advice on adding a refugium

[FearTheTerps]

I have a 55 gallon tank that I'm in the process of setting up, need some opinions. I dont want to add a sump, its all tempered so I cant drill(plus theres water in it already). I dont really want to use an overflow box, Im renting and the tank is above the living room so a flood would be a big big problem. My thought was to add a refuge behind and "above" the tank. However I am limited because of the walls and ceiling, see picture.

 

This gives me another problem, I can make the overflow of the fuge higher then the tank, but by only a few inches or so unless I move the tank even farther from the wall. If I use a bulkhead it will be very near the top of the fuge, which may pose a problem with drilling the tank, or even the placement and size of the bulkhead.

 

Instead of using a bulkhead, I thought of the possibility of cutting a slot in the top of fuge, maybe 4 inches wide or so, and building a trough that the water would flow over into the DT. See drawing.

 

Thoughts? Concerns? Looking for any advice.

 

 

[Vadim]

have you taken a look at the cpr refugiums?

[LanglandJoshua]

What do you want to use the refugium for?

[FearTheTerps]

yea, but they are pretty tiny, only 4.5 inches wide. Thats the basic plan I'll be following, but building it out of a 10 or 20 gallon tank. Plus I'd rather build something myself. I'm hoping to be able to keep my heater in the fuge, but will have to see how it handles flow, which is part of the bulkhead problem, I think the biggest bulkhead I could use would be a 3/4".

[FearTheTerps]

fuge would be for macro algae, pods, placing the heater in there hopefully, adding water volume. maybe a dsb, but not sure.

[LanglandJoshua]

If you want to place a large tank on the back of your main tank, then you will have to have plenty of supports. A 55 gallon tank weights about 460lbs. That is not counting anything you put in it. I think you mentioned you may want to use a 20 gallon tank, that will still weight over 170lb. That is why I definately suggest either placing the tank on the ground/bottom of your stand, or using another tank as a refugium.

Edited February 19, 2011 by LanglandJoshua

[FearTheTerps]

I'll be building a stand for the fuge, havent built it yet because I'll need to know the height at which to build it. If I go the bulkhead route it will need to be a little taller then if I go with the trough.

[LanglandJoshua]

You may want to consider chatting with NAGA, I am working on a custom sump design for my new stand. Since custom acrylic has almost infinite design possibilities. As he told me he has alot of spare acrylic, so soon would be the best time to do it.

[FearTheTerps]

I thought about going that route, mostly because of the trim on small glass tanks. Which will make it hard for placing the bulkhead, and cutting the slot. Not sure of the cost of which NAGA would make it for, but I already have a 20 I can use, so it will cost me nothing. Plus I like the DIY part.

 

Acrylic would make it much easier cutting the hole for a bulkhead, or even cutting the slot for the trough. Attaching the trough would be a little tougher making the angle so that the butt end of the trough sits flush with the face of the fuge. Whereas with the glass I can just silicone it in place and not having to worrying about that part.

[LanglandJoshua]

everything has an upside and a downside. For something that size I dont think it would cost TOO much, but I would suggest you come up witha design you like. Then ask NAGA. Hes been a good bit of help in my figuring out what exactly I am going to do with 50" of refugium...

[Chad]

Steve, it seems that you are thinking of doing it the way that I would do it by putting a smaller tank on a stand next to the DT (besides the stand makes a nice place for more fish stuff storage!!). (besides, the fuge can be a pretty awesome thing as well)

 

Mine is set up that way and is only ~4" higher than the DT and connected via a 2" overflow siphon... however, I wouldn't go this route because of the risk of overflow (I had a couple when I was still trying to learn the system).

 

If I understand your drawing correctly, I think there are two things that will make it tough to put together. First I think corners on the overflow are going to be prone to leaks, and second it may be easier if you make a tubing connection from the fuge to tank. The second could be done by making something that looks like a shallow overflow box.

 

I can throw some pictures together if my words are tough to visualize.

[FearTheTerps]

Pictures are always helpful, I tried using Google Sketch up to show what I want to do, but it keeps crashing on me, dont know why. I used to be pretty good with CAD, but havent used it in years now.

[CaptainRon]

Based on your sketch is looks like just drilling a bulkhead toward the top would be the simplest way to do what you want. Stick an upturned 90 in it with some mesh around it to keep the big stuff in the fuge and you'd be good to go. You could get water to it with even just a regular powerhead from the display tank. Plus there's limited chance of flooding this way I'd think if you keep the 90 in the fuge so it's just a slow overflow to the display.

[FearTheTerps]

yes, I think using the bulkhead is the simplest route, but I'm wondering how close to the edge of the glass I can drill? I want it as close to the top as possible because of clearance problems with the wall and ceiling. It looks at this point that I may have to move the DT away from the wall a few more inches anyways, I dont think I measured right when I set up the tank.

 

My thought with making the trough is that it would only need about an inch or so above the DT, where a bulkhead would need to be at least 3 inches or more. The trim on the tank and the size of bulkhead itself all effect this.

 

 

I got sketch up to work, had to update my videocard driver. Now i wish I hadnt, it took me forever to make this crude drawing. Of course I didnt read any directions or tutorials, I was a whiz kid at AutoCAD all throughout school so I thought it would be easy. I started in 7th grade using R12 on an apple macintosh, then used it through high school and college up to autocad 2002.

 

[CaptainRon]

Google SketchUp... neat! Never played with that before.

 

 

You version would be able to get you a couple inches lower - but this is what I was attempting to say. Something like this to drain back into your display tank. To get water in here you could either put another bulkhead in at the top of this tank or plumb it up. You'd just have to ensure that you didn't create a siphon along the way I'd guess.