100 gallon refugium build

[laserjim]

Here I go, its going to be like sleeping on the beach in my bed room. lol

I'm going to give a deep sand bed a try, 5 inches. Some mangroves for looks. and a bunch of different macro algae. A few large rocks. Feel free to suggest things.

Anyone know where I can buy 200lbs of cheap FINE sand ?

Going to start by shortning the doors on my stand, so they close on the sides.

Excuse the wire mess under the tank, need to get that all wrapped too.

Then Plumbing. Will plumb it into my manifold, How many GHP do you think I should go with into the fuge?

 

[tigger2577]

Oh know FAOIS has good prices on sand and lots of verities

 

[Vorog]

This is going to be awesome! Are you going to do any mud? Or just fine sand? I don't have a fraction of that size refugium, but I put mud in mine and it's almost time to replace some of it for the annual maintenance. Just wondering if you are going to put the sand or mud in a container to make it easier to swap out. As far as GPH I have no clue what would be best on something like that.

 

[laserjim]

This is going to be awesome! Are you going to do any mud? Or just fine sand? I don't have a fraction of that size refugium, but I put mud in mine and it's almost time to replace some of it for the annual maintenance. Just wondering if you are going to put the sand or mud in a container to make it easier to swap out. As far as GPH I have no clue what would be best on something like that.

Im just doing sand, If I did mud, Id have to mortgage the house. Got the doors cut.

 

[Vorog]

Im just doing sand, If I did mud, Id have to mortgage the house.

Hahaha yeah mud isn't cheap! But was curious if you were doing any mud with sand lol. I'm following along on this! I'd like to do this when I build a larger tank!

 

[laserjim]

What do you think about doing something like this. It would hold about 100lbs of sand and could remove it a lot easy if needed. It would be like doing half of it with a DSB. Or I could glue some sort of divider in it, would probably look better.

 

[Webmanny]

I like the box idea because it allows you to segregate the sand form the rocks and allows you to change your mind if you need to later.

 

[MrsReefK]

I like the idea of the box as well. We are on our way back from picking up our custom made fuge that's 120 gallon. I bet you're excited to get this up and going!

 

[Vorog]

I agree I like the box idea too. I regret not doing this in my refugium. When I swap out the mud in mine I will do this!

 

[janes_mw]

Not sure about cheap, but Tampabay Saltwater has live sand from his collection site and is sure to be premium. Give him a call and see what he has. Sure to be full of life. There are other alternatives also, just saying

 

[rogergolf66]

I have a bunch 200lbs of used Sand I cleaned and was going to use but I don't think I'm going to. I will sell it cheep if u want it. Lmk. It's dead currently.

Roger

 

[laserjim]

I have a bunch 200lbs of used Sand I cleaned and was going to use but I don't think I'm going to. I will sell it cheep if u want it. Lmk. It's dead currently.

Roger

Is it fine sand ? Or coarse ?

 

[Vorog]

Hey Jim just curious what type of light or bulb do you plan on running over it? I have been looking for the best bulb for the job myself.

 

[laserjim]

Hey Jim just curious what type of light or bulb do you plan on running over it? I have been looking for the best bulb for the job myself.

I think probably a couple of 6500k led's from Home Depot.


I made my overflow drain from some pvc, Not sure how it will work.

 

[Vorog]

I keep going from a 6500k PC to a 5k led, or a par30 bulb with 1 red, 3 blue 2 uv...I really don't know which is best. They all seem to grow my cheato fine.

 

[nawilson89]

I would love to see this as it goes along.

I myself have a seagrass/macro build in a 20 gallon.

Here's the most recent FTS



I have Caulerpa Prolifera, Grape Caulerpa, Gracilaria, Dragon's Breath, Sargassum, Halimeda, Dragon's Tongue and Shoal Grass.

 

[laserjim]

I would love to see this as it goes along.

I myself have a seagrass/macro build in a 20 gallon.

Here's the most recent FTS



I have Caulerpa Prolifera, Grape Caulerpa, Gracilaria, Dragon's Breath, Sargassum, Halimeda, Dragon's Tongue and Shoal Grass.

Looks Great ! That's what I'm shooting for, Just on a larger scale.

 

[bigzman]

Following as I have had great results in past. One suggestion with dsb. Try to create a chamber systems. Back in 2004 I had a 125 DT with a 125 fuge underneath. Fuge had 4 dividers 8 inches high. I had 3 chambers as dsb and last chamber was miracle mud. Some of the best softie Lps growth I had ever had. Reason I split it was that I learned in 1998 that a dsb had a life span of 3-5 years before it goes south and bombs. So I was able to remove and replenish one chamber every year while allowing the existing chambers time to repopulate bacteria load. Never really purchased new sand. Just washed what ever was removed with no tap and finial rinse with ro. 2 of the chambers had macro algae. It was so good at keeping levels balanced that my hang over skimmer at the time broke down and never replaced it. Had to brake it down for move to fl and here I have no basement to do it again. Just a warning on one item I had no idea something could smell so foul until I cut flow on fuge and removed first chamber for the first time.

 

[laserjim]

Got it plumbed, and 6 inches of sugar sand. 40 lbs live and 40 dead. I alternated the sand live , dead , live , Dead. Not sure if it matters, but that's what I did. I think, I'm going to put a shallow sand bed on the other side to grow some rooted macro. I've gotta do some painting, A smart man would of did it before he put everything up. LOL, I always make things difficult.

 

[laserjim]

Ok, got the deep sand bed going, and 25 mangroves. A few pieces of rock. Do you think I should put a shallow sand bed at the far end for planted macro, or just stick with floaters.
Up for suggestions ?