refugium?

[slowmethinks]

im lookin for a refugium to put on my 20H. ive heard i can make one out of an aquaclear 110/500. i would prefer to do that, due to cost. however, i read somewhere of someone using an already built CPR refuge for $30. anyone have an old aquaclear they wanna sell? or where i can find a good cheap refuge? or even a good yet cheap HOT skimmer?

 

[fishdates2]

fuge

fuge

u can use an aquaclear its easy .you want to slow the flo down and glue a piece of acrylic where the water can flow over into the chamber and put sand and macro algae in there.

 

[coolfish5]

If you want to check out my aquaclear 500 fuge for measurements and such, you're welcome to stop by anytime, or I can take some pics as well. I also have some spare acrylic from when I did mine, and some chaeto to start you out.

 

[ade]

I have never done a Aquaclear fuge, I have seen a few and I was wondering for the size of it it is worth the trouble? why not hook up a 10 fuge by the side of your tank. Bigger is better?

 

[slowmethinks]

well, this also has to be simple. im passing it along to my best friend for her birthday. im moving to minnesota in may/june (long story) and i dont wanna move a tank, as i have 8 reptiles to move. so i think that a smaller more simple fuge would be easy for her and she can do what she wants to it as she learns more.

 

[ade]

What size tank is it going on?

 

[mike68]

depending on your bio-load it going to be hard to get enough macro in an aquaclear to do any good, in my opinion.

for what its worth i the that Caulerpa prolifera works better than chaeto as long as you leave light on it 24/7. for me it does a better job of removing nitrates than chaeto.

i also have a ton of it if you need some.

 

[ade]

That what I was thinking Mike. For the trouble that you are going through to make a modded Aquaclear you could do a 5 or 10 gal with a cheap light small pump and a few plumbing parts. If you only have a small tank with little bio load then place some polifera or grape inside the tank.
If you are doing it with reef rubble for pods I could understand how they would work. Macro, I wouldn't think that there would be enough to make much difference.

 

[slowmethinks]

i have a 20H with a hagen T5HO 18000K on it, a bio wheel 50 filter, and i have about 3 sections of xenia and a rock with some polys on it, along with a damsel that i got from matt that is about an inch and a half long. some crabs and snails. ive got a koralia 1 in it as well. i just cant get rid of the diatoms. i put a bag of purigen in it yesterday, and today ima do a 5gal water change. but coolfish5 has a fuge on his, and matt recomended it as well. i would prefer not to have to drill the tank, even tho i have the know how and tools needed. as i said, i wanna try to make it sweet and simple. coolfish found a few fuge/skimmers online but they are a bit pricey. so im tryin to be cheap, yet effective. what is the diff between chaeto and caulerpa? which one looks like green floss?

 

[slowmethinks]

and yeah, i would put sand in the bottom of the fuge, if you are talking about reef rubble (small rocks, sand, etc.) im guessing that it does anaerobic filtration? not sure, ive heard it talked about before. and then the macro on top of that.

 

[ade]

Chaeto is the sringy /floss looking macro. Polifera is more long leafy plant that does better when rooted.
If you have Matt helping you then you are golden.

 

[surfnvb7]

i've had an AC110 fuge ever since i started in the hobby back in 2004. it works good for a nano application, especially a tall tank. it grows a decent amount of cheato if you can find the right kind of light that fits on it. i have a coralife mini (2 x 9w bulbs).

you do need to cut out a baffle and glue to the inside so sand won't get near the pump. if the pump sucks up any sand its gonna lock up and could burn up. i've had this happen twice.

i currently have mine on a 10g mantis tank. its nearing the end of its life expectancy as the pump is dying, and its just a major pain to clean all the sand out of the area the pump is in.

if you can find a used CPR aquafuge go that route instead and save yourself some of the headache involved with DIY'ing the HOB aquaclear filter into a fuge.

ultimately a sump/fuge is your best bet if you can do it.

 

[slowmethinks]

hey ade, thnx for the advice, it is much appreciated. as i said, im very new to this. i work here at zooquatic, but my heart lies in reptiles and amphibs, but i have enjoyed playing with my salt set up. im moving in may, otherwise i would love to do club related stuff. john, aka coolfish, has talked about a lot of the crawls and meets and it just sounds like a ton of fun. i love seeing the diff stuff people have, a lot of it has never passed thru our tanks here. i think im gonna shoot for the aquaclear route. how would u recommend setting up the macro? should i put a sand bed in there w/ some rock and rubberband the macro to it? and any thoughts on what lighting works best and what cycle should i have the light on and off?

 

[Saboral]

LOL Joe, if you wanted a refugium all you had to do is ask.

~Galen

 

[Saboral]

I would recommend the 5g or large refugium though, I doubt for a macro garden the aquaclear has enough room/light for it to really do the job. As far as installing said overflow, you don't need to drill. I have a homemade overflow that is good to go that hangs on the back of the tank. Let me know man.

 

[slowmethinks]

ohhhhhhhhh. hah. didnt know you were saboral. well, i wanna make the tank simple to operate for my friend. im worried that an overflow would just be a lil too much. but bring in the overflow, ill check it out. maybe itll work for me. :-D thnx man!