Looking for input on small DYI in tank refugium to maintain pH

[Jorda320]

Hi,

I'm in the process of putting up a new 75 gallon tank. This is going to be sumpless with a tunze 9012 protein skimmer and some sort of filter with filter floss. Since I do not have a sump I don't have a large place to grow macroalgea. I've always used some sort of macro algae and want to incorporate that in this tank. I know algae in the display tank would help with excess nutrients to some extent however I usually also do a reverse lighting schedule to maintain PH at night.

So to get to my question, other than aesthetics, is there anything wrong with building a small acrylic box to stick on the inside top corner of the tank and have it lit by a Kessil H80 at night? A somewhat cheaper alternative is to use knitting mesh that I've used in the past. This would be more noticeable but would probably provide better flow. I was planning on making this maybe something like a 6x6 cube with some slits in it for water movement. I assume something like this would not provide the flow that chato prefers but I think I could reasonably grow sea lettuce or ogo in this setup. Does anyone see any reason not to do this? Or maybe better alternatives? I don't have the room or the money for a CO2 scrubber and the way my apartment is set up, especially with the winter coming, all windows are usually kept close. PH has always been an issue with me in the past so I'm trying to think proactively here. Any thoughts are welcome here.

 

[ichthyogeek]

I see no reason why not. I thought of doing a similar thing using ziptied eggcrate panels and chaeto along the back of a 10 gallon I had for a while (ultimately ended up making a tower using the eggcrate panels).

I have no knowledge of Kessils, but I do wonder about light spillover potentially causing microalgal growth issues. I'd also be concerned about detritus building up in the box.

One issue that might help with flow patterns, might be to somehow incorporate the "macro box" into the output of either the protein skimmer or the filter with filter floss in it. I've also seen ideas where people took AquaClear HOB filters and stuffed them full of chaeto to serve as high flow DIY refugiums as well.

 

[Jorda320]

I see no reason why not. I thought of doing a similar thing using ziptied eggcrate panels and chaeto along the back of a 10 gallon I had for a while (ultimately ended up making a tower using the eggcrate panels).

I have no knowledge of Kessils, but I do wonder about light spillover potentially causing microalgal growth issues. I'd also be concerned about detritus building up in the box.

One issue that might help with flow patterns, might be to somehow incorporate the "macro box" into the output of either the protein skimmer or the filter with filter floss in it. I've also seen ideas where people took AquaClear HOB filters and stuffed them full of chaeto to serve as high flow DIY refugiums as well.

Light spill over is definitely something I'm concerned about. I still havent figured out how to address that. If the kessil is a bit too powerful or overkill for a 6x6x6 cube I was also thinking a small compact fluorescent bulb with some sort of side panels (probably black acrylic) attached to it to direct the light directly into the refugium box. It's a work in progress and I'm thinking this will be quite a bit of trial and error

 

[lion king]

Using black acrylic and a Tunze submersible led will fix the light spillage. I have the Tunze 6500k submersible and am very impressed, they also make a red spectrum one. A small pump to manage flow, maybe even an airpump would provide enough movement.

They have hob refugiums, and there's also algae reactors.