Anyone Have a Refugium On Top Of There Tank?

[REEFMAN FROM AQUALINK]

I was reading in your DIY section about a 2.5 refugium on top of your tank. Does anyone else here do this. It seems like a great idea. Also how do you keep the calipura (spelling) from draining back into the tank?


Thanks
Michael

[Q-ball]

Hey RM, I have a 5g refugium above my tank (29g reef). It's fed by a small penguin powerhead, flowing about 100gph or so I think into the refugium. It has a 4-5" sandbed, and a couple of hunks of liverock, the culerpa just attached itself to the rock. It's lit by a 15w actinic. It returns to the tank via a hole cut into the side of the refugium, hose down to the tank. It may need more light, the culerpa's doing ok, but not really taking off like I'd hoped. HTH

Q

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[coralhound]

Larry had one on his 65 and has photo's of it

HTH

CH

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[moviegeek]

Q-ball - Isn't Caulerpa supposed to grow better if lit with a bulb in the yellow-green spectrum? Actinic light is inferior to yellow-green (around 5000k?) in allowing some macro algaes to grow rapidly. I think. If I'm wrong about this someone correct me, please. I think that's why so many people use cheapo bulbs to light their 'fuges.

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[Q-ball]

Well, I wasn't sure when I set it up, someone else had mentioned it to me but I had gotten the culerpa cheap so I thought I'd experiment...so far, it's a bomb and I'm gonna switch the bulb cuz I think you are right.

Q

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Got tired of the last signature, and haven't
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=;o)~

[billsreef]

I set up a 2 gal refugia/carlson surge device on top of a 40gal tank I use for propagation. As the caulerpa is anchored to small rocks I don't have any problems with it flowing out. The only problem I have with it right now is the snail that crawled up the pipe and blocked the water flow, naturally right up at the elbows where I haven't been able to dislodge it. A extra overflow pipe as a backup will prevent flood problems in the advent of a blockage.

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Bill

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[spscoral]

do I have to say more?
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[DougL]

moviegeek;

I found with cool whites that red slime choked out the caulerpa.

I have a 30 G refugium on a shelf in a closet behind and to one side of my tank. Since both input and outflow are at the surface in order to increase reliability, I don't
have any problems keeping the caulerpa in the refugium.

:)

DougL

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[PerryinCA]

Caulerpa tends not to absorb green light, hence its chlorophyll (green)coloration. Better off with a Day Glow, or full day light spectrum. At least thats what I think....who knows anymore :)

-Perry

[Agu]

My refugium is in the sump and it's illuminated with a Lights of Americe 28w pc outdoor fixture. The bulb is supposedly 5000k, and my caulerpa grows like the weed it is. I think this is the perfect refugium light, right color temp, it comes in a water resistant housing, you can rewire it as a plug in unit, and in my case I used the mounting bracket to attach it to the back wall of the stand. If it's in the way it can just be swung up with no fear of it falling into the sump. To answer your question Aquaman, my refugium is in sump because it works better for me. If I ran a reverse photoperiod on an external refugium on a tank in our bedroom it would cause serious domestic conflict ;) Agu

[REEFMAN FROM AQUALINK]

If I used a 10 gallon tank like the ones they have at Superpez with a hood that takes (2) bulbs what kind of bulbs should I use? I am not sure what wattage they are but they would have to be small. Also is it better to have a glass tank or not? What type of tanks do you have?. I read that you can just remove the one side of a glass 10 gallon tabk and replace it with a piece of lexan or something. So you can have the holes for the bulkheads.


Thanks
Michael (REEFMAN)

[This message has been edited by REEFMAN FROM AQUALINK (edited 07-15-2000).]

[DSB]

I used to use incandescent SHO-GRO plant bulbs on a 5G fuge with good macro growth. I've never done the tank mod. Check out my refugium page if you haven't seen it already http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Valley/3389/reeftank/refugium.html

[Agu]

Reefman, not to be rude, but did you read my post? The Lights of America is perfect for a 10 gal refugium. Right color temp,the whole fixture costs less than $30 with bulb, replacement bulbs are less than $10, and you're getting 28 watts of pc light in a 9.5" by 7" fixture. Btw, I've been using the same bulb for over a year with no problems. Agu