Biocube 14 gal as refugium?

Hi all, i have a 29 gal and 14 gal biocubes set right next to each other and i was thinking of converting the 14 gal into a sump. Can anyone tell me what i need to buy and set it up? i went to the fish store and they told me that my sump has to be below my Main tank. But i really don't have n e where to put it but beside my main tank, can this still work? plz help, thanks everyone !

 

Hi

Here is a link to my youtube video of my setup:
YouTube - 29 Gallon Oceanic BioCube Reef Aquarium

Here are some photos of the construction:
http://www.myreefaquarium.com/biocube_refugium.cfm

I added a refugium to my 29 gallon biocube and it was amazing. The concept should work for a sump as well but I think that it is best as just a fuge. It is WELL worth the trouble. It adds water volume and helps reduce nitrates among other things.

You will have a couple challenges though. For one thing in order to have a sump below your tank you need to either drill your tank for the overflow or have an overhanging 'siphon' overflow. Neither option is very good for you because drilling a hole in a biocube is way risky and an overhanging 'siphon' overflow won't work if you have a lid on the biocube.

These two issues were not enough to stop me though and I think you can do it also. First of all I recommend getting a used tank, preferably acrylic but I used glass, rather than using the smaller biocube. You simply cannot drill the small cube in the way you will be needing. Sell it and buy a used 10 or 15 gallon tank and some bulkheads, tubing and such.

Here is the drill:
1)The refugium needs to sit higher than your main display cube so it can overflow into the main 29 gallon cube
2)Drill one 1" hole into the back of the lid to your 29 gallon biocube just above chamber 2 for the outflow
3)Drill one 2" hole into the top right part of the lid that opens in the back for the inflow back into the tank
4)Put a small pump into the second chamber of the biocube
5)Pump the water from chamber 2, through one of the holes you drilled into the biocube lid, up into the refugium
6)Drill a hole into the refugium to work as an overflow so that water overflows through a bulkhead and back through the second hole you drilled back into your tank
7)In my refugium I drilled two holes. One very near the top to bring water in and then one an inch or so down for the overflow.
8-By drilling two holes in the fuge you don't have to run the inflow pipe over the top and possibly getting in the way of the lid.

That is pretty much it. Make the fuge as big as you can but a small ten gallon tank would do wonders. If you need to drill glass it is easier than you think but you have to buy a special drill bit. You can get good money for your 14 gallon biocube and buy an acrylic cube from some place like glasscages.com and you would have a very attractive setup.

Good luck!