help determining easiest way to add refugium in garage

[pizzaguy]

Just a 250 watt heater in the sump and a ceiling fan when it's hot but we Keep our house pretty cool. Never fluctuates more then a half degree. If I didn't have the mag pump in the sump I don't think it would everove.

[dave w]

Rob. Awesome idea but you just threw simplicity out the window. I want a fuge for a lot of reasons but ultimately the most important factor for me is to get my nitrates way down and under control. 2 boxes of salt a month on a 150 gallon system is getting out of control.

I just got the 40 breeder from petco so gonna hopefully have it running by tomorrow night if I can find some glass bits to drill the return.

If you lit your fuge you will get nitrates under control by the algae growth without the use of biopellets.  And in my humble opinion you would be better putting the refugium at the same level as your tank and not the level of your sump.  And protecting the $40 sunk cost you put into the tank is a small price compared to what the salt costs look like.  

[Piper]

Yeah, I'll renew eventually. If I get it done while still relevant, I'll post pics here. I have high grade insulation wrapped around the entirety of the glass save the back corners where I've packed popcorn between the wall and tank. 3/4 of the tank is topped with a couple pieces of plexiglass.The two t8's are from a couple of 10gal tanks and are just laying atop the plexiplass. I likewise used plexiglass for the ad hoc partition between the main tank and the pseudo-refugium, several holes drilled in the plexiglass, one hole with a pico pump going in the rest flowing out. I have two heaters out in the sump/refugium and a couple in the show tank.

 

Ultimately I intend to build a show refugium on the floor directly above the SPS tank gravity feeding back down. Eventually.

[Piper]

Actually I could improve my little setup by illuminating the entirety of the sump but only at night, should be enough water column to help with pH. Though I dose with carbonate first thing in the morning and it buffers during the day. Until I get a doser going again, I cant really avoid a pH bump doing it the way I am.

[Piper]

For what it's worth...

[Jim Mc]

What is the PSI on your RO/DI unit?  Low pressure will burn through DI Resin.  I bought of booster pump and it lasts much much longer.  I went from 40 PSI to 90 PSI.

Edited January 5, 2014 by Jim Mc

[pizzaguy]

I run at 70 psi. Did make some progress today. Got the tank drilled on a stainless restaurant stand. Don't feel like building anything so it works. Picked up the plumbing. Hopefully I can get it plumbed in tomorrow night some time.

[AlanM]

I run at 70 psi. Did make some progress today. Got the tank drilled on a stainless restaurant stand. Don't feel like building anything so it works. Picked up the plumbing. Hopefully I can get it plumbed in tomorrow night some time.

 

Wow, you decide to add a fuge in the garage and two days later you're drilling and mounting the thing.  You go.  I'd still be making drawings on sketchup for the next 3 months.

[pizzaguy]

Half the plumbing is mocked up. Hopefully I will have water running through this in the next 2 days. Then I need to find some macro. I'm gonna put live rock in there also. What types of algae is recommended and where can I get it. No place around me has anything.

[YHSublime]

Still have that dragons breath?

[pizzaguy]

I wish. My gosh darn tangs left it alone for a while and it grew. Then one day literally destroyed it.

To those with refugiums. If you use multiple types of macro how do you keep it separated or do you even try to. It's a rather big rank for just a fuge so might make a small section for frag grow out. Anyone see a problem with that?

[smallreef]

I use my separator that I made for my nems....it's basically that needlepoint plastic made into a long rectangle with partitions...and then suction cups to keep it attached to the side of the tank...

[pizzaguy]

I thought macro was suppose to keep moving or tumbling? Is that correct. I know a fuge is low flow.

[smallreef]

Depends on the macros...I like feather caulerpa...and it just needs decent flow...along with graciallaria(sp) and another caulerpa I had...

I hear cheato needs to tumble...but I never had any luck with it...tumbling or not...

[YHSublime]

What are the thoughts on algae scrubbers to help?

[AlanM]

My cheato grows without tumbling, but it does get a coating of hair algae and eventually turns into a defacto algae turf scrubber if I dont pull the algae off from time to time and turn it. My fuge is in the middle of my 1500gph sump, though, so not low flow.

 

I tried growing gracillaria and ulva for a while separated by plastic canvas, but it all ended up being a mess of hair algae and nothing ate the ulva or gracillaria, anyway. The hair algae actually seems to do a good job of eliminating nitrates and keeping pH up, though, so i cant complain too much.

Edited January 7, 2014 by AlanM

[zygote2k]

Chaeto doesn't need to tumble- that's a marketing fish tale. It grows fast if conditions are right and if it stops tumbling, nothing happens. Do you think there are huge lagoons in the ocean where there are these huge balls of chaeto rolling around collecting pods?

 

When I was doing the big fuge, I was growing 4 different macros- chaeto, gracilaria, ochtodes, halymenia. Chaeto grows the fastest and can smother the other types unless trimmed back to equal size. Ulva grows best partially exposed to air- like on a rocky coastline at the water line.

 

Hair algae is a good type of algae to grow too. It just looks gross but is actually an extremely fast grower and uses up p04 quicker than chaeto. It can also get out of hand easier. "Emissary's" tank on WAMAS is powered by a hair algae fuge.

[Coral Hind]

I would place the sump high enough in the garage so it could overflow back into the DT so any pods go where they should be. Feed it from a tee and valve off of your return pump. I would only grow algae under the water's surface and not try any out of water algae screen as they can produce a good bit of humidity which would cause issues in the garage. If you placed a lighted and enclosed hood over the fuge it would help keep anything from the garage from settling in the tank and help control humidity.