Questions on a DIY refuge

[lookout888]

I have a 110g oceanic tank with 2 overflows (back corners).

I have a wet/dry filter with a Berlin 3 stage skimmer.

I have a few ideas

1) Keep the wet dry filter on one side and get a 30-40 gallon tank and make a refuge for the other side with its own separate return pump.

2) Raise the wet dry filter up and have it empty into a 30-40 gallon tank and have the refuge in there with the return pump at the end of the refuge.( will have a water depth of 8-13 inch. ( but all the water will go trough the refuge)

2) Or get ride of the wet/dry and just get a tank and make it all my self

I am looking for best filtration with the least amount of money.

I am very open to ideas.

Thanks for all the help.

 

[bklynmet]

Re: Questions on a DIY refuge

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6733425#post6733425 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by lookout888
I have a 110g oceanic tank with 2 overflows (back corners).

I have a wet/dry filter with a Berlin 3 stage skimmer.

I have a few ideas

1) Keep the wet dry filter on one side and get a 30-40 gallon tank and make a refuge for the other side with its own separate return pump.

2) Raise the wet dry filter up and have it empty into a 30-40 gallon tank and have the refuge in there with the return pump at the end of the refuge.( will have a water depth of 8-13 inch. ( but all the water will go trough the refuge)

2) Or get ride of the wet/dry and just get a tank and make it all my self

I am looking for best filtration with the least amount of money.

I am very open to ideas.

Thanks for all the help.

IMO, You do not want to have too much waterflow in your fuge which would rule the first option 2 out... similar logic for option 1 becasue the only way to regulate flow for that option is to regular the overflow - which is a no-no. (you never want flow returning from your sump to exceed flow going to the sump)

I'm assuming you have room for a fuge.. you can tee off from your existing return line to the fuge where it can overflow back to the wet/dry sump (and eventually return to the tank)... i'd put a valve to regulate flow from the tee to the fuge while still allowing most of water to return to your tank... - new expense would be the tee, valve and piping parts...

remember to take anti-siphoning measures on your reutrn line in the event of a power failure in case you haven't done so already (your sump and fuge should allow for any water that would siphon before the siphon in the return is broken - usually by a hole drilled in return 1/4 to 1/2 inch below water line.) Hope this helps.

 

[lookout888]

This will be a reef tank.

Juat tought i would add that.

Mike

 

[keeperofthefish]

If you are looking for the most for the money, you can really use about anything for a fuge. One cool idea, if you have room under the stand is to take your overflow drain and split it into two, with half going directly to the sump and half plumbed to go into a fuge that could sit on top of the sump. The fuge itself can just be a clear 7 gallon container (like I have) with some NO lights mounted over it. You can easily drill the side and then put in a bulkhead and an overflow to send the rest of the water to the sump below. You have to play around with this, but it costs probably $30 max. Then you can just put some chaeto in there and have it do its thing. I have 105 gallons total and this thing eats the nitrates and grows nasty pods like there is no tomorrow. Sumps are really just containers of nastiness and people charge too much for them/put too much effort into them. You really don't need massive flow from them for them to do their job.

 

[monkey61672]

what kind of lighting does the Chaeto require?

 

[lookout888]

Ok then with both those said.

i was thinking of 2 ways.

1) Get a 30/40 gallon tank (or a bin or something) Have a sec pump in the bottom of the wet/dry and have it pumps water into the 30/40 gallon. Then on the end nearest the wet dry have it fall back in. That way if one pump dies it will not affect the other. And i donââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢t have to worry about modifying my current setup

2) Take my return from tone of the overflows and put a T on it. The part that goes strait down would go to the 30/40 gallon and that will have a valve. Then have the other end of the over flow go back into the wet/dry filter. This way is one less pump and I figured out a way so that the water will not over flow if the pump dies.

i will get a drawling soon ( not an artist at allââ"šÂ¬Ã‚¦.. Paint here I come)

Any other suggestions welcome o just measured and a 55gal will not fit under there (well it will but I am not emptying my tank and moving it)

Thanks all keep ideas coming.

 

[bklynmet]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6734698#post6734698 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by monkey61672
what kind of lighting does the Chaeto require?

Not much really.. i have a bookshelf light (looks like a PC bulb) that I bought at Menards for about $7. I did not get a traditional light-bulb type b/c they burn hotter...

Chaeto grows crazy... started with a baseball sized amount and now have a basketball size - with constant pruning mind you - in plastic container I drilled a bulkhead for to make it a fuge.....

i leave the light on 24/7 since it's low power consumption.. also, I have crystalline algae growing in there too - so the lighting must be good enough...

PM me if you are interested in chaeto. I can send you a baseball sized amount for just a little more than it would cost to ship via padded envelope...

 

[lookout888]

Ok this is what i came up with please give me feed back. I will take anything.

www.lookout888.com/fish/refuge.jpg

Thank you all

 

[bklynmet]

resolution needs work but from what I can see - IMO looks good.

just make sure you oversize (or have multiple) the bulkhead between fuge and sump... so your fuge doesn't fill up faster than it can get rid of water.... also keep an eye on the bulhead for clogging potential for same reason.

 

[lookout888]

if you have windows xp keep your mouse over the picture you will nices a little icon on the bottom of your picture. That will make the picture real size

I think the bigest tank i can fit in my stand would be
25 Gallon 24 1/4 x 12 1/2 x 20 3/4

also what else should i putin tank? ls? lr? snails? beside what you have already sugested.

Thank you for all your help

 

[bklynmet]

I have fine crushed coral, lots of pieces of live rock, sea cucumber, chaeto... the lr bits came loaded with capepods, and cured so it didn't cycle... i threw in two snails to keep some of the film algae under a little control... that's it.. i see lots of critters crawling around in there now, chaeto is huge, have crystalline algae in there too to my surprise... there's a strainer on the bulkhead to keep the snails from leaving the fuge and ending up in the sump with all the pumps..

 

[lookout888]

Thank you for evetyhing

 

[lookout888]

One more question if anyone knows

1) lfs told me about the flter socks. and to use them insted of bio balls. is this true. and is it better then bio balls?

Thanks

Mike