Design of the Baffle Refugium

[bdelaney]

OK....here are some some pics of my 2.5g project. The quality of the pictures is not good, but you should be able to get the idea.

 

[bdelaney]

One more picture

 

[brandon4291]

Sorry for the delay in replying, I usually don't take this long...

Your nano tank/baffle refugium looks great! I can tell you installed it well by the before pic--you used silicon right? I used epoxy for speed, but I now wish I chose silicon as it came apart on one little glue point. also, dont worry about the clear acrylic you chose; if you want to continually light the BR just drop in a sheet of black acrylic right in front of your clear and use a few LR pieces to hold it in place. To be honest, I really dont think the corals will mind being lit from behind a bit, they retract tissues/polyps as a means to control light exposure. In the femto reef, they only got nightly shade from the reef wall but in no way was it dark at night. kind of like moon shadows...

I am currently lighting mine continually because my tank is sealed and only 36 ounces or so...it needs the constant O production. If you dont seal your 100 percent, it will likely have enough surface area at the top to get your gas exchange needs met. in that case your baffle refugium can be mmore of a nutrient export system rather than an O production system... (Im needing it for oxygen more than I am for NO3, PO4 export)

nice pics, be sure and post me some more as you stock it. If your macro has a hard time starting out, toss in (acclimate rather) a small goby and that ought to help.

great job bro

B429

 

[bdelaney]

Yes, I used silicon to glue the acrylic in place. I let it cure for 48 hours before filling it. It makes a nice solid seal, but it was difficult to get into those tight spots and get a nice bead going.

I starting lighting the fuge directly at night using a little 13 Watt PC light from Home Depot. There is some light that gets into the main tank but nothing too great. I don't think I need any black acrylic to block the light, but I might do it anyway. The macroalgae has really taken off. I should be due for a pruning after the Thanksgiving break.

The LFS had a bunch of small frags the last time I was there. I'll probably start stocking it after Thanksgiving. Right now it has some xenia, a mushroom, and a small candy coral piece.

 

[Anonymous]

Yes, I used silicon to glue the acrylic in place. I let it cure for 48 hours before filling it. It makes a nice solid seal, but it was difficult to get into those tight spots and get a nice bead going.

Isn't it a b!tch to get a decent bead when you can only get half of one hand into the tank? The baffle refugium in my 2.5 looks like a kindergardener siliconed it in place. :?

 

[brandon4291]

no prob sharkky, once its all stacked with LR no one will know

glad to hear about your macro growth Bdelaney, there's no better way to start out. do you have any fish in mind you would like to try? someone try a little Miracle Mud and tell me what happens!

for the next reefbowl, I plan on simply making a cave in the rear in which I can hide a little macro and once again Ill seal it and shine it from the rear to keep that macro lit 24x7. perhaps a small 5-sided black box a few inches square would make a nice baffle refugium to tuck away inside a new reefbowl/ for the next one I dont want to use an airstone...

b429

 

[Anonymous]

You guys are the bomb. I love the concepts behind your works!

Keep it up.

If things ever settle down around here, maybe I will try my hand at a tiny reef too.

I've said it before, but the idea of "bonzai-ing" a reef is a great concept. It's all about the scaling!

Cheers,
Brian