Anyone here ever set up a freshwater refugium?

[fish-eyed-fool]

I was thinking about setting one up. I have a 44g SA tank, and I'd like to have a small (5-8g) refugium tank that is heavily planted and stocked with snails and other small creatures. I'd like to connect the two tanks so that I can have lots of plants without my Jacks eating them up (they don't like the plants I have now, but they might like new ones) and also have the neat little things in there that they'd normally also eat.

I've got most of the equipment picked out and I've got a good idea of how to make it work. Anyone know of any reason I shouldn't do this?

[SGypsyMermaid]

sounds like a great idea to me! especially if you want to keep shrimp! keep us posted. :wink:

[sportsman]

I have done something like what you are talking about. only I have a 29 gal SA tank and added a 20 gal planted refugium to it.

[racerc20]

this is gonna sound like a noob question but... what is the purpose of the refugium?

[sportsman]

its purpose: to be able to have plants when your tank is full of fish that will destroy them. its also a place to cultivate smaller fish or invertibrates that could be used as food for your fish.
mine also acts as a "nitrate sponge" to help keep nirates down between water changes. makes my 29 gallon SA tank into a 49 gal.

[Glaive]

Sportsman hit it on the head, especially with the nitrate reduction. I have had my own tank of Julies so well balanced, in the past, that I could easily get away with a 25% change per month(the nitrate reduction was absurd). Not to mention if the tank chosen for the refugium is a nice enough one it provides you another type of relaxing tank to look at.

[Nasty Wendy]

Its a great tool for algea control.

[racerc20]

i see the logic and use for it...i need to do some research and see how to set one up... i just picked up 2 55 gal tanks and a wooden stand and 1 aquaclear 500 all for 80 bucks. im already done sanding and staining the stand well see if i keep or sell maybe make a 55 refugium to go alongside my 90 mbuna...
hmmmm.... wife will kill me....

[sportsman]

its not as hard as you think to set up the rufugium to your tank. since my tanks are small i only used a fountain pump that pumps 60 gallons an hour to pull the water out the the planted tank into my fish only tank. i used pvc to connect the tanks over the top (i have both tanks at the same level so gravity wants to keep the tanks water the same). works in the same way as the aqua bridge.

[F.F. Julio]

just remember when setting up a refugium that is below your main tank that if the power goes out and the pump stops you may have a siphon form until the water level gets below the return outlet in the main tank, causing the bottom tank to overflow. I had a 15 gallon refugium on my 24 gallon reef tank, the refugium only held about 10 gallons of water so it could hold the overflow from the main tank if the power were to go out.

[Peimai]

...then what happens when you power comes back on and you've lost the syphon? top tank fills back up and emptys the bottom one and you burn out your pump? whats the story?

[Dragonkeeper]

I have one in a 55g tank that is also my sump on my 125g tang tank. Thing is full of duckweed so is acts as a nice nitrate reducer. Of course nothing else will grow in there.

[larry.beck]

...then what happens when you power comes back on and you've lost the syphon? top tank fills back up and emptys the bottom one and you burn out your pump? whats the story?

The return siphon won't be broken in a properly engineered system, only the supply. Same principle we use for sumps and wet/dry filters that leverage overflow returns.

[RustyNut]

The return siphon won't be broken in a properly engineered system, only the supply. Same principle we use for sumps and wet/dry filters that leverage overflow returns.

Dead on.

[ROCK!]

I use them on all of my tanks. I normally build them out of 55 gallon tanks, but if you have a smaller tank you don't really need one that big. I posted some pix of one I built for my 180 gallon shell dweller tank in the DIY section, I believe it's titled "my new sump" Check that out, it should give you some ideas. I'll also try and get some pix of the one that's on my 160 gallon, it's filthy, but that's kind of the point. :lol2: IMO the best way is th do your sump under the mane tank, but I have had several tanks in the past where it's beside the mane tank. I have always used overflow boxes, Im not a big fan of aqua bridges. When I set mine up I make sure there's enough room in the tank for all the water in the sumps out box, and vise verse. That way if you loose power you don't over flow the sump, and if you loose syphon you don't over flow the tank. It's not an easy task, but simple math is all you need.

[Peimai]

I guess what im missing is when the power goes out it will continue to syphon do to a predetermined height before your inlet is no longer able to draw water...breaking the intake syphon for the lower tank. Cool. so you end up with a higher than normal level in your lower tank until the power comes back on.
Now when it comes back on your pump is going to crank up and starts pushing water back into the upper tank. I guess I do not understand the principle that starts the flow back into the lower tank unless you have a tank with a overflow built into it that goes through the side of the tank and not over the rim.

[ROCK!]

If you use a standard overflow box you won't loose syphon. Water stays in the inside box, and keeps the water in the u tube. As soon as the water in the mane tank reaches the level where it starts flowing into the box it will start again. IF it doesn't, you should plan enough room in the mane tank so it won't over flow. You can figure this out just the way you figure out how many gallons a tank is. In my case I leave about 1.5" in my mane tank. That ends up being about 11 gallons. My sump holds around 10 gallons in the out chamber. When my pump goes off it drains around 3" of water, that's about 22 gallons. My sump is built to hold an extra 25 gallons. Basically fool proof.

[Peimai]

ok I looked up an overflow box and I get it thanks alot...can't wait to get this all done.

[thetick]

i have a 55 gallon and a 29 next to it. a refugium sounds like a great idea. the only problem is that the two tanks are in a corner of the room and make an L shape, with the 29 protruding a few inches in front of the 55. the 29 is also on a stand a few inches lower.

any suggestions on the cheapest way to connect the water in my two tanks?

[ROCK!]

Some pix of your set up would help a lot. Sounds to me like you just need an O/F box on the end of the 55, and a return pump in the 29. There's a serious risk of actually over flowing one of the tanks though. :eek:

[thetick]

ya the overflow problem is what im worried about. im thinking of instead of an overflow box i just get 2 identical pumps and plug them into the same curcuit. that way if the power goes out they both fail.

but anyways heres some pics of my set up. would love some suggestions

[ROCK!]

Hard to say what exactly to do, I was picturing it a bit different. You could raise the 29 up to the same level as the 55, and do an aqua bridge. Might work best if you move the 55 a bit, and put the 2 tanks corner to corner.

[RustyNut]

Overflow box drains into the 29g and the pump goes into the 29g and pushes the water back up into the 55g... Trouble is your difference in height is small so flow rates will have to be lower.... (or greater tolerance)

[Arturtle]

I just joined, seems like an interesting site.

I've tried using planted sumps and the results were good and bad. They were good in the regard that they killed nitrates, the bad was when they were done with nitrates they absorbed ammonia. I experimented with a couple tanks and they passed the nitrate cycle in both.

I would only really recommend doing a fw refugium in a small amount, or if you have nitrate problems. I'm trying to grow potatoes in my turtle setup and have no readable amounts of nitrates or ammonia, and now I don't know if the plants are going to make it.

If you really want an answer just get on some aquaponics forums

[Peeps]

Keep us updated on this, Im curious about it.