[charlie]

OK, all you refuge experts out there, I am in the process of setting up my 75 gallon as the refugium for my 300. I was going to start with at least a 4" sandbed in there. What I was wondering is, I have alot live rock rubble that I got about a week ago. Can I throw that in there also, or would that be more a of crap collector than I would need? Thanx in advance, hope I get some ideas.

[zhenya]

Charlie,
You can throw some in there for pods to make their castles , but not too much of it. In a 75g tank I would put maybe couple of larger pieces (5-6") and few rubble type rocks and that is it. Let the Chaeto spin around there and grow like crazy.

[charlie]

I am trying to figure out the flow pattern so I can do just that Gene. I am going to use a Mag 12 for the feed, and depend on head loss to make it compatible with the CPR overflow that I have. I also have space considerations, so it will make a fun project, I am sure.

I don't have any extra rock to throw in there, just the rubble, so I guess I can make a couple of pod piles and maybe grab a chunk or 2 from Kevin next weekend. I am sure he will have a piece or 2 I can grab.

I wonder if building a ring with the feed, with the outputs pointed upwards would be an idea? It would sit, more or less, on the sand bed, so I could get at it for maintenance. This is not a drilled tank, so I hope you can picture what I mean.

[charlie]

One other thing I thought about was the fact that I have a bunch of eggcrate. Could I build a "compartment", that would hold whatever macro I decide to have. I am thinking that may make it easier to lite also. I could get away with a smaller fixture!!!

[charlie]

Here's a couple of pics to show where the refugium is located, and the light fixture I will use. It is a 24" CustomSeaLife PC fixture that I have had around forever. I am just wondering what bulbs I am going to use. I was looking around, and I found these:

Current USA 65W 6700K Daylight PowerCompact Bulb - Square Pin (Saltwater Aquarium Supplies > Lighting > Bulbs > Power Compact > Square Pin > 65 Watts > Daylight/ White )

Do you think I should go with a higher "K" rating???

[Samper]

Charlie....this is the bulb that I use over my refugium. I change it out once a year and believe I could go much longer. It grows the macros well.
Lights Of America

This is the fixture for it.
Lights Of America

My refugium sits above the display and is drilled in the side with a 1" bulkhead. I feed the fuge with a MJ 1200 situated in the top of the display. This blows in the back towards the front and I have an additional MJ inside for circulation. I built an overflow inside with acrylic. It gravity feeds back into the display via pvc plumbing but I had to really go through pains to keep it from drawing air on the way back down. It empties onto a shelf of rock that I made and every so often I move different lps underneath it. I get some really good growth this way. It's a 20 gallon with an 8" CaCO3 sandbed in some places and I have some really nice pieces of tonga branch in it.

This is a horrible picture...I had just moved everything but you get the idea how I set it up. You can see the pvc coming from the side and the hose from the MJ.
I know it's not like your setup but thought you'd like to see it.

[charlie]

I wish I could have mine be a gravity feed back into the display!!!!!

Seeing that I have a BB display, does anybody think I should go with a deeper sandbed in the fuge?
I could possibly go with a 6" bed, then I would have to go get more sand.