refugium question

M

MLord

I have a bunch of spare parts sitting around in my garage. One of the things is a old filter for my freshwater tank. Could I take everything out of it, put a light on it, and turn it into a refugium? If so, what kind of light would I need? Thanks for the help,
Mike
 
This would work as I did the same thing. One thing that I ran into was that the water flow was too fast and would push the algae into the display. I would suggest that some eggcrate around the return would solve that.
 
What kind of filter is it? I've seen several people turn AquaClear HOBs into small HOB refugia. Check the "Do It Yourself" forum too.
 
Thread moved as requested...

Also, what kinda filter?

As far as lights, well, that'd depend on the footprint of the filter/tank itself...
 
Well, now that i've thought this all the way through I really don't think the inside of the filter would be large enough. I'm not sure what kind it is, it has the bio wheel if that helps. The filter itself probably wouldn't hold more than 3/4ths of a gallon. Would it even be worth it? I suppose something's better than nothing. Thanks for yall's help and advice,
Mike
 
Something is indeed better than nothing, but something that small I think might be more trouble that it's worth, unless your tank is really small...

IMHO a good size for a fuge starting point is 10% of your display's volume...

But then again, I've been accussed of being a wee-bit 'fuge happy too... :)
 
According to Calfo and Fenner, anything less than 20% of the tank's volume is not likely to affect overall water quality, but _anything_ is better than nothing.
 
Ok well, since something is better than nothing I think I'll hook this up to my tank. The tanks 45 gallons by the way. What kind of light do I need for this? Also, should I just put cheato in it or should I put some other stuff in there too? Thanks for your help again,
Mike
 
For a small HOB like this, you can use a small daylight spectrum bulb in a clip-on fixture.

I'd recommend just cheato- it grows quickly, and can be stuffed pretty tightly. You'll want to flip it over at least once a week to make sure the bottom is getting light, if the HOB filter isn't transparent.
 
Hey thanks for yall's help. I'm going to go pick up a light later on today and set it up. Do I need to keep the light on 24 hrs? If so, would that affect my tank in a bad way?
 
If you just have chaeto, you don't _have to_ have the light on 24/7, but leaving it on 24/7 may help even out the ph swings that the tank normally experiences.
 
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