My AquaOne Cube 30 Pico Reef build is coming along nicely; it's had a few revisements and merging of suggestions from kind nano-reef.com-ers. One such suggestion was throwing a submersible light and some chaeto into the first compartment. I liked this idea but incorporating it made it look a little off.
That's when I decided to be all creative and build a little display refugium to sit next to the pico reef. This way I'll get to see my macroalgae grow and also add extra filtration potential to the tank.
The above image is my first attempt at a design. It's based around this design. In case of power outage there is going to be a couple PVC overflows in the main part of the tank and be plumbed to a collection resevoir underneath the tanks.
The tank measure 70cm (L) x 27cm (W) x 23cm (D) and holds 43 litres (11.3 gallons). The actual refugium chamber is 51.9cm (L) x 27cm (W) x 23cm (D) and holds 32 litres (8.4 gallons).
The tank will be all glass, 4mm. The baffling will be made from 6mm clear acrylic and the black parts in the first image represent what will be hidden by a nice stained timber cabinet (which will be incorporated into the cabinet of the AIO AquaOne Cube 30 pico I'm building).
At the moment I have ordered the following for lighting the fuge:
1 x 3w Cool White (6000-6500K)
2 x 3w Warm White (3000-3300K)
1 x 4w Neutral White (3700-5000K)
1 x 3w Blue (460-465nm)
I also got:
10 x 1w Red (620-630nm) - Only need three
Which I'll be soldering into the Coo and Neutral White bulbs:
They are all GU10 LED bulbs from Chinese manufacturers and cost very little to get (with free postage) off of eBay. I'm still experimenting with lighting, and I'm still reading through the GU10 LED Build Thread over at nano-reef.com, so before I finalise anything I think I'll post in the thread before manufacturing anything.
I'll be making a little cabinet for the fuge which will incorporate the hood, and also may be connected and incorporated into the AquaOne Cube 30 cabinet. As such I'm going to use the above IEC power socket (which I picked up of eBay for under $3 w/ free postage) as the power interface.
More to come as more gets done!
this is a very clever set up. What is your current filtration for your main display tank? Are you going to add any fish in your refuge? Some will add a Chromis or two. You will surely have room in it for them. Depending on the current even some mangroves and some seahorses. You can use egg crate from your local supermarket to cover any openings so as to avoid the horses from swimming into the inlet and outlet sections of the refuge.
ReplyDeleteToni
www.misssalttease.blogspot.com - Blog
https://twitter.com/MissSaltTease - Twitter
http://www.pinterest.com/MissSaltTease/ - Pinterest
https://www.facebook.com/MissSaltTease1 - Facebook