freshwater refugium

[andruboz]

to have plants in my 55gallon seems to not be working very well.
i have doen some net surfing under the topic of refugium, and it seems some saltwater people have great fun with them.

what i was thinking is to put a 5 or ten gallon tank high on the wall in the corner behind the 55 with one wicked plant growing lamp and have a water fall effect back down to the 55. was hoping it would look sorta like a mossy green lava lamp.

has anybody tried something similar?

or am i just asking for the mother of all algae blooms?

[telecubby]

to have plants in my 55gallon seems to not be working very well.
i have doen some net surfing under the topic of refugium, and it seems some saltwater people have great fun with them.

what i was thinking is to put a 5 or ten gallon tank high on the wall in the corner behind the 55 with one wicked plant growing lamp and have a water fall effect back down to the 55. was hoping it would look sorta like a mossy green lava lamp.

has anybody tried something similar?

or am i just asking for the mother of all algae blooms?


you could feed the refugium from your filter & keep its light on @ night the return could spill over like your planning or use an overflow U-tube to siphon back into tank theres a couple cool DIY's on this subject Live pond sand works great for freshwater rufugia if you baffle the flow from liftig the sand ito your display tank BLAHBLAH splish splash

[telecubby]

Dont think about it as an add on to the display tank but a seperate feature. Something secret to look @ when your main tank light is off .The light cycle of the refugium can overlap the main tank but should always be on when main tanklight is off say like if main tank is on a timer for 12 hours the refugium could be on for 13ish.small freshwater algae & micro organisms will wonder into the main tank from time to time after established as a nice light snack.Theres a duckweed thats not 2 tiny leaves & a tail that is totaly managable in a small freshwater refugium(ABOUT AN INCH OR 2 CLUSTER OF ROUNDISH LEAVES with root cluster below the surface,perfect fry fuge!) but if you see 2 tiny leaves & a tail duckweed take it out (its too small & reproduces way 2 fast aprox2mm WITH LONG ROOT TAIL)some of my systems coolest features are in the refugium by accident :) if you have a sick fish toss him in there .always healthy tid bits to nurse them back to health .sometimes ile put a new fish in there to get them used to the water without the stress of other fish around until theres a noticeable drop in snail population.freshwater refugiums with live sand denitrify ( you can find dead small lake snails & put lake or pond sand over them.In a short time alot will be happening in there.Not everyone can easily apreciate a refugium but your fish will ,its like the settleing pond before the lake & your hoses are like the tributary rivers joining an intricate system that may never be fully apreiated

[mooman]

Andruboz, is that a closeup of a bearded dragon's head as your avatar, or some other lizard. very cool btw.

[Siklid]

didnt know that there was "live sand" for fresh water tanks, where can i get some


Dont think about it as an add on to the display tank but a seperate feature. Something secret to look @ when your main tank light is off .The light cycle of the refugium can overlap the main tank but should always be on when main tanklight is off say like if main tank is on a timer for 12 hours the refugium could be on for 13ish.small freshwater algae & micro organisms will wonder into the main tank from time to time after established as a nice light snack.Theres a duckweed thats not 2 tiny leaves & a tail that is totaly managable in a small freshwater refugium(ABOUT AN INCH OR 2 CLUSTER OF ROUNDISH LEAVES with root cluster below the surface,perfect fry fuge!) but if you see 2 tiny leaves & a tail duckweed take it out (its too small & reproduces way 2 fast aprox2mm WITH LONG ROOT TAIL)some of my systems coolest features are in the refugium by accident :) if you have a sick fish toss him in there .always healthy tid bits to nurse them back to health .sometimes ile put a new fish in there to get them used to the water without the stress of other fish around until theres a noticeable drop in snail population.freshwater refugiums with live sand denitrify ( you can find dead small lake snails & put lake or pond sand over them.In a short time alot will be happening in there.Not everyone can easily apreciate a refugium but your fish will ,its like the settleing pond before the lake & your hoses are like the tributary rivers joining an intricate system that may never be fully apreiated

[telecubby]

a very clean river or protected wetland or if your lucky a patch of dwarf hairgrass sod from a lake where theres a small creak or spring entering it

[rathman]

Anyone have any pics of this? Im intrigued tell me more....

[RTR]

http://www.aquasource.org/CMS/modules.php?op=modload&name=Sections&file=index&req=viewarticle&artid=36&page=1

http://www.aquasource.org/CMS/modules.php?op=modload&name=Sections&file=index&req=viewarticle&artid=39&page=1

If you go to:

http://www.gwapa.org/articles/august2005/index.html

and scroll down, there is one shot of one of the emerse/submerse veggie filters (bog Crinums emerse, Java Moss submerse). Some of the other shots show the same filter in part.

The shot labeled "Behind the wall-o-tanks - more tanks" also show another veggie filter, entirely submerse (Val w/24/7 lighting) which is the 33XL under the 40-long, both just beyond the 55 gal reservoir drum. That does not show well, but it serves the Cichlid breeder tank above it.

[telecubby]

RTR thankyou for the links, I never saw those b4