Hey all! Just another new guy here looking for suggestions. I have a 38gallon AGA that has been up for about 3 months now. At this time it is just a fish only but I am at the point where I want to make some changes. I want to have a refugium for this tank, but it looks like I am going to have to make my own. I do have a 10 gallon tank that I was going to use but it wont fit under my tank and that is the only place I have room for one. So I have accepted the fact that I have to make one from scratch out of acrylic. I am wondering where I could find the sealant and glue to do this. Any help would be great!
refugium ideas
- Thread starter jordy926
- Start date
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gehidore
wik, pioneerwest madman
jordy926 said:
LFS or any hardware store as long as it is marked food safe. (silcone)
bradreef
always kidding
do you have a sump currently?
Thanks for the reply. To answer your question Brad, no I do not have a sump. Unfortunately I am a little restricted on space so I am still throwing around ideas of what I want to do. I do want to have some corals, just the basics nothing to advanced. Any suggestions are welcome!!!
DonW
R.I.P.
Acrylic is not glued or sealed, its solvent welded. You will NOT find what you need at Home Depot. Look in your local yellow pages under Plastic supply. You need weldon 40. I think there may be some help in the diy section on how to work with acrylic. If you dont find what you need pm me. Not that hard just takes practice.
Don
Don
4DTEK
Member
Hi Jordy, new to this site myself, but I can offer some advice. As for solvents you can do a search for Tap Plastics. Once you find them order Weld-On 4,(you will need an applicator bottle also) this will be used for the joints. You should also purchase Weld-On 16, this is a thicker solvent that will be used for touch ups, in the event that you have a small leak that you found after water testing your new sump. As for acrylic you should use a "cast" not extruded material. Thats why Don W said not to shop at Home Depot. The material at HD is "Optix", and it is extruded. I did use the HD material .250 thickness for my sump that measures 48x20x20, it holds about 80 gallons, I have no problems with this sump @ these dimensions using the HD materials... BUT, having more experience, I would have built a sump my size with at least 3/8 cast material. That being said, if you are looking to build a sump that contains approx 10 gallons of water, IMHO .250 material (HD stuff) will due, but cast material would be better. There are alot of sump designs @ this site www.melevsreef.com , the 80 gallon design is the design I currentley have.
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gman0526
Well-known member
Since you have a relatively "small" tank how about a HOB refugium like the ones CPR sells. Or you can always modify an existing HOB filter to work as a fuge.
Zephrant
Engineer
Don- I disagree that Weldon 40 is the glue to use- #4 and #16 are far easier to use, and are more than adequate for any sump/refuge setup. Using the two part #40 is just tougher to use. Besides, the fumes it gives off smell worse. 
The CPR hang on refuge is a good idea if you don't want to mess with making it yourself.
Zeph
The CPR hang on refuge is a good idea if you don't want to mess with making it yourself.
Zeph
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I have built a kick-butt refugium for the back of my 16 gallon out of a AquaClear 300. I am going to post a thread with step by step pictures as soon as I figure out how. There is approx. 3 inches of sand, a small pile of rubble, and some macro. Iv'e built a baffle, and fitted a PC 18 watt light to it. (yes I am proud of myself) LOL This puppy has been running for a few weeks now and have had no problems!!! P.S. if someone would let me know how to post picture I would greatly appreciate it.
CPR makes a very nice hang-on refugium. There are plenty of knock-off's on eBay. I run Miracle Mud in all of mine and they seem to do great. Just don't fill your hang-on refugium with live rock and substrate. It will be to heavy and could cause a problem you don't want to have.
You are absolutely correct CPR does manufacture excellent products. I am one of those reefers who's ingenuity is larger than my wallet. LOL I am useing Kents Bio-sediments for a substrate. You know the weight issue is something I did noy think about, if I notice any problems I will think of somethig, I'm sure the poeple here at RF will give suggestions if needed.
rmhuntley
Member
I made a HOB fuge for my 5.5g out of an aquaclear110 filter. works GREAT
