| |  |  I've received many comments and questions about this Refugium, so I thought I would post some of the questions and answers here. |
|  | | Q: Hi. I came across your website whilst searching for the CPR aquafuge. I thought it was a bit expensive so was looking for good pics to model my own version on. So i have a few questions and would like to make contact for 2 things, info and help and advice. I will be building it for a Juwel Vision 180. Although i am not sure about the whole hang on idea. so firstly. 1. How long have you had it running. 2. How do you still have it. 3. Any major problems? A: Hello and thanks for visiting my site. This last summer I sold off my salt water setup and converted back to fresh water (African Cichlids) because I didn’t have enough time to keep up with my tank while working two jobs. So, to give you my past experience with my refugium… I had the refugium running successfully for over five years. The only problem I ran into occurred after about 4 years. The weight of the until began to separate the seals at the very top, above the waterline, because of the angle the unit sat at. As it hung, it tilted slightly away from the tank at the top and so the unit wanted to pull away from the pipes used to hang the unit. I should have set the angle to where the upper portion leaned into the tank, with the bottom side pushed further away. However, I was able to apply a fresh coat of acrylic glue and clamp it while it dried. I left it to try for 48 hours and the glue held fine for another year until I sold the unit. So, I would call my design a success in its functionality and longevity. I’m sure the CPR units are heat-welded together, which would last longer than my acrylic glue + silicone. If I were to make another, here’s what I would correct in my design: - Set the angle of the unit to lean into the tank at the top, instead of away.
- Increase the height of the refugium above the plumbing by another 2” – 3”.
- Add an air-bleed valve at the highest point of the exit pipe.
Feel free to let me know if you have any further questions with your construction ideas. |
| | | | Q: Awesome page on a refuge set-up. Are you still using it? Made any "mods" to it since you did the page? How are you getting flow through it? I don't see a power-head or anything pushing or pulling water through the system. I am planning to try and build one myself this week or weekend for my 10g tank. any last minute notes/additions? A: Yes, I still use the same Refugium, although it is now on a 55-gallon tank. I have made two modifications to my original design. First, I added a center brace. It's so long that, when water was added, the middle bowed out heavily. Second, I upgraded the light with a 37W compact fluorescent retrofit kit. I have yet to update my site as it's only been a couple of months since the upgrade. In addition, I have had to reglue the upper edges of the Refugium. Due to the long-term weight stress, the upper portion of the long side with the plumbing was starting to bend away. It was a simple matter to clamp it up and reglue with acrylic cement and it's holding just fine now.
Water is supplied to the Refugium from the sump via a powerhead. From there gravity does the rest. Eventually, I plan to plumb my sump down to the basement and put the refugium there. I'll also convert my old 30-gallon tank into a larger sump and maybe even use the old sump as a larger Refugium.
If you are building one for a 10-gallon tank, just remember that you'll be adding a lot of weight to one side, if you plan to make it a hang-on type like mine. And, use acrylic cement for the initial assembly, then reinforce with silicone sealant. |
| | | | Q: I found your article on creating your own HOB fuge very informative. I have been playing with the idea myself for a while and was happy to see that someone else was successful in their attempt to make one. May I ask how you went about assembling the fuge with the cement? Was it difficult to ensure that the pieces were straight (i.e. the side at a 90 degree angle from the bottom so the unit was perfectly rectangular)? Any tips? Oh, what kind of acrylic cement did you use - Weld-On 3 by chance and if so did you get it from the same place who cut the acrylic? I only ask because no one sells it here. Thank you for your time! A: Assembly was a bit tricky, especially when I tried cutting the pieces myself because I could not create nice, clean, 90-degree edges. With the plastics company doing the cuts for me, everything was perfect. I made sure they did not glaze the cut edges, making them smooth, because that would have made a difficult glue surface, and add to the expense. Since all of the cuts were 90-degrees, I did all of the assembly on a flat table, with large, thin rubber bands to help hold things together and a right-angle ruler to help keep things correct. The idea here is to create a hold, but not a lot of tension, which could pull the parts askew. Also, where ever two edges met that were to be glued, I used a fine sandpaper to rough the mating surfaces. With the pieces properly in place, the glue did a great job of filling in the entire mating surface. You can see through the acrylic where the glue has filled so you can avoid air pockets. The glue dries quickly, so this part of the assembly only took one evening.
After letting this dry overnight, the assembled unit was fairly strong. Next I used silicone aquarium adhesive/sealant on the interior side of all of the glued edges. This adds to the strength of the assembly, in addition to making it all water tight. To prevent salt creep, I also used the silicone on all of the rubber gaskets. First, I assembled the piping and set it on the tank to verify proper fit and angle. Then, I used silicone on both sides of every gasket. Maybe this was overkill, but I wanted to be 100% sure there were no leaks. After all this time, there is not so much as a bit of salt creep, meaning they are still 100% sealed.
I don't remember the brand of glue I used, but if you get it from your plastics company, they will ensure that you are using the right kind. Share with them the project you are doing and that it must be 100% clean for your reef tank. Maybe someone there has experience with fish tanks and can provide further insight. The company I used had a spherical fish tank in their waiting area that they designed.
I hope that helps. Good luck and feel free to ask any further questions!
Reef Central ID: KC-Kahuna |
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