5 Gallon DIY Refugium Help

[Wnelson52]

I have a 55g dt with an hob skimmer and a Fluval 407 cannister. Having trouble keeping nitrates down so I'm thinking of adding a refugium. I could buy an hob for a bit more than $300 plus another $100 for the stuff to put into it. But I've got a 5 gallon tank that I might be able to use to build one.

Your suggestions would be appreciated. I'm thinking of putting the refugium under the tank and just running input and output hoses between dt and refugium. A gravity fed line to bring water down to fuge and a pump to pump water back up to the tank. Add a light and some emergency one way valves in case of power failure and it should work.

My question is, will such a simple setup actually work? How big a pump would I need? Any other additions or subtractions to the plan?

 

[BairCorals]

If it were me I'd do like a 400gph pump, sicce adv if you want a good pump or a jebao dc pump for adjustable. Then I'd put some sort of wave pump in there (probably a jebao slw) to get your macro to tumble then of course a plant light of some sort. Hope it works out!

 

[TX_REEF]

If you just want to reduce nitrates, look into adding an algae turf scrubber. Far more efficient than a refugium, if you don’t care about “looking at” the refugium

 

[FUNGI]

I have a 55g dt with an hob skimmer and a Fluval 407 cannister. Having trouble keeping nitrates down so I'm thinking of adding a refugium. I could buy an hob for a bit more than $300 plus another $100 for the stuff to put into it. But I've got a 5 gallon tank that I might be able to use to build one.

Your suggestions would be appreciated. I'm thinking of putting the refugium under the tank and just running input and output hoses between dt and refugium. A gravity fed line to bring water down to fuge and a pump to pump water back up to the tank. Add a light and some emergency one way valves in case of power failure and it should work.

My question is, will such a simple setup actually work? How big a pump would I need? Any other additions or subtractions to the plan?

Hows the one-way valve work to stop water going down..in case of power failure?

you would need a float valve to shut of the down line...something like this...

 

[CasperOe]

I base my nutrient export mainly on a refugium, i run no socks and no rollers - just fuge and skimmer.

With the right lighting you can get away with a small refugium being very efficient - and easy to tune as you can adjust the lighting period as required. But a powerful light on a fuge will make a huge difference with regards to nutrient export.

Here's mine for reference; this is a 135 gallon system. 2 x Kessil a160 lights.

You can look in to the turf scrubbers as well, a refugium takes up more room to as efficient, its just so much easier!

 

[MoshJosh]

Fluval Aquaclear filter + light.

or

BRS reactor + light.

or

Eshopps hang on overflow. Overflow > fuge > canister input> canister> canister output> display.

 

[FUNGI]

GE whole house (orBRS) + light+canister input> canister> canister output> display.
That the way I had my old one running.....

 

[FUNGI]

IceCap Turf Scrubber Pro Hang On

Fight Algae with Algae with a HOB Turf Scrubber IceCap PRO Hang On Back (HOB) Turf Scrubbers use algae as a natural water filter to remove nitrate, phosphate, and other pollutants from your aquarium water. Rather than having algae grow uncontrolled inside your display tank, an algae scrubber...

aquaandbeyond.com