RO/DI and Refugium help

[armymedic]

Hello all,

Is there supposed to be a discharge line for my RO/DI unit? The way i have it hooked up is one in from faucet and one out after DI unit for RO/DI water. Read somewhere where there is supposed to be another line out?

 

 

 

Also,

I need some help with my refugium. It is a hang on type that the nano cube guy gave me with the tank. I am just not sure how it works or should attach?? Thx.

[Origami]

Good talking with you, Wes. Glad that I could help you get your RO/DI up and running. Post the pictures of the refugium and we'll see what we can do.

[gilmour01]

your ro/di should have a waste line coming off the membrane housing. pics might help.

[armymedic]

Thanks tom that really helped me to understand my RO system better. I went from an output of 21 to 0. Now i dont have to replace all my filters!

 

Here is a picture of my refugium. Any help with its installation would be great. thx.

 

 

[Origami]

 

Wes, as we spoke, the narrow tube is the input side and the wider one is the output side. The pump is attached to the narrow tube and moves water from your display into the refugium.

 

The refugium seems to be divided into four chambers with a bubble trap between chambers 1 and 2. The water level in the refugium is set by the wall between chambers 3 and 4. Water flows from chamber 1 toward chamber 4, exiting chamber 4 back into the tank.

 

The refugium hangs on your tank, supported (it looks like) the narrow tube and the support block midway along the side of the box in chamber 3. (It looks like the exit tube is above the intake tube in the photographs. If not, it also is part of the supporting structure.)

 

Since the water rides fairly high in the refugium, you can elect to put your heater in either chamber 1 or in chamber 2, keeping it out of the display. You can do this for aesthetic reasons. As long as water flows through the refugium, it can be heated as necessary. Just keep in mind that if the pump ever failed, though, your display will cool. So be sure to properly maintain the pump. (You should do this anyway with all pumps.)

 

If desired, you could put a bag of carbon, phosban, or other chemical (or even physical) filtration media in chamber 2 (if not occupied by the heater). The flow looks like it will be pretty good through this chamber. Don't put a bag in that's so tight that it blocks the flow, though. It's not completely clear to me what would happen if the flow through chamber 2 were blocked. It looks like, if it were, that the water would rise to the top of chamber 1 (which aligns with the top of the box) and overflow the HOB refugium since there doesn't seem to be a secondary, emergency outlet. If I were to modify or redesign this product, I would probably lower the wall between chambers 1 and 2 to a level above chamber 4 and maybe add a secondary outlet out of the refugium at this higher level.

 

You can add sand or live rock rubble to chamber 3. Macroalgae can also go into this chamber. If you use macro, be sure to add a small refugium light.

 

Chamber 4 remains empty so water flows through it unimpeded.

[armymedic]

WOWZER!!! great information Tom. Thank you very much!!! Love the diagram. Really helps for those of us that need "See Spot Run" technique.

 

Your ok guy no matter what Doug says! Just kiddin!

 

Cant wait to get home to do my water change and hook this thing up tonight! thanks again.

 

Wes

[Integral9]

I also have a CPR Aquafuge + PS. It's a fairly heavy addition to your tank, so when you hang it on the back of your tank, get it as close as possible to the back glass of the tank. This will lessen the strain on glass as the weight of the fuge won't be pulling the glass apart as much.

 

Also, be aware that when the power goes out, the fuge water will back flow into the tank until they equalize. In my 30g with the 24" fuge model (your's looka bit smaller), it raises my water level 1".

 

I also purchased a super small pump (rio 50 i think )and stuck it in the fuge for circulation as i found the protein skimmer pump wasn't enough to keep the detritus from building up. You may not have that problem with the smaller fuge.

 

fwiw: I put my carbon bags in chamber 4. Just be careful not to block the output or the water will just overflow onto the carpet.

[armymedic]

Cool, Thanks integral!