In Tank Refugium $1-$5

This is a sort of Hang on style refugium that I have made. To me this cost me $1 because I already had fishing line and a needle. If you need those two things they will probably be the extra $4 depending on where you go to get them.

The tricky part is getting the hanger cut out correctly because this depends on the type of tank you have.

I am also testing black plastic canvas on mine to see how it goes so that it blends in better with the back of the tank. Perhaps you should use clear plastic canvas.

I can do a few supplemental pictures later but the idea can be derived from my pictures.

The $1 was to cover 1 sheet of plastic canvas from the craft store. You might need two but I wouldn't recommend going too large because the container could become unstable since we are working with flimsy plastic canvas sheets. However other steps can be taken to strengthen the build however that is at the discretion of the builder.

The main part of this is to make two sides with hangers cut in to them. Then make your bottom as wide and long as you want the refugium to be, then sew on the front and back. In a case where you had to make it longer, I would suggest just making it separate compartments such as making a third side and sewing it in the middle to create extra support

I sewed it all together with some fishing line. I apologize for the poor quality photos. So, $1 and about 2 hours of trial and error and sewing and I had a refugium for my cheato and pods. The test for myself is to see if the black canvas allows enough light though to keep the cheato happy. If extra water flow is needed, you can always cut a small accommodating hole in the side and push it up against a powerhead and maybe even lightly lash it in to place with some fishing line if needed. I was mainly trying to keep it as invisible as possible against my back glass.

Here are a few pics if you are interested in trying this yourself.

 

interesting concept

 

Looks cool and simple enough to make. Keep us posted on how it works when in the tank.

 

and a couple feet of yarn and you can make a neat little design in it too!!;D

 

I will keep you updated. I started the cycle tonight so it will be a while.

 

The hang on refugium worked great, I just needed the real estate for a skimmer so I had to take it out of the tank. If I had a choice though i would have used clear plastic canvas instead of black. It would let more light through. Also I had small amount of chaeto when I started and it filled up my refugium quickly.

 

Nice! Cool idea. I have my chaeto in a baffled section with my skimmer. The black screen you used would actually be nice on the side with the skimmer to keep the light down and reduce algae growth on the skimmer. (Something I have to deal with now.)

 

This is interesting and cheap to do. I have been looking for something like this as well lol. I think it might work well under the return of one of my aquaclear 50 HOB filter actually. I think this would get some good flow through it.

 

hahaha

 

Here is what I made about a month ago: