Show Us Your Refuge!!!!

Discussion in 'Refugium' started by 55gfowlr, Sep 13, 2011.

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  1. pja24

    pja24 Bristle Worm

    Joined:
    Nov 16, 2009
    Messages:
    148
    Location:
    Royal Palm Beach, Florida

    Com on give me a break. JK Not alot of time and not a lot of money. Well its a pretty good investment but saved for about a year to do this build. I diy alot of the project. The fuge is diy bought the tank 40 buck $1 gallon pet supermarket, glass baffles $25 glass shop, silicone, cheap light fixture and bulb and bingo your in buisness. I hope I did spook everyone just wanted to share my hard work and experience on reading this forum and learning how/what to do so your sucessful the first time. And time: firefighter/two other jobs, two girls full time competition cheerleading, wife, dog, yardwork, I know etc, etc, etc. I try to devote hour or so a day to the tank. Its a great hobby that I love. I'll post picture of my first fuge. It's not so pretty lol.

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  3. pja24

    pja24 Bristle Worm

    Joined:
    Nov 16, 2009
    Messages:
    148
    Location:
    Royal Palm Beach, Florida
    I like the idea of the gravity fuge tote. This could be options for people that have limited space (side to side) for equipment. I know with my previous 55 gallon my space in the stand was very limited.
     
  4. 55gfowlr

    55gfowlr Zoanthid

    Joined:
    Jul 5, 2011
    Messages:
    1,107
    Location:
    Daytona Florida
    Here's a Look from start to Finish on mine, I literally started my tank from a Fresh water and converted. Everything I bought was HOB and I never had any intention of building a sump/Fuge, but here I am.

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    After this I got a 20g wide glide from my friend, free of charge, and bought an overflow box, Rio pump, and some supplies....

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    I liked the "5 times per hour" rule I read about for Fuges so I went for the Rio1700 @ 4 ft was 300gph. Nice and slow was what I wanted.

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    I had to make an overflow for the Skimmer....

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    And The Final Product........(drummrolllllllll)




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    I can't be happier with the new look, everything hidden and the tank looking better than ever. It didn't even cost an arm load was the best part of it all....

    Before.............................................................

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    After...............................................................

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    Forgive the 'foggy' look of my after photo, as you can see I included a Black back drop which in person I like the look of, but I see in photos it makes the water look thick. But believe me, I've never had better or clearer water since my fuge was put in.


    Just before my Return Pump, I added a blocker to the wall that held any particles back and allowed the fuge to work properly without letting large items back into the DT..

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    See the snail cleaning off the edge, they help keep the flow in the chamber by clearing off the front.

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  5. 55gfowlr

    55gfowlr Zoanthid

    Joined:
    Jul 5, 2011
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    1,107
    Location:
    Daytona Florida


    I like this Add-On, it coins a Whole new meaning for 'compact'. You've got everything you need in there, and somehow found room to fit a fuge that's 50% the size of everything else you've got....lol You win the "Cram it In Award" for the week ... Congrats!!! :drummer:
     
  6. 55gfowlr

    55gfowlr Zoanthid

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    Location:
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  7. felixfish

    felixfish Bristle Worm

    Joined:
    Sep 14, 2011
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    140
    Location:
    Sullivan, IN
    My HOB refugium

    I was looking around on craigslist and this guy was selling his 150g reef tank. I bought a hang on back fuge he was running. It looks custom, and is larger by 10" of any large fuge online for less than half of what is asked on websites. ;D I put the dimensions in on an aquatic tank calculator and it told me it was like 7.8 gallons. It's on my 55 gal, and it seems to be doing well. It was already stocked with a deep miricle mud floor, cheato and a little calerpa algae, not to mention packed with pods! I just cleaned up the outside, added some small live rock, and cut a sheet of black plastic attaching it to the tank side of it to block out the light. I've already cut back the cheato, and it came with a perfect fit T8 compact light all for 75$! i later saw a 4blub Solar Extreme light fixture on craiglist, inquired about it, and the response was, didn't i just sell you my refugium!!? haha I'll be picking that 48" light up for 125 this week. Gotta love good deals!
     

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  9. malac0da13

    malac0da13 Torch Coral

    Joined:
    Jan 14, 2009
    Messages:
    1,199
    Location:
    Walnutport, PA
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    Everything is still kind of a mess since my other 40g cracked on me in the middle of the night. I wish I still had a picture of my 20 long I was using as a fuge that was absolutely packed with chaeto...I thinnef it out one time and almost filled a garbage bag lol.

    Sent from my DROIDX using Tapatalk
     
  10. vankirk

    vankirk Sea Dragon

    Joined:
    Sep 25, 2009
    Messages:
    537
    Haha thanks I think lol. This is my first sump build. My main worry was evaporation so I made the return section as big as I could. I love tinkering with the equipment. But being this was my first build, I did things one step at a time. Build a sump, get it up and running. Add a fuge, make sure its ok, ect ect. lol
     
  11. 55gfowlr

    55gfowlr Zoanthid

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    Location:
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  12. 55gfowlr

    55gfowlr Zoanthid

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    Location:
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    I drew out a design of a fuge similar to this, it was going to be as long as my 55g, (48 inches) and only 6 inches deep, but 3 inches taller and have gravity feed back into my tank after the pump. I submitted the drawing to 2 different tank build companies in my town, and neither one of them got back to me......You think they took the plans and Ran Off??? Next time I make a good design I will have a contract signed before giving it to a builder, or simply build the thing myself. LOL I live in FL so there's no aim at your friend keep in mind. The HOB is very universal and I'm glad you ran across a nice find. How's it working for ya?