Is this hob refugium too big for my tank? Please help.

[Scrubber_steve]

Using the Acrylite acrylic calculator, properly top braced 2mm acrylic can't safely make a 30" x 6" tall tank. It requires .118" 4mm acrylic, with a top brace, much less a 19" tall tank. If you remove the top brace, like sticking a piece to the back, what good would 2mm be?

What are you on about?
Not using the acrylic to build an aquarium,,, it's just to sandwich between the aquariums rear panel & the fudge unit to spread the load at the fuge mounting points. And it will also hide the fuge, or any ugly piece of glass siliconed across the back of the tank.

 

[Pinback]

Almost all of the weight is vertical, not horizontal(I.e. stressing the glass).

Hang it per the directions and you will be fine.

 

[tstar]

Cripes I have a Petco 29 gallon and the CPR LARGE fuge hanging on it. No problems...

So far...

LOL

Tim

 

[Leon Gorani]

Cripes I have a Petco 29 gallon and the CPR LARGE fuge hanging on it. No problems...

So far...

LOL

Tim

wow thats awesome, pretty much the same set up as me. you aren't worried at all about the weight of that hanging on the back? i gotta ask, does the water make a lot of noise when it is returned back into the tank through the spout or whatever its called? also is the motor loud at all?

 

[tstar]

Make sure your tank is level and level the Fuge, It'll hang straight down on the glass all the weight is vertical with no side load (for lack of a better phrase). For all I know our shorter depth tanks might be better suited for a HOB then a deeper tank ie. longer sheet of glass...

Nope, no noise really. I do keep my water level pretty high and the lip of the waterfall ramp is submerged. I also have the pump dialed back. Speaking of which... It failed to start a few times after cleaning it. I had to whack it to get it going, it was silent while in operation though.

I replaced the stock RIO pump (200 gph) with a Sicce Syncra Silent 0.5 which is a 185 gph and I have it dialed back to the second slowest setting. I want the water to have more dwell time back there.

Tim

 

[Leon Gorani]

I really need help figuring this out so if you know anyone who might know please refer them to this thread, thanks.
I have a regular 29 gallon tank I bought from Petco. So the glass is not that thick but it’s thick enough.

I bought the CPR aquatics hang on the back refugium and it is very large, I bought the medium size one thinking it wouldn’t be this big, but it is huge when I put it I front of the tank for comparison.

here the one I bought:

here the one I bought:
https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/medi...um-with-led-ligthing-system-cpr-aquatics.html

*****my concern is this: Will this be too heavy for my petco 29 gallon tank? Since it will be filled with so much water, will it be risky to hang it on my type of tank? Will the tank glass break from the weight? ****

Do you think my tank will hold it just fine? Or will there be problems in the future? Or should I return it and get a smaller one? I plan on putting some refugium sand and rubble rock inside it.

please let me know your thoughts. Thank you! I appreciate the help. Here are some pics of it and my tank for reference.

Hey everyone, I finished building the stand for this refugium. Thank you all for your input, it really helped me out. I just have a couple questions about this refugium.
My water level in my tank is pretty high, maybe just cause I filled my tank high, but will this refugium overflow if something happens with the pump? if the pump fails it shouldn’t empty the entire fuge into the tank right? I am just worried about the water level in my tank. If the pump stops working will some water overflow into the tank?
Also, is this the average water level that is kept in the refugium? It looks kinda low but I assume that’s because of the height of the return chamber. Here are some pics of what it looks like. Thanks!

 

[tstar]

Wow you do have the water level high in the DT, my fat arm would overflow that if I went in to reach something in the bottom! LOL

Your water level looks fine in the fuge. Mine did siphon back water, it wasn't enough to overflow the tank but my level is lower then yours. I would run a test by turning off your pump.

I drilled a hole in the input pipe inside the fuge just below the waterline at the elbow to break the siphon.

It is quiet though isn't it?

Tim

 

[Leon Gorani]

Wow you do have the water level high in the DT, my fat arm would overflow that if I went in to reach something in the bottom! LOL

Your water level looks fine in the fuge. Mine did siphon back water, it wasn't enough to overflow the tank but my level is lower then yours. I would run a test by turning off your pump.

I drilled a hole in the input pipe inside the fuge just below the waterline at the elbow to break the siphon.

It is quiet though isn't it?

Tim

Yeah I mean that’s how my level usually is when I top off the tank and it sits for a day, I wasn’t sure if it was rising or not. I will turn it off and test it, just nervous to do that cause I don’t want it to overflow. Yeah it’s definitely very quiet, can’t even hear it. I also have my heater in the fuge, is that okay? It’s not going to melt the acrylic or whatever it’s made out of right? I don’t think so but want to make sure.

 

[Scrubber_steve]

I also have my heater in the fuge, is that okay? It’s not going to melt the acrylic or whatever it’s made out of right? I don’t think so but want to make sure.

The heater will not affect the acrylic unless its in direct contact with the acrylic,,,, or the water boils

Also, I noticed you positioned a sheet between the fuge & the aquarium (orange/red in color. What material is it?

 

[Leon Gorani]

The heater will not affect the acrylic unless its in direct contact with the acrylic,,,, or the water boils

Also, I noticed you positioned a sheet between the fuge & the aquarium (orange/red in color. What material is it?

Okay thanks, it is suction cupped against the clear acrylic back but the hot part of the heater isn’t touching it so it should be good right? When I first plugged it in I did see the heater kinda boiling the water, it looked like it was just warming it up I assume.
That red is just my background for my tank, it’s a sheet of thick paper so it has nothing to do with this refugium. It isn’t holding any weight against the paper or back glass. Here’s a better pic

 

[tstar]

Looks good Leon! I highly recommend that you drill that hole I talked about.

Looks like you have Seachem pond matrix in yours like I do. I have two softball sized balls of Chaeto that I manually spin daily and a Trocus snail... It's a good spot for a lot of stuff, grounding probe, UV filter etc..

Tim