refugium/frag tank design

[kwirky]

anyone out there have any input for refugium/frag tank design? anything in their own they like, or things they would change given the chance to do it over again?

i have a 33 gallon (36x12x18high) I use for mixing water changes in. I was thinking it would be much more beneficial to plumb it into my main system, and utilize it. It's home so far is RIGHT next to the tank anyways, and it just sits there for most of the month... I was thinking something to grow chaeto in, and maybe grow frags in too. (i have a 150W 13k giesemann HQI kicking around i could use for growing frags).

i'd probably plumb it more like a tank than a sump. drill it or an overflow, and run it as high of a water level as possible.

My current sump is a 33 gallon tank that's only filled halfway. My total water volume including rock is 120 gallons, so i think another 33 gallons of water space would be helpful.

any input?

[Jaws]

That's exactly what I'm planning as well Sean. I'll be going with a cube tank with an eggcrate rack on top of one half of it for frags and the rest of the tank will be for chaeto. I'll have to have most of the flow at the top to accommadate the frags but I'm hoping it will still work well. If I had some more space I would split a longer tank into two compartments using a high baffle that still allows water to overflow into the next compartment. This way I could add a powerhead in the first compartment to to achieve the flow and then the next compartment would be a slow flowing refugium. Keep me posted on your progress.

[kwirky]

Originally Posted by Jaws

If I had some more space I would split a longer tank into two compartments using a high baffle that still allows water to overflow into the next compartment. This way I could add a powerhead in the first compartment to to achieve the flow and then the next compartment would be a slow flowing refugium. Keep me posted on your progress.

actually that's what I'm thinking of; here's a diagram so far:


I'll divide the tank in half. half for frags/chaeto, and the other half for a refugium. I'll just elastic-band some chaeto to the egg crate in the frag section, as I just have to trim it, and I won't have frags in there at all times, more like once a month, if even that.

I'm excited, i'm gonna get started on it tonight . And I have the day off tomorrow. I might be able to do most of it without spending a penny i think.

what's generally put in a fuge if you're trying to the little food critters? liverock and a DSB? albert_dao said a DSB is pointless if it's not a "real" DSB... I also read of one person putting liverock on top of an egg crate layer, and water's pumped into the fuge entering in the empty layer under the liverock.

I have these lights available. Anyone know how I could use them?

150w HQI geisemann 13k bulb
two coralife 9" PC lights (18w each. 9w 10k, 9w actinic).

I'm thinking of running one of the coralife's over the fuge area at all times, then running the other over the grow out area/chaeto. swap out the coralife over the grow out area with the 150W whenever I have frags to put in there, then put the coralife back when the frags are gone. will the chaeto dislike these changes in lighting?

i just don't want to be running the 150w bulb when there aren't frags in there.

[kwirky]

posting some pics of my work so far.


this sucker took A WHOLE HOUR to dremmel!


I previously made a nano out of it by dividing it in half for a built in sump. I might as well have kept the divider in there, really