Can you use a sump without drilling the tank?
No. You can get an overflow box that draws a siphon up and over the edge of your tank. You will need a pump to push the return back up to your display tank.
What is a refugium sump?
In fishkeeping, a refugium is an appendage to a marine, brackish, or freshwater fish tank that shares the same water supply. It is a separate sump, connected to the main show tank. For some applications water flow is limited in order to protect plants or animals that require slow flow.
How much does it cost to build an acrylic sump?
Custom acrylic sumps can be costly depending on the size and the amount of customization required, price can be ranging from $300 and up. In this quick tutorial, I will show you how you can build your own full featured reef sump using an available glass aquarium.
Why people use freshwater refugium with their tanks?
Why people use freshwater refugium with their tanks? To preserve and provide a robust food chain of invertebrates, the freshwater refugium is highly recommended. For a 5-gallon aquarium with 6 average tetras, for example, the invertebrate population within the aquarium would not likely produce enough food to keep the fish well fed.
What kind of soil do you need for a refugium?
At this point, you should have a bottom layer of mostly pure sand, above which should be a graduated mixture of sand-to-soil, with the most soil right at the surface. This is the opposite arrangement as the aquarium. The refugium is now ready to produce regular harvests of invertebrates, but you may need to feed them.
How many invertebrates can a 1 gallon refugium support?
A separate 1 or 2-gallon refugium can produce a vast quantity of invertebrates, from Tubifex to scuds, and all the other smaller invertebrates mentioned previously, and it can supply enough live food to support about one or two dozen small fish (like tetras or guppies).