<My New Fuge!!DIY

Chris Jones · 07-16-2005, 08:52 AM

Well in keeping with the tradition of being a miser, I have undertaken the fun task of designing and building a 90 gallon reef tank setup, stand and all. My first task is complete with the execption of a couple of fine details. Here are some pics of my new Refugium.

I used a :

29 gal tank $30 LPS

30" x 36" plexiglass $24 Home Depot

4 tubes of silicone $1.75 each Home Depot

Egg Crate, (I had a huge piece and use it for other things as well) 2' x 4' $10 Home Depot

Assorted 3/4" PVC pipe and elbows and Tees Under $5 @ Home Depot

2 Quick disconnects 1" and 3/4" $2.50 each Home Depot

2 3/4" ball valves $2.50 each @ Home Depot

Mag Drive 1800 $84 shipped The Mag Drive Outlet http://stores.ebay.com/THE-MAG-DRIVE...toreviewQQtZkm
on E-Bay

Turbo Flotor Skimmer w/Ocean Runner 2700 $194 shipped Marine Depot

Odyssea 24” 28 watt T5 light bar $37 shipped h3aquariums on E-Bay

I built this one so that the whole front of the tank is the refugium so it is 30" long by 5"wide and it is devided by a flow reducer baffle and bubble curtain. in the rear are two compartments that serve as the intkake and houses the skimmer, and the other is the sump which houses the mag 1800. as you can see in the plumbing that instead of the overflow going to the skimmer, a tee off the supply back to the tank supplies the skimmer which overflows back out into the filter media. I am going to try to make a pretty and presentable fuge part to maybe house other critters worth viewing.
I am finalizing the lid and the plumbing today, I will post the installed pics later.

Chris Jones · 07-16-2005, 08:53 AM

more pics.

Chris Jones · 07-16-2005, 08:54 AM

more

pics.

Chris Jones · 07-16-2005, 08:55 AM

last one.

greyhawk · 07-16-2005, 09:34 AM

looks cool there

Birdlady · 07-16-2005, 09:39 AM

Awesome!!!! I should get that chaeto out to you on Monday then, if you are nearly ready!!!

Chris Jones · 07-16-2005, 09:45 AM

Yeah, it is comming along nicely. I will post pics of my stand tonight and then the whole thing set up as I am doing a test run today. the stand only is a frame right now with a top and a floor in the inside, no walls or doors yet.

But any way BL, I still have my other fuge working on my 46 gal so I can put the algae in there anytime, I need to get that calurpa out of there anyway, Thanks again.

Matt Rogers · 07-16-2005, 11:01 AM

WOW!

Nice work Chris!! You could go into the biz with that. Looks fantastic.

matt

Michaelr5 · 07-16-2005, 01:07 PM

Wow! that looks great. I just inheirited (litterally) a 29G tank and was wondering what the best way to organize it as a sump would be. The only thing I could not quite figure out from your pics is the flow diagram throgh the system. Could you please give a brief (possibly with drawing) tour of the system? The Idea of the fuge in front is great!

Thanks for the inspiration

Mike

Chris Jones · 07-17-2005, 05:07 AM

Ok here is a drawing.

You can see I am not an artist. the top view shows the inflow pad on the left rear chamber. I supported egg crate there on string that will hold my filter media and if I want to put charcoal there perodically.
The water fills up the the left rear chamber (the skimmer does not suck from this chamber even though it sits in it) and flows to the left front of the fuge section over a 13" wall with 2" teeth cut into it so the level from the bottom is 11 1/2" to 12" for the water at this point.

As the water flows through the front section, first it is met with a baffle that is 6" with a 2" eggcrate on top and then another piece of baffle to raise the first baffle to 11".
The middle baffle starts out on the bottom as 3" of eggcrate with 10" of baffle above to make this baffle 13". water can only flow under this baffle.

The third baffle is exactly like the first only it is only 10 1/2" high to facilitate foreward flow.

Each baffle is spaced 2" apart (really hard to get silicone on the inside seams).

This section will have approx 4" of LS and LR rubble, and BL's chaeto algae (Thanks BL).

The other end of the refugeium section has a 4" long by 2" high window cut out with eggcrate put in its place, and under that, at about 9" and 7" heights, I drilled some holes to further the flow back into the sump/return.

I chose these dimensions only after I had all the equipment that was going to fit in there and then got head aches for the next 2 days with a suitable setup and flow solution.

I appreciate the interest in what i did as I am just tickled to no end that "I" actually made this and it works, WOW but to have other people say " hey, Cool" just does it for me.

Any way, if you have more questions, feel free to ask. I could talk about it all day LOL