Building A Refigium

[ANIM4L]

I really want to set up a refigium, i dont have room for a sump, but i wanted to know wha ti have to do and HOW to build a refigium without drilling, layout plans anything oyu can tell me. Also what is the biggest use and advantage of a refigium, thanks for the help!

 

[SkiFletch]

well, the biggest advantages are multifold. proper refrigium setup can help balance pH, remove nitrates, filter water, and be a great location for heaters and skimmers. Depending on your abilities with working with your hands and your budget you can do a lot or a little with a refrigium. Melevs Reef and Overflow Design should help you out with some ideas of how a refrigium and an overflow operate respectively. From there, it all depends on how fancy you want to get. My sump/refrigium will have 3 chambers. One with removable slats in case I ever have to add carbon or mech filtration temporarily, one for the main refrigium and protein skimmer with all my macro algae, and a third for the return pump. The chambers will be seperated by airtrap barriers and the whole thing designed with enough overflow capacity to carry the extra water that the tank could siphon back in

 

[ANIM4L]

ok so then i really couldnt have arefigium unless i find room for a sump filter then? My stand wasnt custom built, i might be able to fit a 10 gallon tank down there, not sure, gotta see, but that second site was good. How exactly could i build one? is it really expensive but worth it? I knwo if i want a mandarin dragonet i wouldnt need one, but i dont know exactly how to build it...

 

[Aquascaper]

Just to point out that a single Mandarin Dragonet requires a fully mature tank with a good pod population (12mths+ preferably) and a minimum of 75lbs of live rock on which to graze (which I know you have). Even Dragonets that have been weaned onto mysis shrimp, etc. still require a mature tank with large amounts of rock as they eat constantly and do not survive very well on normal tank feedings, they like food little and often. I wouldn't rush into getting this fish untill your tank is at least 6 months old.

 

[SkiFletch]

well, do you have any room behind the aquarium? or could you take a picture of it on your stand to see what kind of dimensions we have to work with?

 

[ANIM4L]

o i wasnt looking to get that fish for a long time, probaby 9 months from now, but it was just a thought. i will be able to take a picture later so you can see what i have to work with

 

[Aquascaper]

Give me some dimensions and I can knock up a drawing for you. Do you have a windowsill near the tank at all? If so a basic sketch of where the tank is compared to the window would help as well.

 

[ANIM4L]

ok i was looking up some cpr aquatics hang on refigiums, are those good? i can get one for about 60 bucks, so i didnt know if that was good, or can i make my own better than thiers? ok i have some pics for you, the tank is abit messy, re arranged the rockwork last night and just moved around some powerheads, tell me what you think

as you can see i have a little space in the back (4.75")

side, but the cabinet can easily move a few inches to the right to make more room, right now it is at 4.5" gap

then some pics of the tank, you can see the powerheads too, no background yet, i havent gotten one because i keep forgetting lol

also how do aquaclears work as refugiums, i have heard of people doing that, would that work if i got the biggest aquaclear filter? i could fit it on the gap on the right

and found around 6 of these little hitchhikers brittle stars

there ay go, you think ishould get a cpr refugium or make my own (and how do i do that?)

do refugiums help with water quality and stuff too, or are they just a breeding ground for animals?

also now that i thiknn of it, the tv can move over to the right a good 6 or more inches too, so if that would make it so the refugium is above water level and that would work better than i can do that, whatever is best, you guys knwo mroe than me lol

 

[Aquascaper]

Like the layout of the live rock

If I was you i'd move the TV over to the right and put a small tank on there with piping back to the tank so that gravity feeds the water back in, get the water from the tank to the small one via a small submersible pump. However, that may not be an option so in that case go for a hang on fuge.

 

[JJ1234567]

I like your rock set up too, what size tank is that? also what type of powerhead movement do you have in there, what kind of powerheads?

 

[SkiFletch]

Just to answer your question, CPR products are great items. Well made and designed by enthusiasts, and depending on the product, thats probably a great price for their stuff.

 

[ANIM4L]

umm the tank is a 60 gallon, it took me hours to get that set up of rocks, i had a few set ups i liked but kept changing them (tank never looks right syndrome ) but then i did this one and LOVE IT!

i have 2 aquaclear 400gph powerheads, 2 powersweep 270 gph power heads, and the xp3 is a 350 gph, and i added a marineland HOT filter which adds another 250 gph, i made the currents collide, am i supposed to do that or have them all flow togther?

also i have another post about filtration and someone gave me the idea of a sump ABOVE the tank, off to the side taking the spot of the tv, would that be a good option anybody? im making another post about it to see who can help...

 

[JJ1234567]

Cool beans, now a question i have that is somewhat related to your topic (no Im not intentionally trying to hijack ), if you drill the side of the fuge and put a small overflow weir, instead of drilling the bottom with a full weir, does taht have an affect on the ammount of the pods and photo plankton going back to the main tank?

 

[Aquascaper]

If I was you i'd move the TV over to the right and put a small tank on there with piping back to the tank so that gravity feeds the water back in, get the water from the tank to the small one via a small submersible pump. However, that may not be an option so in that case go for a hang on fuge.

I thought that sounded familiar

 

[ANIM4L]

anyone got a diagrma or instructions on how to do that?