Pete Harcoff
New member
After recently modding my skimmer so that the outflow goes into an Aquaclear 70 filter (see pic), I kept thinking that I wish I had a bigger filter so that I could have a mini-refugium.
I poked around and discovered that people have modded AC 70 and 110's in the past, but I wanted something bigger. I also discovered the AquaFuge HOB refugiums, but those are a bit expensive and not exactly the design I want.
And after taking a look at the sumps on Melev's Reef, I figured I could just design/build my own.
The size I want is about 20 inches long by 5 inches wide by 13 inches deep. That would give me a volume of about 5.6 gallons, which would therefore add 10% water volume to my 56 gallon tank.
My initial design is thus:
The idea is that the outflow from the skimmer flows into one compartment. The filter sponge would be there to trap bubbles and debris. The next compartment would have a section to house carbon (in case I want to run any), plus the heater from my tank. And finally the refugium, which would include an outflow into the tank (like the AC filters).
I'm not sure how much flow should go through the refugium, however.
Anyone done anything like this before? Any suggestions or critiques would be appreciated.
I poked around and discovered that people have modded AC 70 and 110's in the past, but I wanted something bigger. I also discovered the AquaFuge HOB refugiums, but those are a bit expensive and not exactly the design I want.
And after taking a look at the sumps on Melev's Reef, I figured I could just design/build my own.
The size I want is about 20 inches long by 5 inches wide by 13 inches deep. That would give me a volume of about 5.6 gallons, which would therefore add 10% water volume to my 56 gallon tank.
My initial design is thus:
The idea is that the outflow from the skimmer flows into one compartment. The filter sponge would be there to trap bubbles and debris. The next compartment would have a section to house carbon (in case I want to run any), plus the heater from my tank. And finally the refugium, which would include an outflow into the tank (like the AC filters).
I'm not sure how much flow should go through the refugium, however.
Anyone done anything like this before? Any suggestions or critiques would be appreciated.
