DIY Fuge Setup - Frag Outpost Forums - Coral Propagation and Reef Aquarium Forums

Symbiosis · 03-07-2006, 12:16 AM

Im in the process of setting up an 18 gallon fuge on my system so I thought id share the adventure!

Heres the fuge filled with 3"+ .5-1.0mm aragonite, water, salt mix, and a power head to mix it all up! Had to rinse it twice. Got a lot of foam for some reason...

Really dark picture of the filter I took off the main tank to clean up the water a bit (while adding bacteria at the same time)

Here's the main tank it will be hooked up to. Pretty empty looking compared to most... oh well. Patience is a virtue.

I'll be posting more tomorrow including the plumbing and an interesting idea I had about how to drain water into the sump from the display. We'll see if it works, or if the floor gets soaked.

FragOutpost · 03-07-2006, 12:21 AM

Looks like you are off to a good start. What are you using for lighting on the fuge?

Peterock · 03-07-2006, 12:39 AM

What size tank is this for and are you hooking your skimmer up to the fuge. Why are you using that and not a 20 gallon fish tank so you can glue dividers in it. if i may make a suggestion. I would ask the local fish store for about 2-3 cups of sand from one of there fuge running a display tank, this will jumpstart your fuge.... Good luck post in the lighting section the rest of your setup so we can see.

When you get everything set up take the power head out and add your heater you dont want massive flow in a fuge of that design other wise you will be constantly adding sand to your tank and the inlet from your tank to the fuge will add enough movement to all circulation...

Symbiosis · 03-07-2006, 07:04 PM

Today has been mostly testing things and working on my idea for an over flow into the fuge. Due to the way my tank and fuge are situated, water is being pumped from the fuge to the display, and gravity fed back into the fuge from the display. My original plan was to use a siphon to get water from the display, but there really isn't much of a drop and I don't really like the idea of a siphon to begin with. So yesterday I was looking at an old penguin filter from my girl friends old tank and had an idea. I drilled a hole below the spill way on the side of the filter and inserted a 1/2 in flex tube fitting. The concept is that the filter will draw the water into the reservoir and then it will drain through the line. We'll see how it goes when the silicone dries.

Lighting will be a flourescent fixture that also came off my girl friends tank.

After filtering all night, water is finally clear.

Modified filter

Pump setup to take water out of the fuge. Nice thing about the Aqua Clear is the backflow blows out the air intake when its not in use. This will allow me to modifiy flow by clamping the tube.

D12monkey · 03-07-2006, 11:39 PM

Hey Symbiosis I had done that originally with my 30 gal reef. Let's just say it was on there for a month before I went to the store and picked up a real overflow. The problem with the setup you are doing is that it'll be very difficult to match the flow between the return pump and the pump that is sending water to the fuge. Not to say it can't be done. I had it operational for a month. The reason I switched is because you have to constantly fiddle with the flow of both pumps as any change in the diameter of the hose will affect the flow. (i.e. Algae, or buildup with-in the plumbing.)

My suggestion is go to a LFS and see if they have an used overflow that they can let go cheap. (I've got 2 from mine for free)

Symbiosis · 03-08-2006, 06:50 PM

Well, the powerfilter idea didn't work. I think it could have, but I drilled to high up. Anyway, for now it's on a straight siphon and the water level is steady. I lowered the level in the tank just incase tonight it decides to slowly rise. I really wish I could find a used over flow! Unfortunately i've only seen one store in Boise that carries them.

My tank is pretty cloudy right now from all the moving stuff around, but it should clear up in a few hours. On another note, my gramma that had been acting strangely was dead when I got home today. Still not sure what was wrong with him. Checked the parameters and everything was still great, so it must have been something else. Shame, I really liked that fish.

Got my chaet. today so I put it in after everything was running. Thanks to Joseph for that as well as another algae I can't identify. Excellent package job btw. Only question is, shouldn't the chaet float, or does it have be giving off oxygen to do this? I put the light on it as soon as I got it in the water, but will eventually go to a reverse cycle.

FragOutpost · 03-08-2006, 07:03 PM

Sorry to hear about your gramma. Did it show any signs of disease or parasites, or infection maybe? My chaeto mass floats but I have seen it sink to the bottom too. Little bits of my chaeto will spread around the bottom of the fuge and grow but I periodically scoop it up and reincorporate it into the mass. It shouldn't matter much though. Here is an article about the same type of fuge lighting that I use - http://www.melevsreef.com/fuge_bulb.html
You can run chaeto on any sort of light cycle and it will be happy - reverse photoperiod, 24/7, or same photoperiod as your tank.

Symbiosis · 03-08-2006, 07:22 PM

Those are some pretty sweet bulbs. Excellent growth with the 51K as well. I have an extra clamp laying around from my snake, so I think i'll pick one of those up. After some thinking, when I can get the money, im just going to buy and overflow and larger pump for the fuge. Im just to uneasy about the instability of the current setup. Hopefully nothing will happen untill I have the money. And so the Remora skimmer is that much further away.....

Peterock · 03-08-2006, 08:11 PM

Ok i can help you with the fuge design and everything else what i need you to do is take a few pics stand back so i can see the whole tank and fuge. i need 1 or 2 of your tank front view and back view if you can and the fuge. or you can draw it up on paper and email or fax it to me let me know.