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refugium diy

jamie

jamie

Supporting Member
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so i bought a IM AIO. i love it, its a good size. but now i want a refugium and have been thinking of how to get the water down to a sump, then i have issues with space, since i just used an ikea stand which i retro fitted with 2x12's inside. so the widest i can get is 19" across. so i've been thinging about it all night, instead of working like i should have. i dont have the space for a overflow box sice the back of the tank to the wall is only 2.5 inches. then i was thinking of drilling a hole on the side and just use some acrylic to make a new cover. so i was staring at the tank for like an hour thinking of the best way. i went to the fride to get another beer and i saw that i have a nice open spot next to the firdge where i can make a stand and have a tank slightly higher than my display so i can just have a pump in the back of the display to the refugium and then just have gravity put it back. kinda excited cause now i can have a longer tank vs a deeper one. any thoughts on haveing a tank butted up against a fridge. any suggestions and constructive criticism are welcome
 
theres already water and live stock inside i too lazy to take it out, plus i have the aqua scape just the way i like it. if i move it it wont be the same. i actually saw your thread last night. stellar set up
 
atm i am trying to figure out if i want to go with two seperate pumps or just. trying to imagine what would happen if the pwoer were to shut off on one of the pumps, and if the back of the AIO has enough waer for the first inital push, i might be able to find a check valve so after the first tiime i run it i can fill the back up with the water that is in the line
 
If the refugium is higher than tank, make sure your AIO has enough space to accommodate the water volume from refugium if you lose power. Also ensure there is a break in the siphon at the refugium. Check valves fail with time because of algae, snails, calcification, etc in my experience. Refrigerators typically have a coil in the back that exports heat so depending on what climate zone you are in, this could be good or bad. Post some pictures. Looking forward to your progress.
 
glee said:
If the refugium is higher than tank, make sure your AIO has enough space to accommodate the water volume from refugium if you lose power. Also ensure there is a break in the siphon at the refugium. Check valves fail with time because of algae, snails, calcification, etc in my experience. Refrigerators typically have a coil in the back that exports heat so depending on what climate zone you are in, this could be good or bad. Post some pictures. Looking forward to your progress.
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im going to put the inlet line to the refugium above the water line with 3 check valves. im thinking i might have the line go up out the back of the AIO then back down for a foot then back up into the refugium, so if all the check valves fail i should only be getting the water in the line that is above the water line. ill post a mock up drawing in a sec. man i do love diy
 
so i finished, or would be finished if i had not rushed. i forgot to make the return line bigger than the inlet line. so now i have to try and make a 1/2 into a 3/4 or just cap the half and drill another hole at 3/4. mayvbe even an inch so i can get better flow in there. but it works just very low turn over. Everything drains and not over flows if i shout the power off which is good.
 
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