Kogo's fresh water refugium project

I've been meaning to start this project for some time, but was finaly inspired to get it going by the discusion in a build thread started by SoCalDiscus in the DIY forum.

http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=151970

he has just begun as well, and it is a promising project and worth the read.

anyway, on with the thread.....

Well, for years I've been talking about plant only filtration. I've had plans to build a fresh water refugium on the back burner for some time as well, so it's time to stop talking about it, and get it started... so today... thats exactly what I did.

I started with a 55g aquarium that someone gave to me out front of a local pet store... half heartedly cleaned in preparation for the project.




a trip to home depot and the local glass shop




and my project had begun

of course I made a few mistakes, like finding the one white tube of silicone in a box of clear and getting a two prong timer instead of a three. the white was fine and timer will be returned.

the other challenge was the glass. It's hard to get inside measurements and mine came out less then perfect. What i did was (I thought) quite clever. I measured the outside dimension and subtracted the width of the front and back panel. the problem was that they would have been two snug and the glass shop cut them about 1/16" to long. that means they fit in crooked. Luckily the other measurement was a 1/4" smaller. they fit straight but were a bit short. I caulked them in place and they seem strong but, the water test will tell if it's strong enough. if not, back to square one.

progress so far



the idea was to have the water drain into the right side and go through a couple baffles to trap bubbles and smooth out the water flow. then the water will flow through the planted section in the center then Finlay into the pump area on the far left.

the idea of the refugium is basically the same as a planted pond (just like the one in the back yard)



this pond has no filter except the plants and no regular feeding except the creatures living among the plants. and the two guramies that live in there have turned into 100+

for my filter I will take cuttings and cultures from this pond.

right now I'm trying to decide which plants to use, as I want the fastest growing plants possible that will thrive in the flow and grow densely. I would also prefer not to use any substrate in order to have less to maintain. this will also allow me to siphon off any detritus that collects on the bottom.

I've narrowed my choices down to two plants.

(1) horn wart. it grows fast and dense without roots. It also is excellent for housing microfauna. the only downsides are that it may require more light than I want to use (2X40watt shop light) in order to get the desired dense growth and small pieces could break off and clog the power heads (well placed floss could fix that).

(2) water lettuce. it grows fast with roots in the water column. these will trap detritus, and be easily removed as needed. It would also be less likely to break up and clog the power head (but the same precautions would be needed). Also, as a floating plant the light would be just fine and it would have free access to CO2. The downside is that they will not be quite as good for hosting microfauna. perhaps some substrate could be used for that purpose, but i was trying to avoid that.

Anyway, I'm sure I've missed something but my eyes are getting tired.
More latter.
Comments welcome.

thanks all,

the filter sock is most likely the best way to go. I also have 8 1/2" of clearance above the filter for lighting and fan assisted airflow.

I really like the back lighting idea, and if i could use the floating and water column plants together that would be ideal... I may try this as well.

The glass was just under $30 for 4 - 12 1/4" X 12", 1/4"(thick) pieces. the 12 1/4" side was the inside diameter. if the water test fails, and i need new glass, I will go with 12 1/16th" and measure it out before I leave. I would like to say that I would also be neater with the silicone and tape the edges, but knowing myself the way I do... I know that won't happen LOL.

now, as for flow, I run two Mag 9.5's originally rated at 950 GPH each, but the rise is several feet and they are three years old. So, I doubt I'm pushing 1900 GPH through the sump but it is still a concern to not have too much flow. I tested one head of water lettuce in the existing DIY (3 year old) sump and it slowly floated around, but my baffle system in the new sump will be different, likely with more surface flow... so that remains to be seen as well. If the flow is too great, I can move one PH into the leading baffles and cut flow through the plants by 1/2. hopefully that wont be necessary, but I left room just in case.

The silicone has been curring for just over 20 hours in the South Florida sun, so water test this afternoon / evening.

hey, could someone give me a quick lesson on how to use "multiquote"... I never had a need for it before.. LOL