10 DIY Refugium using fluval 304 as return.

hmm the return is the Fluval? I have to admit I no longer understand what youre setting up. I thought the Fluval was going to be the supply and the fuge would overflow through a bulkhead to either the sump or DT.

 

K, so its a pain in the (another word for mule) to get it all under the stand so I pulled it out and gonna put it on the side of the tank against the wall. It will stick out 3 inches from the front of the stand on the side but since my tank is in the corner with just enough space it doesnt look to bad and partly because the fuge light will only be on opposite to display time. This way I will be able to fit my heater, phosphate reactor, intake for the fluval and still thinkin about the skimmer because it will only filter according to the flow of my fluval so in a way it may be either good because of multiple passes of the same water or bad, dont know, we'll see. I can always move it back to the back of the tank because the overflow box wont fit on the back it will also be on the side (the only ugly thing left in the tank is this intake box on the side) right above the refugium. Easy access will also allow me to do any modifications or maintenance in the future not to mention water top offs. I was anxious to have it set up but i somehow managed to seperate the outer and inner part of the overflow so now I have to wait for it to dry overnight. Till Then..............Stay tuned lol

 

MuHaHaHAHA I feel like some kind of Mad Reefer. :rolleyes3 I have no idea what I'm setting up either lol, thats why its changing day to day. I decided to go bare bottom for now and jus put chaeto and equipment in it. The tank will over flow into the fuge and the intake from my fluval will return it first to the fluval and back to the tank. So the only thing in my DT will be the overflow box and the return from the fluval. This is how im gonna try it out for now and then figure something else out with a decent pump

 

This sounds good in theory, but in reality it does not work out... canister filters are NOT designed to handle head pressure... they balance the head pressure with the return pressure...

Take it from me, speaking from experience, i thought the same thing... your canister filter will fail and you'll burn the pump out on it in a best case scenario. You're gonna do it anyways, because you think you got it all figured out... but i'm jsut saying, it'll work fine when you first set it up, but then you get home from work one day and your can filter is dead...

just get an inexpensive return pump... if you are really concerned about having solids re-enter your aquarium via the pump put a piece of mechanical filter medium over the intake... problem solved.

the other reason you want a regular return pump is so that the odd amphipod or copepod will flow through the return and get into your display tank... this is one of the major benefits of a refugium.

and it's a lot easier to put the sand in now than to do it after the water's in it. just get some sand, any kind of SAND... like the stuff you put in your aquarium and make sure you've got 4"... 20 pounds should do just fine for your fuge. don't forget to rinse it.

 

K, I think I'll be patient for once and just get the pump. I saw this play sand at home depot that is completely dust like, very fine. Can I use this sand. It says safe for gardening and pets?? With buying live Sand and a pump I'm gonna end up spending like 80 bucks. How strong of a pump do you suggest at 4 feet? I have a penguin 660 rated at 170gph available. Can I use that?

 

Bump

 

I dumped the kitty litter after waiting for it to settle, it was a mess and I decided I didn't want to deal with it. I set up the fuge bare bottom with just chaeto and gracilaria, a small heater and a 300gph return pump at 3 ft head, flow is just slow enough. For light I used a clip on shop light with a 60watt equivalent 13watt bulb. So finally after wasting all this time and playing with kitty litter, I finally got my fuge set up and running.