gravity back into my sump.  I built a short stand to raise the refuge above my sump so gravity could do its thing.  

 

If you want to do something in glass and figure out what size you need or want the folks at www.glasscages.com are going to be coming to Manassas in Feb. I believe.  They could do something odd sized for sure.  Their prices are very reasonable and I've heard they do good work.  You can e-mail them at Twinoaks02@aol.com or give them a ring at 615-446-8877

[Guest Kimo]

xeon - Thanks!  Do you have any pics?

[xeon]

I'm not sure, but I can get the digi cam and get some for sure.  I'll try and get you something today.  

Edit: Took a few pics, let me know if you want anything specific.

 

This is how I feed my refuge off of my return line.

 

This shows where the water comes and my skimmer bar that drains back into the return chamber.  Any question on why I had to go with a 10x tank?  hehe

 

This is the the stand the refugium sits on so it can drain back out via gravity.

[eddi]

Jamie,

 

I can't compete with those pictures.  My refugium and sump are side by side, connected by a 1.5" pipe; one drain from the tank goes straight in the refugium, the other in the sump.  The refugium is lit by one 96W PC.

 

They take up the entire length of the stand.

 

 

Eddi

[Guest Kimo]

Wow!  Great pics Xeon.  Do you have any that show the whole refugium/sump area?  I'd like to see how it's all organized.

 

Eddi - That's ok    I htink I understand how your setup works - still do you have any pics?  It would be good to archive them in this thread.

 

Thanks!

 

Jamie

[xeon]

My camera can link pics together, but I'm not as steady as I probably should be.  You will notice two areas where some things look a bit odd... like the skimmer collection cup.    

 

[Guest JFish]

10 gallon refugium in closet next to tank.  temp plumbing shown.

 

Permanent plumbing going through wall and into closet.

 

Return to tank:

 

Spray input to rufugium and fully planted:

[Aquariareview]

Those of you that know me know that I am a big fan of the Mud based filter system. I have been doing a combination of deep sand bed in the tank and deep mud in the refuge for more than 10 years. Here is a plan to convert a 55 gal tank (that old scratched up acrylic tank you have in the garage) to a mud refuge that works so well that you may find that a lot of the other equipment in your system is unneeded.

 

Here is a parts list

 

1- 55 gal tank 48x12x18

Plexiglas pieces

2- 12'x4'

1- 12'x15'

1- 5 gal aquarium

5 gal Mud. I like the Kent bio-sediment

or Eco-System mud

 

You can size this system up or down to fit any size tank you wish to use. My past experience has shown that the system/refuge size relationship must be at least tank=100%  refuge=20% water. Your refuge is not going be full, a 55gal tank will have about 30-35 gal of water. That will filter a tank of 150-175 gal real well. You can go larger but not smaller. One more factor, a deep tank is not as good as a long tank. You need surface area for the substrate to interface with the water. I am using a 5 gal aquarium as a return chamber to keep mud out of the pump. This is cheap and easy to clean out. If you are doing a very small system you can sub this with a powerhead hung on the side of the tank.

 

Putting it together

1: Clean the tank and glue in the Plexiglas pieces using aquarium silicone as shown in the image linked below.

2: Fill the intake chamber with bio-ball or some other media to break up the flow of water (I use whole oyster shells).

3: Place the mud in the main chamber.

4: Set the 5 gal aquarium in the tank at the far end from the intake side

5: Set pump into 5 gal and plumb to the return

6: Place some Macro algae into the mud

7: Start System

8: Light this system 24/7 with white light,  NO or PC will work

9 Add crabs and snails to keep it clean. You can add a small fish or two to stir the mud a little.

 

With a mix of Kent and Eco-System Mud I run:

Calcium levels of 430 mg/l

Alkalinity 9.7 dkh

Magnesium of 810 mg/L

This is without a reactor and with almost no additives.

[Lee Stearns]

John,

What are the Macros that you have planted in your refuge. I am in the process of getting rid of any calurpa from my 29 and my fuge. I would love to get some of that macro for my fuge. I have a bit of chaetomorpha, but it grows much slower than the three forms of calurpa that I have.

Thanks,

Lee

[Guest JFish]

Not sure what kind it is... it's a caulerpa species though.  I have that and the feather caulerpa.  Neither have ever gone asexual in my tank.  

 

I'm not home right now.  I will be the first week of march if you want to come pick some up.  I live in fairfax.