refugium above tank

fish23

be excellent to each other
Jul 18, 2006
39
0
0
Michigan
I have a 55g with a pair of severums that will eat or destroy any live plants in a matter of days. I was thinking of running the outputs from my ugf powerheads into tubing to a 5g acrylic above the tank to use as a fuge to scrub excess nitrate product of the ugf. Do you think the powerheads would be able to lift the water 1' above the tank and should I do a sealed system or just make a couple of gravity spillways back to the tank? The powerheads are AC 20's I believe.
 
Powerheads typically aren't made to pump water any vertical length. They might work, but I don't imagine they would last long---then again they might last forever. 1 foot isn't that far. Smaller sized pumps for sump returns aren't that expensive. I'd recommend going that route. I'd also recommend getting rid of the ugf, but that's a whole other topic.
 
you could use the aqualift pump... it think its by Venturi

the aqua pump by hagen supposedly can shoot water up to 20" above the water. you could aim it just right and then have a hole in the tank that will make the losses equal to the gains... it would be pretty cool looking :D
 
Upon researching ideas for a fuge I stumbled onto aquaponics( growing emersed plants above the water level rather than imersed plants), but most of the info I have been able to dig up pertains to huge systems for farming crops and fish at the same time. How cool would it be to grow something like bonsai trees on the shelf above my aquarium using the nutrient rich water from the ugf. I was thinking of feeding the water through a planting box filled with gravel then a gravity return pipe. I would also like to incorperate pete moss to lightly buffer high alkaline water in my system( for plants and fish) open to ideas or techniques. I think this could add a new dimension to my aquarium and a nice conversation peice. symbiotic relations rule
 
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