90 gallon refugium

[DevonM]

Hey Gang,

I'm in the process of adding a 90 gallon refugium to my setup with a DSB and Chaeto. I thought I would post a few pictures as it comes together.

Devon

[CutthroatKid]

Fantastic!
haha, is that your living room?

[DevonM]

You know it!

Fantastic!
haha, is that your living room?

[charlie]

Stop being so stingy with the pics man, now that we can see it, we need a full tank shot just cuz!!!!!

[cdearing]

A little step by step commentary would be good, explaining what we are looking at. Where did you get the tank? Who drilled it for you. Looks like you have matching stands. Did you have those made? Very cool, Devon. Thanks for sharing with us!
You might have to move your couches out of the living room if you keep this up. There'll be no room!

[cdearing]

Let's see your sump while we're at it.

[charlie]

Devon, we not asking for to much, are we?????

[DevonM]

A little step by step commentary would be good, explaining what we are looking at. Where did you get the tank? Who drilled it for you. Looks like you have matching stands. Did you have those made? Very cool, Devon. Thanks for sharing with us!
You might have to move your couches out of the living room if you keep this up. There'll be no room!

The step-by-step commentary will follow with more pictures, lol. The 90 gallon refug is what you are looking at on the right. I had this tank in my garage, took it down to the fish store, cut the old silicone out, drilled it, etc. I had a local guy copy my stand and make one for the refug. I hope to have all the plumbing done tomorrow. Might even fill it with water .

[charlie]

OOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHH, water would be good!!!!! Looking forward to the progress pics. Are you going to put an overflow on it, or is it just going to drain directly to the sump? Are you gonna throw a ball valve on there to control the drain? So many questions.......................

[Sarmo]

i hate to disagree with Charlie (assuming he is suggesting a ball valve) but i would NEVER put a ball valve on the overflow. one snail stuck in the ball valve and you'd regret it.
what is your plan for the inside of the fuge and the water return? i would just get an overflow box drill it to fit over your bulk head and let it regulate the fuge height and keep critters and macro out......
this is a great project. i like the fact you have a window behind the fuge. maybe you won't need much for light? if you use those lights, i would run them like Charlie does. turn the fuge lights on after the display lights go off and turn them off when the display lights come on. this helps regulate the pH. then the light from the window will max out the growth of you macro.......
i wish my fuge had sun light on it. actually i wish my whole system had sunlight.... that would cut down the electric bill !!!

keep the pics coming, great project!

[charlie]

Hey Rob, I was hoping he would put an overflow on there, with a screen, so the SNAIL problem wouldn't happen. I hear you have extensive knowledge with this type of occurrence.

I know that was a low blow, but I gotta get my shots in when I can you know.;)

[Sarmo]

i'll admit it. i've had 100+ gallons of salt water on the floor more than once

it's a sick feeling when you step on the carpet in your socks and water squishes up between your toes. or worse yet when you look at the tank and you see something that resembles a wall of water running down the outside of you tank......

if you want to know about overflowing your tank or how not to do automatic refilling of your tank from evaporation, just ask me. i've had extensive experience

[charlie]

That is why we keep you around.

[DevonM]

Yeah on the overflow I guess I just planned to put in an angled upward piece of PVC with a cone screen on the end, then play with the angle to get the desired water height. Thoughts?

Right now I am going to put a Mag 12 in my sump to run it and see what happens. I am also going to also put a "T" in the feed line to run an Octopus DDNW 150 (the one Kevin recommended). I don't have the skimmer yet but hopefully soon because I think a Mag 12 is a little much for a refug but I could be wrong, the water head height might tone it down a bit. Anyway, here are a few more pictures as of this morning.









And a couple of the kids:




(sea pen)

[DevonM]

And I almost forgot. Does anyone have a used 4 foot T5 they are willing to part with? I think that's what I want to use on the refug.

[charlie]

You need the fixture or just the bulbs?

[DevonM]

if you want to know about overflowing your tank or how not to do automatic refilling of your tank from evaporation, just ask me. i've had extensive experience

Yeah I drained a 170 within two inches from the bottom, my fish weren't very happy . I have an overflow that drains down into my basement for when I do water changes or I guess if my ATO has any problems. It's not really big enough to handle an extreme rush of water but it siphons pretty well.

[Sarmo]

i would get rid of the 90 coming from the fuge and the splice in the 1" black line. the 90 will add head pressure. also you could use some tape to hold the black line to the PVC return.
1200 gph is fine for your fuge. i have about 3 time that much going thru mine.
what are you planning for between the two tanks?
as i said before, you could use an overflow box on the return.
looking good so far.

[DevonM]

You need the fixture or just the bulbs?

Well at the moment I need the whole thing but in order to save some dough I would take what I could get. Beggars can't be choosers. I saw a nice 4 foot Sunpak MH unit on crag's list for $350 but that's a little high in energy and $ for what I want.

[charlie]

I might have a 2 bulb 3' DIY T5 for you. I have to check with Cynthia to make sure what she wanted first.