Hob refugium for red sea reefer 170

Alejandro Villalpando · May 20, 2019

Does anyone have this on their red sea reefer 170? I'm thinking of buying it and putting it on the side of the sump

Entz · May 20, 2019

I didn’t even know something like that existed tbh.

Edit: to add, going with a crystal reef aquatics 250 replacement sump is likely the approach I am going to take. Way more room for everything .

Waynerock · May 20, 2019

Alejandro Villalpando said:
Does anyone have this on their red sea reefer 170? I'm thinking of buying it and putting it on the side of the sump

Holy crap that’s the exact thing I am about to do!! Buddy has the cpr small size with the IM fuge light and going this weekend to pick it up and Frankenstein it into the sump area. I’ll be looking to see how it goes for you.

Alejandro Villalpando · May 20, 2019

Entz said:
I didn’t even know something like that existed tbh.

Edit: to add, going with a crystal reef aquatics 250 replacement sump is likely the approach I am going to take. Way more room for everything .

Do you have the reefer 170? I wonder if this sump would fit underneath

Entz · May 20, 2019

Yeah I do and yes it does. Others have used it on this forum.. lemme find a link to 1. It is actually not very wide considering it’s for the 250.

Alejandro Villalpando · May 20, 2019

Waynerock said:
Holy crap that’s the exact thing I am about to do!! Buddy has the cpr small size with the IM fuge light and going this weekend to pick it up and Frankenstein it into the sump area. I’ll be looking to see how it goes for you.

I've been looking at different options and this seems like the best for my setup that I have. You should keep me updated I want to know if it works out good for you. I want this so I can stock up my tank with pods and put some cheato in it

Entz · May 20, 2019

Bacon's RSR 170 w/ Crystal Reef Aquatics sump

Alejandro Villalpando · May 20, 2019

Entz said:
Bacon's RSR 170 w/ Crystal Reef Aquatics sump

That looks like a really good setup. I'm gonna look into one of those sump . It either gonna be the hob refugium or this sump

Waynerock · May 25, 2019

Alejandro Villalpando said:
Does anyone have this on their red sea reefer 170? I'm thinking of buying it and putting it on the side of the sump

I still am having a hard time trying to figure out where to put the hob fuge. It’s gotta go somewhere in the sump I am not hanging it off the back. I think the hamster in my brain has died cause I got nothin.

Entz · May 25, 2019

Left side of the sump between it and the wall. Approximately 4.75” of space there so assuming the manufacturer dimensions are correct (4.5) it should squeeze in there just fine

Waynerock · May 25, 2019

Entz said:
Left side of the sump between it and the wall. Approximately 4.75” of space there so assuming the manufacturer dimensions are correct (4.5) it should squeeze in there just fine

That’s what I was figuring as long as I find a better place to put my surge protector. I don’t want it on the sides and the back is spoken for.

Entz · May 25, 2019

Can you put the bar higher? May only need a few inches

I have all my electronics in a small cabinet beside the tank. I don’t totally trust them with the humidity

Waynerock · May 25, 2019

Entz said:
Can you put the bar higher? May only need a few inches

I have all my electronics in a small cabinet beside the tank. I don’t totally trust them with the humidity

Yea I can and going to. I really do need to make a cabinet. Trying to find a little ottoman that the top hinges and can hold electronics and have a comfy top to sit on and look in the tank. Thanks again for the ideas

DHill6 · May 27, 2019

Entz said:
Can you put the bar higher? May only need a few inches

I have all my electronics in a small cabinet beside the tank. I don’t totally trust them with the humidity

I don't trust any in humidity or around the water either. I put everything behind the tank up higher on a board and the battery backups etc, on a small shelf which is off the floor. Not pretty but easy to get to and you can't see it.

BadFish619 · May 27, 2019

I have this little one I bought before I rearranged my sump. It worked really well and took up minimum space. Bottom line. It works really well, only problem was the light spilled into the tank so I had to turn it to only blues at night

Roshisatoshi · Mar 19, 2020

Any updates on the AquaFuge addition? I’m considering the same route. Thanks

DonF · May 8, 2020

Roshisatoshi said:
Any updates on the AquaFuge addition? I’m considering the same route. Thanks

I took a leap of faith based on this thread and am glad I did! The Aquafuge 2 fits in the Red Reefer 170 stock sump like a puzzle piece; it’s perfect!

I put the Rio pump that it comes with in the big chamber (on other side of skimmer) and plumbed it with standard tubing. The distance the water has to fall back into the sump is large, and it was making a lot of loud splashing - unacceptably loud. I didn’t think the (optional) bubble guard attachment would fit next to my skimmer, though it may have just barely done so... that attachment would certainly eliminate the splash and the noise. Luckily, all I had to do was wedge some filter media (a sponge would also work) between the outflow and my skimmer. Now, it’s dead silent. Zoom the picture and you can see it.

Hopefully these pictures are detailed enough, but I’m happy to take more.

Chaeto and pods just went in a couple of hours ago. I think they’ll be very happy!

Instructions talk about having to twist the pump coupler/fitting into the refugium intake, but my experience is that it actually fits ever so loosely with no twisting required. I’m sure it would have been fine, but I used Teflon tape to make it tight. (Last thing I need is for it to fall out, which would let the pump spray like a water cannon.) Also not much for my hose clamp to bite on the hose end of that same plastic coupler. I’ll probably just ditch that coupler for something homemade when I have time. (If it’s not clear what I’m talking about, it’s just how the nylon tube coming from the pump attaches to the refugium’s intake pipe.)