12gal dx: Refugium Mod

[mbierzyc]

Hey,

I saw this over on another forum and decided to give it a shot.

I have to scrape my glass almost daily, so I figured I could benefit from a refugium. I decided to go with a refugium in chamber 2, lit from behind the tank.

I bought
- 1 1/2 " PVC Project box from Lowes: $4.93
- "Lights of America" 25W CF "Sunlight bulb" from Wal-Mart for $4.84
(6500K)
- Extension cord from Lowes for $1.97
- Screw in socket, on the recepit as "Phenolic w/ Bracket" $1.96

The bulb was just a bit too wide to fit into the project box, so I used my dremel sanding bit to thin out both sides of the walls a bit:

I Then cut off the back part of the project box that stuck out, in order to mount a 60mm fan

I don't have the fan yet, best buy, wal-mart, and radioshack only had 120mm fans. Tomorrow I'll go to fry's and pick one up.

I Then put the bub into the socket, and installed it into the project box:

meanwhile, my dog Samson tried to get my attention...

I cut the extension cord and wired it to the 2 wires that came on the screw in socket, and plugged it in ...

Here is a picture of the back of my tank with the black backing removed where I'll install this light setup (currently my fission skimmer is in chamber 2, but I'll move that to chamber 1 once I get the refugium running):

Tomorrow I'll buy and install the fan, but some velcro tape and install this. Hopefully this doesn't create too much heat. I hope to pick up some chaeto from a local member and I'll be set to go.

Updates to come as I make progress ...

 

[mr pink floyd]

shweeeeeeet\


hah i like yer dog

 

[garf]

Nice!

I did something similar on my 6g NC. Mine is a bit more ghetto, I took an Azoo 7w 6500k lamp, and taped it to the back of the sump area in chamber two. Runs with my LED moonlights on reverse photoperiod.

Heat isnt really an issue with 7W, and the macro algea seems to be growing well. I need to switch to chaeto, as I have heard bad things about grape calurpa.

 

[asmodeus]

looks good man

 

[aural]

project looks great...

what kind of dog is that... very cool

 

[mbierzyc]

thanks guys.

looking forward to getting this finished tomorrow. unfortunately the only place i can think to get the 60mm fan is 35 minutes away.

aural: he's a staffordshire bull terrier, amazing dog. 10 months old and i couldn't be happier with him.

 

[i2go]

Did you guys know if theres a LFS near(im in Mission V) that sells a small lamp light ok for a refug for a nano dx? Also, does anyone have any chaeto>?

 

[i2go]

.....thought i was posting this in my local reef forum.

 

[mbierzyc]

Well this afternoon I finally got this project finished.

Drilling holes to install the fan was the hardest part, luckily I had a dremel. Here's a picture with the fan attached ... it's screwed in place, and then I went around the edges with electrical tape in order to eliminate any light leaks:

When that was done I used velcro tape around the perimeter of the box. I then attached the opposite side of the velcro tape to the box, but left the plastic layer over the sticky part:

Then I took the plastic layer covering the sticky stuff off, and pressed it up against the back wall of the tank, directly over where I peeled away the black tank background. Here's the unit in place:

The fan is quiet, and the light is hardly visible outside the tank. I hope to pick up some chaeto tomorrow and then I'll be able to test the temperature after this light is on. Hopefully it all continues to work out smoothly.

I'm not the best at DIY projects, but this one seemed to turn out alright.

 

[snarkes]

I really like that idea! Does it add much heat to the system? I know its on the outside but i'm sure its heating up the glass and the water in the refugium? Also, any issues with the fission unit? I've heard mostly bad things but some have had success.

 

[mbierzyc]

i haven't actually used my refugium light yet. i need to get some chaeto first. i was hoping to get some today but i don't think that's going to work out. i'm hoping that the fan helps with the heat issue, i'll also only run that light when the other lights are off, hopefully it's not an issue.

as far as the fission, i don't know if i haven't tweaked it right or what, but it's useless to me. i've never had skimmate, just water in the cup.

 

[davidryder]

so behind the black plastic on the back of the nano is glass? it's safe to just remove it?

 

[mbierzyc]

yeah, the back of the nano is glass. i just scored the perimeter of the area i wanted to peel, and scraped it off. the black plastic you see is just a thin film. no issues at all with removing it.

 

[snarkes]

I am thinking about doing this mod to my tank and had a question for you... How did you hook up the fan? It's a 12v fan and the light is 120v right? Also, last time I posted you hadnt really tried it out yet to see if it got too hot... how has it been for you since then?

 

[asmodeus]

are you running the fan how sucking up or out. if you are blowing in it shouldn't have a bad effect on the glass of heat up the water. since the bottom is open the air will travel thur the open bottom right.

I wa at home depot yesterday looking at the lights and found a better
pc it is a 15 w squrilly lights its a phillips. I have them on my kids 5 gallon fresh water tank and ehat a nice color....


mike

 

[mbierzyc]

i was supposed to pick up some chaeto this weekend but didn't get around to it, so this thing still hasn't been run.

i have the fan wired to an ac adapter, just spliced them both and connected the wires. i've done that for other projects in the past and although maybe not the best option, it's certainly the easiest and has always worked fine.

it's connected to suck air out and up. this was air can travel in through the bottom and out the top. seemed like the best way to me, i can change it if need be. odds are the light will heat the tank a bit, but hopefully not much, and it'll be ran when the main lights are off, so the heat gain should be less.

asmodeus, why do you say your light is better? The one I got was 6500K, maybe a bit excessive on the wattage, but seems like it should still be a good light.

 

[asmodeus]

I was just saying that the one that I found was a better light bulb IMO, I like it due to being only 15 watts.

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6895238#post6895238 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by mbierzyc


asmodeus, why do you say your light is better? The one I got was 6500K, maybe a bit excessive on the wattage, but seems like it should still be a good light.

 

[rsteagall]

Good idea... how would this same thing do with a bunch of white LED's? Or are LED's not enough to supply a fuge?

 

[i2go]

Will any computer fan work? thats 60mm? How did you wire it to the extension cord.

 

[mbierzyc]

any would work, i wired it to an ac adapter.

just stripped the end of each, then attached the wires and sealed it with electrical tape. solder would be more professional, but i don't have the tools.