Setting up a Refugium

[HMN]

Hello,

I have a spare ten gallon that I want to use as a refugium. . It is a glass tank and I am planning to have it drilled at a local glass shop.It is going to sit above the main tank(20 gallons) and will have a gravity fed return. I plan on supplying the refugium through a .5" bulkhead and using a 1" bulkhead for the return. The bulkheads will be on the side of the tank. Here are a few questions/concerns that I have.

1) Will the .5" and 1" bulkheads be adequate.

2) What size holes should I have the glassshop drill for the said bulkheads. Also how far should the holes be from the top and sides of the tank.

3) I would like to have the flow slow enough to allow for settling of detritus in the water column. How many g/h am I looking for.

4) The fuge is going to be in a closet about 1.5 feet from the main tank. I would like to avoid using pvc, is there any preffered brand of flexable tubing that is safe for this application.

I have many more questions which I will save for another time ... post is already too damn long

Thanks and happy reefin,

Hosea

 

[DougL]

HMN;

1) Will the .5" and 1" bulkheads be adequate.

Yes. I am running a .5 and a .75 on my 22G refugium. Depending on bends, a one inch pipe should be adequate for 600 G/H return, and the 1/2 inch should be
good to 400 g/h on the pressure side.

2) What size holes should I have the glass shop drill for the said bulkheads. Also how far should the holes be from the top and sides of the tank.

Do yourself a favor and purchase the bulkheads before you cut the holes. While I think the 1" needs 1.75 hole, I remember a couple that were different.
A ten gallon tank has thin glass and will be hard to drill. I would leave at least an inch of glass above the hole. Since I left an inch "border" with too sizes, my input is
slightly higher than my output, which prevents back siphoning.

3) I would like to have the flow slow enough to allow for settling of detritus in the water column. How many g/h am I looking for.

In my experience, you do not need extremely low flow to settle a lot out. Especially after the caulerpa get going. However, I estimate my flow between 30 and 40
g/h. A link to reference material. http://sites.netscape.net/douglxyzzy/refugium2.html

4) The 'fuge is going to be in a closet about 1.5 feet from the main tank. I would like to avoid using pvc, is there any preffered brand of flexable tubing that is safe
for this application.

I have been using tygon tubing for years, without apparent problems to the tank.
However, it sags, goes out of round and in general is junk. The bigger it gets, the more mechanical problems I have with it.
And the kicker is that I am not positive its reef safe.

Good Luck;

DougL

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Email: dougl@speakeasy.org
Alt email: douglxyzzy@netscape.net

Homepage sites.netscape.net/douglxyzzy/homepage

[This message has been edited by DougL (edited 08-18-2000).]

 

[Cookoopod]

Doug has given some great advice.

I have a 20g Long as a refugium for a 105g display. See a pic at my lame website http://www.geocities.com/aquaticexotics/20g_refugium.htm

I used a 1" bulkhead as the overflow and a 1/2" bulkhead fitted with robofitting for the return. Doug is absolutely right in advising you to get the bulkheads first before drilling the holes. Different bulkheads need different diameter holes to be installed. Also, the outside flange lips have different diameters. I drilled the holes so the flanges would be about 1/4" below the tank's top trim.

I set my refugium so the bottom of the refugium tank is at the same level as the bottom of the displays. This way, the return is partially fed by gravity and partially by a powerhead set on a wave strip. This gives my refugium a cyclical surge of water. I thought it was a pretty cool idea. I used 1/2" I.D. vinyl flexible tubing which fit perfectly over the outlet of a MJ1000 powerhead to pump/siphon display tank water to the robofitting return. The 1" overflow from the refugium dumps into my sump under the display tank (inside stand). I have tons of pod life in my refugium, sump, and display. The return pump from my sump to the display does not seem to shred the pods. In fact, I have a dwarf lion in my reef which I never feed. He strictly diets on large amphipods. I attribute his constant supply of food to the refugium sytem I'm using. The pictures at my website were taken when the refugium was fairly new. It is now mature and has 5+ species of macroalgae, tons of worms, pods, and other microlife. If you have any questions, please feel free to email me.

PS Don't go any less on the overflow bulkhead diameter. 1" is as small as I would go. You want to be safe, and not have a spill if the overflow doesn't have enough capacity or if it gets clogged with floating macroalgae. I used a 90 degree elbow with a strainer. I could twist it to whatever position to achieve the water level desired in the refugium.

 

[HMN]

DougL,

Thanks for the quick response. Great link too. I was especially interested in biogeeks comments on turnover rate and the use of powerheads in refugia. Definetley makes me wan't spend some more time exploring other configurations. How is your refugia lit?

Cookoopod,

Beautiful tank ... aand refugium Your layout is definetlety cool. Is that a clownfish in your ferugium. I would also like to know how your refugia is lit.

Thanks

Hosea

 

[Mr Hanky-Tanky]

Hi
Just a word of advice on having a 10 gal drilled. As DougL mentioned, they have very thin glass; i got one drilled by pros for the same purpose, and it broke. You might want to buy a 20 gal instead and use the 10 gal for something else. HTH

 

[CAT]

If I remmember correctly, Larry M (check his site) took out one side off his original 5 gal refugium tank and replaced it with plexiglass so he could drill it.

 

[Cookoopod]

Hosea,
I did have a small maroon clown in the refugium. He is now residing in one of Tadashi's (another RC board member) beautiful tanks. I used to have 2-250w MH's on the refugium, then I went down to 3-28w PC's. I will be placing the 250w MH's on again, since I just upgraded my display to 400w MH's and have the 250's at my disposal. The refugium looks nothing like the picture anymore. It is overgrown with macros which I have to constantly prune. It is definitely functioning like a refugium now. Tons of pod and worm life.

 

[DougL]

HMN;

My refugium is lit with 2 20W NO lamps.
One is a Wide spectrum Grolux, the other a Daylight. I tried with 2 Cool Whites, but got Red Slime.

Cookoopod had a great point. A strainer is good insurance. At one point an Astrea was living in the overflow.

Hope this helps;

DougL

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Email: dougl@speakeasy.org
Alt email: douglxyzzy@netscape.net

Homepage sites.netscape.net/douglxyzzy/homepage