Morcs Posted September 23, 2009 Report Share Posted September 23, 2009 Im toying with the idea of making a freshwater Refugium for nutrient export (ie. help reduce Nitrates) I scored another Aquaclear 110 Hang on filter for a mere $11.50 and for that price ill quite happily chop it up. With some minor modifications they make very good small refugiums, mainly used in reef tanks. Im wondering has anyone here done one for a freshwater tank? what did you put in it? caluerpa seems to be the most popular algae to use, but ive never seen algae for sale (lol), alternatively would putting a bunch of java moss in and letting it take over be effective at all for nitrate reduction? I have a 9w clip on light which is perfect and would go with a smaller impeller to reduce the monstrous 1800lph flow! Should I even bother? Its on a 250L tank that will have a decent sized bioload in the future, would it have an impact at all? I have no plants except 3 java ferns in this tank. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Navarre Posted September 23, 2009 Report Share Posted September 23, 2009 I have thought about this in the past and would suggest maybe some of the other fast growing plants such as ambuglia or cabomba, maybe water sprite as they seem to be faster growing so might be better "strippers" Another point might be a long coil of thin black tubing running slowly from refugeim to sump/tank to act as a dentryfing coil. I havent done thsi but I think there used to be heaps of articles on teh krib yeasr ago. HTH Navarre Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ira Posted September 23, 2009 Report Share Posted September 23, 2009 I wouldn't have thought that a AC110 would be big enough to be worth the trouble. I'd think something like duckweed and and daphnia would work well. Another point might be a long coil of thin black tubing running slowly from refugeim to sump/tank to act as a dentryfing coil. Would be redundant, I think. The plants should do that well enough. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suphew Posted September 23, 2009 Report Share Posted September 23, 2009 What about using it to put in the roots of pot plant, I've read that peace lilies can be used, and there are plenty of other options. Basically you'd be creating a hydroponic setup. If nitrate reduction is your primary goal, I've been waiting for fresh water keepers to discover DSB's (deep sand bed) as used in marine tanks. I can't see any reason they wouldn't work for fresh water, and suspect a lot of people are actually doing it with out realising. I have a 4-5 inch deep 'sand' bed in my fresh water tank and so far it seems to have been behaving like a salt water DSB would. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ira Posted September 23, 2009 Report Share Posted September 23, 2009 Put an airstone under the roots to help with airation and you could possibly grow all sorts of plants. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morcs Posted September 23, 2009 Author Report Share Posted September 23, 2009 Mmm was thinking a lot simpler. The AC110 has a huge amount of room in it compared to other hang on filters, I could fit a load of bread in there! :lol: Some crushed coral in the bottom for buffering and just some java moss. Im just not sure how effective would be, a LOT of java moss could grow in there! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morcs Posted September 23, 2009 Author Report Share Posted September 23, 2009 might flag this idea. I cant see it being able to absorb that many nitrates in that capacity filter... Will just use it as a normal filter, so 2 AC110s on a 250L will give me 3686lph, thats a whopping 14.7x turnover Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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