Above Tank Refugium

[Nano_Steve]

hey all,

so i got to thinkin about maybe starting up my old 10 gallon when i get back home and have settled in and i want to know if anyone has had any experience with above tank refugiums....ive checked the rc diy section but there doesnt seem to be that much.

i thought about setting up a 5.5 gallon i still have and redo my really tall canopy to see how it would work. so far the design is pretty simple but i dont know the physics behind how fast water can fall.......i wonder about this cuz i would feed the refugium with just a simple little powerhead with a sock on it from inside the main tank, have a tube running up that has a "y" in it near the refugium, a couple baffles, and then drill out two small holes out of the 5.5 and maybe connect a couple bulkheads that lead back to the main tank on the opposite side of the tank from the powerhead.

ill draw up a pic real quicklike to post but just wondering if this would work or would flow be too much and id overflow the refugium before it has time to drain???

thanks, steve

[captexas]

If I had a way to do it, I would go with an above tank fuge for one main reason and that is that you don't have to use a pump to get water from the fuge back to the tank. By using gravity, there is no pump impeller to chop up any critters that are born in the fuge and get pulled down the drain line. Feeding the main tank and restocking it with pods is one of the benefits of having a fuge as well as using it to help export excess nutrients.

As Josh mentioned, a simple ball valve is an easy way to control the input of water to the fuge from the powerhead in the tank. Having a second drain bulkhead is also a good idea to work as a back-up in case the other clogs. You can just connect them with a Y fitting so you only have one drain tube going back to the tank. As the drain bulkheads go at the top of the fuge, it will only drain as much water as gets pumped in the fuge above them.

[Nano_Steve]

hey thanks guys! i didnt know u could decrease the flow from a powerhead, didnt know whether it would make it burn up or not.....

this is what i have in mind, just a real simple fuge but like i said i wasnt quite sure whether it would be too much flow.

steve

[Nano_Steve]

:o OOOOOOOOO!!! i just had a really rad idea!!! has anyone ever done a rain effect with their return water??? i remember seeing this freshwater that was setup where a powerhead shot water at a pane of glass then it dripped off the glass like rain! i wonder if i could do something like this with a saltwater tank.......anyone see any issues with it that im not thinking of???

thanks,steve

[captexas]

Steve -
I don't think the rainwater idea would work to well in a saltwater application. Main reason being you would have a great deal more evaporation and salt creep to deal with. I use a spray bar type setup at one end of my fuge that goes all the way across so water is circulated evenly. I simply used 1/2in. pvc pipe and drilled several small holes across the length of it. Works fairly well.

If I were you, I would lose the baffles on the fuge, at least the one on the end for the drains. Baffles are mostly used on sumps to separate compartments and help reduce the bubbles before returning water to the tank. For the drain bulkheads, I would drill the side or back at the top of the fuge. Simply install bulkheads with some screens over them and you are set. This way if the power goes out, the water level in the fuge will only go to the bottom of the bulkhead. Of course this should also be done for the bulkhead coming from the powerhead. If power goes out, a vaccuum could be created and water would drain from the fuge back down to the tank through the power head. Either that or you could use a check valve on it.

As far as using a ball valve on the power head goes, this can be taking a chance. Just like regular water pumps, not all do well with having back pressure created by a valve like that. Some can get worn out and burn out/lock up and others are fine. As you are simply using a power head, you may not need to reduce it as long as it is not too large a pump. The main issue on a fuge I think is water velocity, not the volume of water moved. You just don't want water shooting through it to where things are getting blown around and don't have a chance to behave naturally.

Hope that helps.

[Nano_Steve]

chris,

yeah dude for sure it helped me out alot!!! thanks for the insight, i didnt think about evaporation, not to mention any fish i had in there would probably go insane thinking they were in a continuous storm :P yeah scratch the rain idea, good call.

for the fuge. since this would be my first fuge i really didnt have any idea of how to do it so i just went along with what the bigger ones looked like. thats a much better idea and probably WAY cheaper by just drilling near the top and letting it overflow rather than having glass panes cut and then trying to silicone them all in.

thanks a heap chris and yeah it helped tons!!! :D

steve

[witecap4u]

just buy a CPR aquafuge hang on.....maybe Vinh will have one...?

Or, some things to think about are,

how high above the tank it will be. My MJ750 will only pump to about 4ft high, and gets loud at 3ft high.
I would bet the bottom of the 5.5 is tempered, and maybe the backs too.
Noise? Is this tank still in your bedroom?

If you do decide to do this, as Chris mentioned, loose the baffels, but I would loose the two incoming baffels and keep the drain baffel. Reason being, if your incoming water nozels are under water, you wont have any bubbles and need the under over flow of the baffels. The drain baffels will allow you to keep a certain water height in the main fuge area and it will flow over the baffel into the drain area, and with evap. the only level change will be in the main tank.

[manny]

you don't think that hang-on would be like the one kaiser bought where you have to build it from scratch?

[TexasState]

The only external filter I have in my 29 gallons tank is a CPR AquaFuge, it worked pretty well. I had a Remora skimmer on it for a couple of days but I took it off b/c I can't stand the noise. The AquaFuge is nice and quiet.
http://www.cpraquatic.com/index2.html
http://www.cpraquatic.com/product%20images/RF-2-small.jpg

[Nano_Steve]

well i wanted to do this project cuz ive still got my stand, canopy, and tank that it all goes with but when i made the canopy i made it so the light are 12" away from the top of the water cuz i didnt know what i was doing :P so i got quite a bit of space that i thought itd be kinda kool to try this idea out.......besides it wouldnt require me to empty all the dead sand i have in the 10 gallon as is......btw if i just let all my sand sit in a tank and rot do u think itd be ok to use it in another tank after i properly cycled and everything???its pretty dry by now im sure so i doubt anything is still alive in there :?

steve

[bozack]

Any idea how those CPR hang ons compare to the EcoSystems hang on refugiums as far as function and noise??

Was thinking about getting one of those but it's dependent on me actually building a new hood for my small 30 gallon. Figured if I build one, I might as well accomade a new hang on but it has to be quiet and pretty maintenance free.

[SaltyJim]

Here (http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=20758&item=2359720 093) is another HOB premade 'fuge from eBay. Strange wording in the description. Ask the seller questions about the pricing.

I think I'd still build my own.

Jim

[longhorn_20m]

Did you ever do the above tank refugium?

I'm asking because I have been thinking about doing one and adding to my nano cube, since no aquafuges will fit on it.

My only problem will be noise and my tank is in my bedroom. Just seeing if you finished yours and if so is it loud.

[Nano_Steve]

hey longhorn,

nah dude, i never got around to it but malofish told me at the last meeting that he tried it and was successful!!! give him a shout or maybe he'll see this thread and post!(hint hint jayjay ;) )

take kare,steve