bucket fuge

[jc]

I have limited space under my new tank and the only place I can put a fuge in is in between the pump and the cabinet door. That could be a problem if I have to remove the pump. My plan is to use a 5 gallon bucket with 5" dsb and cheato with a floodlight flourescent on top. Is there a bulkhead I could use on the curved surface of the bucket? I would like to use a small pump in the sump that goes to the bucket and use the bulkhead with pipe for a return.

[don-n-sa]

I don't know about a bulkhead on the side of the bucket, not sure if that would work. What you could do is put a bulkhead on the bottom, yes the bottom, just make sure it is a slip type bulkhead so you can put a PVC pipe into it and have it go almost to the top of the bucket so it would work just like an overflow.

HTH

[jc]

So it would need to drain down into the sump? I dont think I would have room. That does give me an idea though. Maybe I could make a shallow acrylic box to put over the sump and just use cheato and a light.

[brewercm]

I made a sump out of a square plastic container from Wal-Mart for my old tank. it wasn't perfectly square but I was able to make a water tight fit with the bulkhead. Cost me about $4 for the container.

[Mr_Cool]

You can get a spigot for a 5 gallon bucket that will work on the curve. Try the San Antonio Homebrew Supply store on St. Mary's street. They should have them. If not, you can order one from pretty much any homebrew supplier online. I guess you just need to make sure the in flow into the bucket is no faster than the flow out of the bucket.

I haven't built my fuge yet (I'll be doing it this week, though), but the way I understand it is that you don't want too much flow in the fuge anyway. Just enough to keep it from being stagnant. You could put the spigot near the top of the bucket so that it is higher than the sump's water level. I would think that would work.

[jc]

Yes! that is exactly what I was thinking. Except for the spigot. Good idea. I might even put two in just in case. I plan on using a really small pump or powerhead to the fuge. I may even put a uv sterilizer in between them. Then I would find a way to attach a spotlight to the top and use a PC floodlight for the cheato.

[jc]

The spigots seem a little to small, even for low flow. Can a regular 10 gallon be drilled on the side? Can any plastic box be used? What about something like a rubbermaid box? If I can use a 10 gallon I could make a mini stand for it inside the regular cabinet. That way I can get to the pump if I need to without moving the 10 gallon.

[Mr_Cool]

A 10 gallon would work great. Be careful drilling it, though. I hear that can be pretty tricky.