DIY REFUGIUM/PRE FILTER SUMP QUESTIONS

[dawnmarie]

I was going to tag along with captkrill's thread, but, I think I am trying to do something a little different and didn't want to hijack his thread.

I want to do a sock pefilter and refugium combined in a 40 gallon sump. this will work with my existing RUGF, external pump and cartridge filter.

Will this be large enough to control or eliminate Nitrate buildup in a moderately stocked Mbuna 100 long ?
Is there any downside to passing all 1000 GPH thru it ?
Any ideas to improve functionality ?
I'm not looking to make it a better Bio filter, I just want to maximize Nitrate removal and filter sock performance.
PLEASE, no RUGF/UGF debates.
Also open to plant ideas.
Thanks for the help.

 

[tcarswell]

I love it.

Couple questions how does this tie into the system itself ? Is it running in succession with any of the others or is it receiving water directly from the tank ?

Have you thought about maybe placing an algal scrubber in the refugium area instead of the plants ?

Also with a sump setup its a bit easier to do an automatic water changing setup especially since your on well water ! This would help a great deal with any nitrates and may eliminate the need for the scrubber or refugium altogether. That way you would have some storage area for some additional media or whatever you needed.
IME a water changer would be a bigger advantage over a refugium as it lowers nitrates refreshes and tops off water and removes hormones and other nasties from the water other than nitrates.

Sorry if this was a bit (or a lot) off topic. Just a few questions and ideas I hope you don't mind bro.

Taylor Carswell

 

[BadOleRoss]

I like the design but I would increse the area for bio mterial. If you slide the wall on the right hand side to the left to the first mark you come to along the bottom, you could fill that chamber with bioballs or poret foam.

 

[dawnmarie]

... how does this tie into the system itself ? Is it running in succession with any of the others or is it receiving water directly from the tank ?

It recieves water from the top of the tank thru drains designed for 1100 GPH gravity flow, out to the pump, inline heater and 25 micron cartridge then back to the RUGF.

Have you thought about maybe placing an algal scrubber in the refugium area instead of the plants ? Also with a sump setup its a bit easier to do an automatic water changing setup especially since your on well water ! This would help a great deal with any nitrates and may eliminate the need for the scrubber or refugium altogether. That way you would have some storage area for some additional media or whatever you needed.
IME a water changer would be a bigger advantage over a refugium as it lowers nitrates refreshes and tops off water and removes hormones and other nasties from the water other than nitrates.
Sorry if this was a bit (or a lot) off topic. Just a few questions and ideas I hope you don't mind bro.
Taylor Carswell

Hi Taylor, You're right on topic. I plan to put the tank in a location where water changes or 24/7 changers will be difficult or impractical. I looked at doing a scrubber such as SantaMonica has dscribed in his thread but am not sure I want to incur the power bill from running the lights 16 hours a day. I don't know if a refugium will control Nitrates completely hence my questions. It could turn out that a refugium wont do the whole job. If this turns out to be the case I can always add the scrubber in place of the plants. As for bio , one of the goals of this 100 long projects is to try out systems that will transfer over to the 240 and then to the 3000g. I have already decided that Chompers RUGF design is what I am going with so no need for other bio media. The other idea I am exploring is the use of the filter socks as a prefilter in conjunction with the cartridges.
Do you see anything wrong with running all 1000 GPH thru this ?
Thanks for the imput.

 

[dawnmarie]

I like the design but I would increse the area for bio mterial. If you slide the wall on the right hand side to the left to the first mark you come to along the bottom, you could fill that chamber with bioballs or poret foam.

Thanks for the imput Ross, however, I am thoroughly convinced that Chompers RUGF design is a far more than adaquate Bio filter and will require no help in that area. What I am trying to do is control Nitrates without water changes or a water changer so I believe I need to max out the planting area. I don't know if it is possible which is the reason for my original questions. There doesn't seem to be much info available on this forum to help with my research. There has to be someone out here who has used refugiums in this application. Even if they weren't successful I would like to have the imput before I decide.

 

[fox3]

I have a sump running now with 20 gallons divided up as a fuge. Stuffed it with anything that grows and does not require much maintenance and it is keeping my nitrAtes in check now after two months running. I am using a 100 micron sock as a prefilter before the pond media mesh and bio balls. Planning to remove the balls for some poret or fine matala to polish.

Used this same design on an 8 gallon fuge and it was not giving me the results I wanted with nitrates hitting 40mg/l. Going to a larger size footprint gave me the ability to stuff more growth in there and my nitrAtes hover just above 10 mg/l and the water collumn is clearer. Much less algae growth in the display though I am now going brown as it is still breaking in. It is more in line with form follows function in design and I am still tweaking the plumbing with new pump going in next week but here is a pic.

 

[Conner]

I have about 1500gph running through a 30g sump, so I don't see why 1000gph through a 40g sump would be a problem, as long as you don't do anything to heavily restrict the flow IN the sump...

Nice design, btw.

 

[Conner]

Thanks for the imput Ross, however, I am thoroughly convinced that Chompers RUGF design is a far more than adaquate Bio filter and will require no help in that area. What I am trying to do is control Nitrates without water changes or a water changer so I believe I need to max out the planting area. I don't know if it is possible which is the reason for my original questions. There doesn't seem to be much info available on this forum to help with my research. There has to be someone out here who has used refugiums in this application. Even if they weren't successful I would like to have the imput before I decide.

Plants will definitely help reduce nitrates in the water, so will one of those algae scrubbers. The scrubber might be more effective, but the plants will look nicer if you have an open stand, and could always be transplanted somewhere else if they get too big.

It probably won't eliminate water changes, but it should reduce the frequency which you need to perform them.

 

[BadOleRoss]

Thanks for the imput Ross, however, I am thoroughly convinced that Chompers RUGF design is a far more than adaquate Bio filter and will require no help in that area. What I am trying to do is control Nitrates without water changes or a water changer so I believe I need to max out the planting area. I don't know if it is possible which is the reason for my original questions. There doesn't seem to be much info available on this forum to help with my research. There has to be someone out here who has used refugiums in this application. Even if they weren't successful I would like to have the imput before I decide.

My bad! I missed the whole RUGF part! I did have a 75G sump on a 220G SW tank with a refugium. It was very effective at removing nitrates.

 

[tcarswell]

the 1000 GPH part should be absolutely fine. Given you don't pack anything to fine in the way and keep the socks clean which im sure wont be a problem. Only thing im unsure of with the plants would be I suppose if they needed special substrate (fluorite) would it be able to settle ? I have no experience in that part unfortunately.