10g Refugium

[The Saltwater Kid]

How hard would it be to make a 10g tank into a refugium for my 29g display tank? What pump, intake and return pieces would i need (it would be underneath my main tank)? Obviously I'll need live sand, live rock, some macro algae and a light (what wattage?) but overall how much would this cost as I'm very low on funds right now?

[xxpipedreamxx]

im placing a ten gallon fuge beside my 29 gallon display to make it easier on my wallet and lower the chances of flooding (military life sux). all i am doing is setting the ten gallon up slightly above and beside my main tank. i am having it drilled and using a bulkheadand clear tubing to gravity feed water back into my tank that is pumped into my ten fuge using a maxi jet pump with the same simple clear tubing. the only money out of my pocket will be for the bulkhead and drilling. btw the tubing that you use to syphon fw gravel fits perfect on the maxi's. i will be using a fw grow bulb strip light over the fuge (6700k). total cost... 32 dollars.

[The Saltwater Kid]

Any more ideas? I don't have room to fit it beside my main tank, must fit underneath.

[MattAranda]

A ten gallon tank can be picked up at wal mart for ten bucks and then if you do everything yourself you should be able to keep the funds low. Are you just using this as a refugium or are you going to use it as a place for your skimmer too?

[The Saltwater Kid]

I would be just using it as a refugium. I will stick with the HOB skimmers.

[drauka99]

Do a web search for simple fuge designs, there are several diagrams out there for people like us. Also look on Melevs reef site he did a review of a cheap flood light that worked really well on his fuge. The diagram i looked at involved no pumps but had the fuge being fed by part of the overflow from the main tank and the fuge then overflowing through a pipe into the sump.

[chris4869]

I have a 10 gallon glass tank as a sump located under a 46 gallon tank.

It was very easy to setup. It cost around $35 from a local pet store, and it came with florescent lighting (and other junks). The lighting is really terrible, but it works. I use a plastic cereal storage box ($5) as an overflow box, and drilled slits/holes all around the box (all above 5 or 6 inches from bottom) for the water to flow into.

I would use an Eheim Universal Hobby Submersible Water Pump Model # 1048 ($50-$60) to pump water from your sump back into your main tank. It's extremely quiet and very efficient. I have the model 1250 for over a year and it handles all the constant stoping/restarting without any issue. You can get a pump from other manufacturers for cheap.

I use a combination of PVC pipes and vinyl tube for the return/intake lines. I use a couple of "Hose Barb Fittings" ($.99 each) to connect the vinyl tubes to the PVC pipes and pump. All the parts are available at the local hardware store (except for the water pump). Good luck on your project.

[kfowler]

I'm building a 10 gal sump as we speak. It's based off of Travis's starter tank in the Beginners Forum. I have an overflow in my display that goes into a 1" tube to the right side of the fuge. On the left side, I will use a Maxi-jet 1200 into a 1/2" tube as a return to the main display. I'm currently working on baffles. When finished, I shoud have an area a skimmer, center for LR rubble and macroalgae, and another side for return.

[The Saltwater Kid]

I don't have an overflow in my main tank so i would need to pump the water up from the fuge below into the main tank and return the water frrom the main tank to the fuge below.

[dustin323]

Here is what I'm doing on my 55g with 10g Refuge. My tank si drilled & it has a T, one part goes to the filter/skimmer & the other drains into the 10g Hex Refuge. Then I have a small Marineland pump to bring it back into the display.

If your tank is not drilled you could do the same exact thing. Except you would need to get a Hang-On-The-Back overflow to lead the water into the refuge. It will be to hard to have two pumps returning & bringing it into the refuge. That would be a recipie for disaster.

Other choice would be to go with a Hang-On Refuge set-up. Thye have these at all kinds of places or you could try to construct your own from acrylic. Here is a really cheap Hang-On Refuge that I believe my brother is getting for his 20g. http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ih=010&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWA%3AIT&viewitem=&item=200043708032&rd=1&rd=1