HELP?!?!?!Tropical Refugium vs sump for CA/SA Cichlids

[djkron]

Hello All,

I am in the process of buying a used sump off of kijiji and its a sweet deal for a sweet price, only 30. I know a refugium is nothing more than a sump with a "refugee" area to keep critters and plants that would otherwise be food. My cichlids are around 2 years old and I plan on having them for awhile, eventually when they pass I plan on going saltwater.

My question is this, Would it be in my interests to make this into a refugium now? or wait? Also is a refugium a good idea for tropical tanks? what would be the benefits and what kind of benefial plants and critters would I be able to keep in it? Any suggestions?

I know that refugiums are praised in salt water application however I have been able to find little to no info in regards to there uses in Tropical freshwater setup


I have included a pic of the sump I am going to buy.

Any help or opinions would be a great help!!!!

Thanks Again

 

[Inglorious]

You didn't mention your exact stock, but if there's a large bioload then a refugium filled with duckweed/pothos etc. could definitly help keep your nitrates under control. I don't think it could hurt to have a sump set up with one unless you're sacrificing bio-media to make room for the fuge.

 

[djkron]

sorry yah my bioload is fairly high

Make a long story short I bought the tank and all accessories including the fish for 100 bucks. The previous owner didnt give a crap. I feel the tank is a little overstocked but either way I have:

1 female Green Severum Approx 8 inches
2 Blood red parrots. male approx 7 inches female around 6
2 Gold Severums one approx 7 inches other around 5 inches
1 Red Zebra female approx 4 inches
3 spotted plecos from 3-5 inches

its a 55 gal so i am fairly close to maxing it out

The sump in the pic that I am planning on buying is too big as it is to fit in my stand so I will be modifying it anyways. I plan on making it into a refugium if it will be beneficial to the main tank. If not I will just keep it sump style. There should be more than enough room for biomedia and a refugium in the sump tank I will be buying,

If you need more info on my setup I can give it to ya.

 

[FishFlake]

I'm building a freshwater sump and my original plan was for a refugium, but I only have room for a 20h, so I scrapped the refugium idea. I was going to do it just to have a place to throw some fry or maybe a fish that needs to get away from the main tank for awhile. The way I was going to do it was to have the pump in the middle with the bio media on one end and the refugium on the other. I was going to split my overflow from the tank just before the filter, sending some to either end . This way I could control the flow / current into the refugium (with a valve) so it wouldn't blast the fry. Also, with this set-up you can put a high baffle between the refugium and sump, giving you more volume there while still keeping your biomedia out of the water.

 

[djkron]

I hear ya on the issue of only using a twenty but I think I will be able to mod this sump I should be getting to include one. I will know more when I get it and let you know. I will try and post pics as I get on with the project.

 

[djkron]

Ok the project is complete and all i can say is, damn these things are worth the effort!!!!

I DID NOT add the refugium because of space and the fact that most tropical tanks dont even need one!

Took a little fooling around with to get the sump and siphon working properly but this trickle filter puts to shame anything i have ever seen for a HOB filter.

Bar none I will be putting one on every tank I have for the rest of my life!!!

Ok I went with the mag 9.5 for my 55 gallon tank with the sump having another 17.5 gallons when running normally(max is 27)

This pump is a little to much for a system like this but I am glad I went with it because if I decide to up the tank size I wont be out another 100 bucks. All I had to do was add ball valves, one on the line going to the tank and the other on a y back into the sump from the pump.

A little tuning was all it needed and I am guessing I am getting at least 450 GPH where my old Top fin 60(which says 300 GPH) would do at most 200.

The water has never looked so good and I am continually testing the levels in the tank and so far(been less than a week) the numbers are already dropping significantly.

I want to thank everyone for there input and knowledge!!! This project wouldnt have been done without you!!!

Ok in the pictures below you can see in the first the line I had on the tank where I had to cut out approximetly 2 inches, the second pic is with the back off, the third is a pic of my high tech(sacasim!!!) overflow box made out of 2 juice jugs(dont worry they are BPA free and safe!!!), the forth and fifth is a closer look at the dual 1 inch siphons with one way valves for priming, the sixth is a look at the siphon line going to the sump, the seventh is a pic of the main pump return line going to my diffuser bar, the eight is a pic of the overflow box in the tank and last is a pic of the finished sump running strong

I used some products for the first time on this project that worked extremely well, The first, long story short I was told by the LFS that silicone was fine for bonding acrylic, THIS IS A FAT BS LIE of course I found this out after I had already sealed the sump back up. Needless to say alot of people told me my blunder and I was unable to find any acrylic cement, so after alot of research I found that JB WATERWELD is an aquarium safe product and I used it on the outer edge of my sump with silicone on the inside. It Worked beautifully!!!!! quick and painless, as long as you slightly scuff the acrylic with a bit of sandpaper this JB holds on REALLY tight. The second product I think will be a HUGE Cost saver for many DIYers. The multi coloured things you see in the last pic are plastic kitchen scrubbers purchased at my local dollar store. Cost comparison wise it cost me 16 dollars for the equivalent of almost 7 gallons of Bio media which would have cost over 100 at my LFS. All I did was rinse em out and throw em in. I think these will be some of the best bio media for your buck you will every find!!!

Again i want to thank the community for there knowledge and insight and if anyone has a question I will be glad to answer it!!!

Thanks again!!!

Oh and before I forget, anyone who is going to do this yourself, do youself a favor, use a main siphon pipe thats bigger than your return line, I have a 1 inch return pipe from the sump pump the the tank, and a siphon line of 1 inch from the overflow to the trickle filter, you will get much more flow if you increase the diameter u use, that is what I am going to do!!! equal sizes seem to limit the amount of siphon u can return to the tank and how quick you can do it.

It is all a learning curve baby. GIGGADY!!!!

 

[College fishman]

hahaha thats freakin awesome lol very creative with the over flow

 

[djkron]

thanks! it works really well and saved me 100 on the overflow box!!!