Setting up a Refugium need advice

[cbashaw]

I am setting up a refugium for a 20h tank.

 

I have a 10 gallon tank under the stand, I don't have the option of putting it above the tank.

 

This is what I have so far:

 

Maxjet 1200 as a return pump.

main tank is drilled with a bulkhead installed.

a screw in type florescent light bulb (75watts from HD)

the refugium is empty right now.

 

Should I put any dividers in the fuge?

What kind of substrate, and how deep should it be?

Is a 10g fuge big enough or should I just use it as a sump?

What are the best tpes of algae to put in it?

does the maxjet have the right amount of flow?

Any other suggestions?

 

Thanks, any help is appreciated.

I am new to WAMAS, and hope to meet everyone at the next meeting

 

Chris

:p

[Guest tgallo]

now thats a tuff question, you should setup some kind of protective baffle or some way to keep the algae  out of the pump.

 

how are you planning on supplying water to the fuge, i see you will use a maxijet for a return.

 

there are many ways to do it, hopefully more members will chime in.

[xeon]

A 10 gallon refuge for a 20 gallon tank should be more than enough.  You want to leave room though in case the power goes out so your fuge will not flood.  This is a combo of leaving enough room in the refuge for the display tank overflow to stop flowing...  You also want to drill a hole in your return just below the water line in your display tank so you break the syphon in a power out situation.

 

I do not use baffles or sections in my refuge, but my setup is very different.  In your case you might want to have a set of baffles to take care of any potential bubbles, keep macros/sand out of your pump and give your pump a chamber to sit in. Maybe there is another way you could do this and not take up space with baffles.    

 

The MJ1200 would probably be OK and give you a low flow refuge.  I think the spec on the 1200 is ~290gph a 0', but of course you would have much less than that at the  return.  I think it will only do a little over five feet or so of lift before it completely peters out.  I could be wrong on that though.  After saying that, how far is the return going to run?

 

I put in about 2-3" of sand in and a little bit of rubble in my refuge.  I have different kinds of caulerpa and chaeto aka spaghetti/brillo pad algae.  I think the chaeto is the best since it never goes asexual on me.  After seeing a few refuges, I have yet to see two that are set up the same.

[cbashaw]

The water is fed into the fuge through a fitting that I drilled into the back of the tank.  similar to this one: http://marinedepot.com/aquarium_plumbing_parts_fittings_2.asp#bh

 

The pump is 39" from the floor to the top of the tank. It has a

steady flow rate, but I'm not sure how much actual flow it has with that height.

 

What size sand should I use should it be fine or coarse, or a combo of both?

 

I will go to HD today, and pick up some acrylic for the baffles.

Should I get Southdown for the fuge too if they have it, or should I get something from the LFS?

 

Thanks

[Tang-away]

I use a 6 inch bed in my fuge, full of southdown with seeded sand from other tanks around the area.  I use cheato in there and it is lit with a LOA (lights of america) light that is awsome for growing cheato.  You can buy everything at home depot (best store ever!)

[cbashaw]

Thanks for the help everyone.

 

I decided to put 1 baffle in the sump to keep algae and sand out of the pump.

 

Considering it is a 10g tank how deep should the sandbed be.

I am thinking about putting in 4"

 

Does this sound like a good amount of sand?

 

Thanks

[Aquariareview]

A way to do this on the cheap is forget the baffle and just set the pump in a small, tall, rubbermaid container in the corner of the sump.

 

Bubbles in a small system are not as serious as in a large system (no problem at all with the flow of the pump you have)

 

How deep of a bed is not as critical as what is made of. Put 1 jar of Kent Marine Bio-Sediment (about $20 at Reef Tank) cover with about 2 inch of live sand. I will bring you some sand from my tank. Get a few others and you will enough sand to cover.

[cbashaw]

That sounds like a really good idea, I will do that tonight.

 

Thanks for the advice, and the sand, I really apreciate it.

 

Chris