My dual refugium setup.

BrokeColoReefer · 07/26/2008, 09:36 AM

I wanted to post my setup in capt's thread, but i see that its closed

so here it goes. Any long term problems with this setup?

My fuge set up is a bit unique because i have a a large fish room and a overflow that us designed to suck micro bubbles and handle the flow.

My tank has a long 36"x1/2" slit overflow that feeds a built in refugium. The refuge houses chato only and has a pump that pumps up to a home built surge tank (old eclipse 20) above the tank. The pump pumps in all the goodies and and the surge tanks flushes them in the tank. the output of the surge tank is 4 inches below the overflow so most bubbles get sucked up and salt creep is held to a minimum. The surge tank is also a mini fuge so that some critters also get to breed up there.

A fair warning about surge tank fuges, they will mess with a a skimmer that is sensitive to water level and you HAVE to have overflows that can handle the surge. If you use auto top off devices, they will settle in higher due to the sump getting emptied out of 20 gallons of water. My surge/fuge fills every 4 minutes and surges 20 gallons of water in 15 seconds.

Here is the surge/fuge. it is simple to make, harder to tune.

Here is the built in fuge on the back of the tank, and the sump below

My skimmer does not seem to be bothered to much by the fluctuations in the sump. My sump drops 3 inches every time the surge tank fills (100 gallon rubbermaid stock tank).

All in all, this has been a very effective setup for me, the main fuge keeps my pod population going, the surge fuge keeps some bugs but most of them get sucked out.

Sk8r · 07/26/2008, 09:38 AM

Neat!

Dave VG · 07/26/2008, 09:38 AM

Holy sh#$. Thatâ€™s one big mess of wires you got there. If you donâ€™t mind could you post a pic or video of the surge mechanism.

kar93 · 07/26/2008, 09:42 AM

Capn's thread isn't closed it is just split. http://reefcentral.com/forums/showth...pagenumber=16.

LobsterOfJustice · 07/26/2008, 09:43 AM

Can we get more information on the surge (closer pictures, explanation of how it works)? Thanks!

BrokeColoReefer · 07/26/2008, 11:48 AM

ahhh, i now see the split section. When i get home i will take a vid of the surge working. I will also take detailed photos of the actual surge device.

The surge is actually simple, i made it out of spare parts i had laying around. I took a old eclipse 20 gallon nano i had and drilled a hole in the side towards the bottom and installed a bulkhead. From the bulkhead going in the the surge tank there is a 90* elbow a 12 inch piece of pvc another 90* then a 45* and another 45* (to get me going down, i didnt have a sweeper elbow) Then another vertical piece of pvc going down to within a inch if the bottom of the tank. the outflow is just going down to the tank with a 90* (different then photo) about 4" below the water surface and into a "T". As the tank fills full of water the pipe in the tank fills as well, once the water fills the elbow it syphons to "flush" the tank. This style of surge is called the "carlson" surge device.

The wires are a mess, i had then all organized and zip tied together neatly but i had a heater go out and had to cut it all out. Lesson learned: use wire ties not zip ties

07/26/2008, 09:36 AM	#1
BrokeColoReefer Hermit Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: Mountains of Boulder County. Posts: 2,289	My dual refugium setup. I wanted to post my setup in capt's thread, but i see that its closed so here it goes. Any long term problems with this setup? My fuge set up is a bit unique because i have a a large fish room and a overflow that us designed to suck micro bubbles and handle the flow. My tank has a long 36"x1/2" slit overflow that feeds a built in refugium. The refuge houses chato only and has a pump that pumps up to a home built surge tank (old eclipse 20) above the tank. The pump pumps in all the goodies and and the surge tanks flushes them in the tank. the output of the surge tank is 4 inches below the overflow so most bubbles get sucked up and salt creep is held to a minimum. The surge tank is also a mini fuge so that some critters also get to breed up there. A fair warning about surge tank fuges, they will mess with a a skimmer that is sensitive to water level and you HAVE to have overflows that can handle the surge. If you use auto top off devices, they will settle in higher due to the sump getting emptied out of 20 gallons of water. My surge/fuge fills every 4 minutes and surges 20 gallons of water in 15 seconds. Here is the surge/fuge. it is simple to make, harder to tune. Here is the built in fuge on the back of the tank, and the sump below My skimmer does not seem to be bothered to much by the fluctuations in the sump. My sump drops 3 inches every time the surge tank fills (100 gallon rubbermaid stock tank). All in all, this has been a very effective setup for me, the main fuge keeps my pod population going, the surge fuge keeps some bugs but most of them get sucked out. __________________ Stay fishy my friends. Current Tank Info: 300 gallon built in plumbed to the basement. 30 gallon surge for flow, GEO protein skimmer, litermeter 3's for continuous water change (1 gallon per day), calc reactors, kalk reactors, 600w MHx2, 6" DSB, 1000 lbs of live rock (300 display, 700 sump)

07/26/2008, 09:38 AM	#2
Sk8r RC Mod Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Spokane WA Posts: 34,628 Blog Entries: 55	Neat! __________________ Sk8r Salinity 1.024-6; alkalinity 8.3-9.3 on KH scale; calcium 420; magnesium 1300, temp 78-80, nitrate .2. Ammonia 0. No filters: lps tank. Alk and cal won't rise if mg is low. Current Tank Info: 105g AquaVim wedge, yellow tang, sailfin blenny,royal gramma, ocellaris clown pair, yellow watchman, 100 microceriths, 25 tiny hermits, a 4" conch, 1" nassarius, recovering from 2 year hiatus with daily water change of 10%.

07/26/2008, 09:38 AM	#3
Dave VG Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Northeast, Pa Posts: 3,129	Holy sh#$. Thatâ€™s one big mess of wires you got there. If you donâ€™t mind could you post a pic or video of the surge mechanism. __________________ Dave Current Tank Info: 40B Display, 40B sump/fuge

07/26/2008, 09:43 AM	#5
LobsterOfJustice Recovering Detritophobe Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Cary, NC Posts: 7,443	Can we get more information on the surge (closer pictures, explanation of how it works)? Thanks! __________________ If it's worth doing, it's worth doing right. I remember when zoanthids were called things like "green" and "orange" and not "reverse gorilla nipple." Current Tank Info: 180g reef with all the bells and whistles

07/26/2008, 11:48 AM	#6
BrokeColoReefer Hermit Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: Mountains of Boulder County. Posts: 2,289	ahhh, i now see the split section. When i get home i will take a vid of the surge working. I will also take detailed photos of the actual surge device. The surge is actually simple, i made it out of spare parts i had laying around. I took a old eclipse 20 gallon nano i had and drilled a hole in the side towards the bottom and installed a bulkhead. From the bulkhead going in the the surge tank there is a 90* elbow a 12 inch piece of pvc another 90* then a 45* and another 45* (to get me going down, i didnt have a sweeper elbow) Then another vertical piece of pvc going down to within a inch if the bottom of the tank. the outflow is just going down to the tank with a 90* (different then photo) about 4" below the water surface and into a "T". As the tank fills full of water the pipe in the tank fills as well, once the water fills the elbow it syphons to "flush" the tank. This style of surge is called the "carlson" surge device. The wires are a mess, i had then all organized and zip tied together neatly but i had a heater go out and had to cut it all out. Lesson learned: use wire ties not zip ties __________________ Stay fishy my friends. Current Tank Info: 300 gallon built in plumbed to the basement. 30 gallon surge for flow, GEO protein skimmer, litermeter 3's for continuous water change (1 gallon per day), calc reactors, kalk reactors, 600w MHx2, 6" DSB, 1000 lbs of live rock (300 display, 700 sump)

07/26/2008, 09:42 AM	#4
kar93 Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Lincoln Posts: 5,521	Capn's thread isn't closed it is just split. http://reefcentral.com/forums/showth...pagenumber=16.