Show fuge built

S

Slovak

Started about 6 PM on Friday, worked all day Saturday, and finished Sunday late evening. Total of 3 trips to Home Depot and the new 26 gal bowfront is plumbed into the main system as a show fuge. Used the pond foam for backing and filled with 7-8 inches of sand.

Changed all plumbing, modded my ASM G3 skimmer for recirc (fed by overflow from main tank). Tore out two baffles from my 20G sump, cleaned all equipment, including an overnight vinegar soak of the sump. Installed new Vortech pump. Cleaned some more.

Today I picked up some Cheato, feather and grape Caulerpa and another type of long purple algae (supposed to open up like a feather). Installed my pH monitor.

Still need to get better lighting for the fuge (24'' PC light fixture), relocate my fresh water top-off container, and install fans in the canopy and the sump. I also need to re-order a cleanup crew for the main tank, and add new inverts into the fuge.

This whole thing has been long time coming. Now the main tank has a little brother. I'm hopeful the GHA from the main tank will go away soon and I'll get to enjoy two tanks as one system.

Peter...
 
Nicely done. I know it feels good to complete an important task like the one you described.
 
This has been long time in the planning. Since I travel frequently, getting together 2 days without major interruptions is a luxury. And of course, I didn't want to leave town right after a major project like this.

Marc, what kind of computer fans do you recommend for sump/canopy? I bought a couple of 4'' fans from RadioShack that are rated for 78CFM, but when I plugged them in they didn't seem to move that much air.

Peter...
 
I like it... but have a couple of questions for you. You've got quite a deep bed, that is great. The amount of LR in there is a bit more than I would expect in a fuge though, do you have enough room in there for your cheato? How is it plumbed to/from the display and how much flow have you built into it?
 
@DaveJ wrote:
I like it... but have a couple of questions for you. You've got quite a deep bed said:
It looks like rock, but in fact it's the pond foam on the back wall, about 1'' thick. There's only a couple of small piece of LR in the fuge at the moment. I'm guessing the actual water volume is approximately 15 gallons.

I've put a QuietOne 4000 as my return pump. In the picture below, you can see the 1'' pipe coming from the pump. First T goes to 1/2'' ball valve that will be plumbed into a Phosban reactor (on order). The second T goes to another 1/2'' ball valve which is the feed for the fuge; the return overflows back into the sump. The third ball valve (horizontal) is 3/4'' for my main tank return (the vertical pipe coming down is just for air suction from the fuge return, even though in the picture it looks like it's hooked into the ball valve). Currently the water in the fuge turns over about 3x per hour.

Peter...
Click to expand...
 
@DaveJ wrote:
Really??? Never heard of that before... wouldn't that be a big nitrate sink? said:
Home Depot, in the pond section. About $12 per can. Dries pretty quickly, cures overnight. I've done research on RC and once it's covered with corraline it looks like LR.

Here's one thread on our forum: http://www.dfwmas.org/Forums/viewtopic.php?t=20164

I've seen people using this in 75-100 gallon tanks. Most seem to think it is great, as it is quite porous and adds dept to the tank.

Peter...
Click to expand...
 
@Slovak wrote:
[I]@DaveJ wrote:[/I][quote="Really??? Never heard of that before... wouldn't that be a big nitrate sink? said:
Home Depot, in the pond section. About $12 per can. Dries pretty quickly, cures overnight. I've done research on RC and once it's covered with corraline it looks like LR.

Here's one thread on our forum: http://www.dfwmas.org/Forums/viewtopic.php?t=20164

I've seen people using this in 75-100 gallon tanks. Most seem to think it is great, as it is quite porous and adds dept to the tank.

Peter..."]

Ohh okay so its a harding type of foam, not foam bricks or something like that. That is an interesting application, keep us up to date on how it works out for you. That would be great to build your own rockwork since you can mold that into any shape and form you want.
Click to expand...
 
@Ashlar wrote:
Very cool. Glad to see another display refugium. They're very interesting tanks all on their own. said:
Do you have any recommendations for some good display macro algae? I don't want to end up with green spaghetti looking fuge. I'm hoping for this tank to be visually pleasing as well as functional.

Peter...
Click to expand...
 
I can't grow cheato so I wouldn't know... :D Nah, cheato is easy to remove so when it gets out of hand just yank a bunch of it out...or don't put it in to begin with. At least it doesn't root into your live rock like caulerpa. If your going to do display algaes like the ones I mentioned stay away from caulerpa for sure. It will choke the others out and take all the nutrients. Cheato is no where near that aggressive. As deep as that sandbed is you might be able to do a mangrove or two if the tank is going to have an open top. As long as it isn't submerged it would be fine in there.

Angela
 
I think I picked up a feather caulerpa as well as the grape type. Might leave it there for a bit to export nutrients from the main tank, until I get my hands on other types of macros.

Interesting idea about mangroves. Can you get 'frags' from other people, or where do you buy them? Are there different types of mangroves?

Peter...
 
There are red and black mangroves. Red mangroves are the type most people keep but you can keep either. Red ones have always done better for me. They are dirt cheap. I know you can grow them from cuttings but Ive never tried it. Just for an example of how cheap they are
http://cgi.ebay.com/21-RED-MANGROVE-MANGROVES-AQUARIUM-FISH-PLANTS_W0QQitemZ330126446045QQihZ014QQcategoryZ20520QQcmdZViewItem
This is where I got mine. The seller has several different options depending on how many you want. This would be enough to share with eveyone you know!

I really like caulerpa as far as how it looks. Especially feather.

Angela
 
If it weren't a caulerpa, the c. prolifera (vera cruz) is nice. Long wide fronds, moves nicely in the current. I'm partial to the sea grasses (eel, turtle, etc) but they're not tolerant of pruning so they make a terrible export species.

Have you thought about the calcaneous (sp?) species like halimeda and shaving cream brush?
 
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