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Luckedout 
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 Topic: Display Refugium
Posted: January 02 2011 at 8:58pm |
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I'm thinking of doing a display refugium below my DT on a nano I'm putting together. It would be in the stand but there would be a window in the door to see the refugium. Has anyone done this before? Any tips appreciated.
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-Ben
90g Mixed reef
www.body-balancechiropractic.com
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bfessler
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Posted: January 03 2011 at 12:42am |
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I haven't seen one done in person but have seen several online. Are you thinking of doing a planted fuge with ornamental macro, softies and mangroves? That's kind of where I am headed with my new fuge but it is only viewable from the top. It sounds like a cool idea. I was over at Suzy's Friday and she has a planted tank with about a dozen types of algae and just a few non herbivorous fish. It was a very different looking display than most saltwater tanks.
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Burt An equal opportunity reefer, I support all hobbyists and organizations involved in Marine Aquarium Keeping. [email protected]
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Luckedout
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Posted: January 03 2011 at 2:19pm |
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Yep. Ornamental macros. No softies though. I'm trying to find a picture on the other boards as to what I have in mind. I saw it once a while back and just really liked it. I can't find the picture right now.... so I thought I'd see if anyone else had tried it.
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-Ben
90g Mixed reef
www.body-balancechiropractic.com
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Mark Peterson
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Posted: January 03 2011 at 3:30pm |
I've worked on a 240 gal that had a ~70 gal Refugium that the dentist
wanted to have seahorses in. We added all kinds of Macroalgae and
started with Banded Pipefish which are hardier, to see how they would do
first. The dentist wanted the stand to have portholes, which ended up
being too small so that nobody could really see anything inside the
Refugium.
My Refugiums are always places where I put all kinds of Macroalgae and
even Mangroves where people can see a different type of environment than
the main tank. I turn on the Refugium lights for visitors so they can
see the bugs and worms crawling all around to escape the light.  You can make it look like this:  Or this: 
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Luckedout
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Posted: January 03 2011 at 3:44pm |
That first pic is more what I had in mind. A pipe fish would be a cool addition. My plan is to build the stand taller than what is standard. I hate bending down to see into my DT.... bad for the back. I would like the Refugium to be right below the main DT with a window in the door for viewing. Below that will be a standard sump for protein skimmer, heater and pump. I really like the thought of contrast of a cool blue color from the DT and the bright green from the refugium.
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-Ben
90g Mixed reef
www.body-balancechiropractic.com
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Mark Peterson
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Posted: January 04 2011 at 10:04am |
Yeah that second pic is just way cool because of how it shows above and below the waterline of a Mangrove environment and those colorful sponge are awesome to me.  If it's going to be an RDP Refugium (recommended), then rather than a window, I'd just make the door(s) easy to open anytime to see the Refugium. Also make the light switch easily accessible. I'd have the photoperiods overlap at the time when you are most interested in viewing and showing off your creation, probably in the evening. 8 hours of darkness is plenty for a Refugium.
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Luckedout
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Posted: January 04 2011 at 4:55pm |
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The reasoning for the window in the door is to hide the rest of the equipment that will be around it and the sump below it. I do plan on it being an RDP. I'll figure out a good light cycle so that it's mostly viewable while I'm around.
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-Ben
90g Mixed reef
www.body-balancechiropractic.com
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jmorrell
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Posted: January 04 2011 at 6:15pm |
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That second picture is way cool, someone needs to set up a display with mangroves sticking out of the top.
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DanhNgo
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Posted: January 04 2011 at 9:21pm |
My DT has a built in refugium and it's working well. I don't have it running on RDP.
Also I current have mangrove growing out of the top my rimless tank. I'm just waiting until it grows big enough. It's going to take some time. 
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200 Gal Reef
25 Gal Nano Reef
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