Due to some unforeseen circumstances the start of the seahorse series will be delayed one more week, please bear with me on this.. :)

This week i am presenting a video on building a DIY Tube Fuge, this video walks you through the process of building and putting in place a DIY Tube Fuge.
The video was done by Samuel Helms, its a concept project that was he researched put together.
I would like everyone to keep in mind this is a version 1.0. So if you see a better way of doing something, we kindly as that you help contribute to this project and post your suggestions here :) lets collaborate on this.

BE ADVISED
This video episode is almost 30 minutes long, and the file is over 100 MB. Downloads for the first few days of release will take a while.

Here is the link to subscribe to the feed

<a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/Talkingreef"><img src="http://www.talkingreef.com/podcasts/podcast-feed.gif">

<a href="http://www.podtrac.com/pts/redirect.m4v?http://podcast.talkingreef.com/video/DIYTubeFuge-TR-Ep88.m4v"><img src="http://www.talkingreef.com/podcasts/podcastIcon.gif"></a> Or click here to download the individual episode

Watch the video here:
DIYTubeFuge-TR-Ep88

And Please consider taking the listner survey
<a href="http://www.podtrac.com/audience/start-survey.aspx?ver=1&pid=-XLkuU37Aw8$"><img src="http://www.talkingreef.com/podcasts/podtrac_survey_microbar.gif"></a>

Updates to Project: ...

Listeners who have completed this Project:
Sgt Majors (http://www.talkingreef.com/forums/43878-post31.html)

Greg, you broke their machine.

Greg, you broke their machine.
??

I was telling saxman he broke the machine during recording.

He he... Sam, I liked the video. I like the concept of your fuge too. I, as Rob stated, think it is a good idea to work to discuss some possible modificaitons to it. For what it's worth, it is the same principle that I use for my cryptic sump. Though, I used a dark, tupperware storage contaner.

First of all, a question. Rather than cutting the "half circles" or notched in the cap and the top of the pipe, could you use a hole saw, type of drill bit and make a more precise hole just below the cap rim? I'm a fan of waterproof unions. I would fear that if any algae or other matter reduced the flow out of the elbow, that it would leak at this union.

Also, I know they are hard to find, but they do make end caps with a flat surface if you wanted to make the unit stand. BUT..with that being said, if we looked to the elbow, used to return water to the system, I'm sure we could find a way to easily modify that to make it a "brace" of sorts, turning your unit into a "hang on tank" type.

Otherwise, it is this spirit of innovation and passion for the hobby that helps is to make leaps and bounds every day. Hats off to you my friend.

Dave

PS... gotta love yer sense of humor. I think we all, as hobbyists, have consumed far too much tank water in the siphoning process.. we are ALL crazy!

Renee...

Other podcasts, video and/or audio are in the process of release.. there's a method to our madness :)

D

First of all, a question. Rather than cutting the "half circles" or notched in the cap and the top of the pipe, could you use a hole saw, type of drill bit and make a more precise hole just below the cap rim? I'm a fan of waterproof unions. I would fear that if any algae or other matter reduced the flow out of the elbow, that it would leak at this union.

Also, I know they are hard to find, but they do make end caps with a flat surface if you wanted to make the unit stand. BUT..with that being said, if we looked to the elbow, used to return water to the system, I'm sure we could find a way to easily modify that to make it a "brace" of sorts, turning your unit into a "hang on tank" type.

Yes to all :) The 45 bend i used is probably too large; there is just a small trickle of water coming out of it. So if you can drill a precise hole and fit unions into it, go for it. I did see those endcaps once, but was not able to find them again in time for the video. I wholeheartedly agree: they would make life much easier.

One other mod i had to make concerns the bubbles. If you notice from the end of the video, the fuge dumped a great deal of bubbles into the water as well. I just measured wrong, of course, and the 45 bend was too far off the surface of the tank water so it splashed around when it hit. I just put a small piece of 1/8" acrylic in the oven for a bit and bent it around the end of the 45, just to make it longer. That eliminated the bubbles. So the lesson here, extend that inlet so that it just touches the surface of the water, then no more bubbles.

I need numbers. So, i have some real data for you all regarding this device.

Nitrate levels before the tube fuge:
10 10 10 15 15 10 5 10 15 10 10 15 20 15 20 10
The fluctuation is due mostly to water changes. These numbers were taken about twice a week although sometimes i missed a date.

Nitrate levels after the tube fuge:
15 10 10 10 5 5 5 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
All tests were done using the Aquarium Pharmaceuticals Nitrate test. The live rock used in the fuge was cured and sitting in a bucket in my basement for about 2 weeks. This explains why the nitrate numbers dropped so quickly. I did this for several reasons: first to quarantine the rock so hitchhikers did not invade my tank, and second, so i would not create a mini-cycle.

The color matching tests for nitrate, as well as any other color matching test, are not interval data (i.e. not truly numeric). The data is ordinal, so the standard parametric statistics are inappropriate (t-test, ANOVA, etc.) for these samples.

This is not a minor point. The power of the parametric tests drops precipitously if used on ordinal data such as these color matching cards. Therefore, it is imperative for us researchers to know what type of data we are gathering from our experiments. For data to be interval, all values between a given range should be possible in your measurements. So if you are measuring specific gravity between 1.000 and 1.030 you should be able to differentiate between 1.001 and 1.002 as well as 1.001001 and 1.001002. If you cannot, you likely have ordinal data. Ordinal data is ordered categories. Typically people think of something like grade level (freshman, sophomore, junior, senior) as ordinal, which is certainly true. Color cards are without question ordinal. The test for nitrate, for example, measures 0, 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35, 40+ but nothing between this points. I cannot accurately read a value of 12, for example.

Devices such as a sensitive pH meter, a Lux meter, and other electronic readings can likely be considered interval, provided they can give many data points in the range of interest. Hydrometers and refractometers are ordinal, however, and t-tests should be avoided.

Thus, to analyze the data for the tube fuge I used a non-parametric test called the median test, which can handle ordinal data. This is a relatively powerful test, on par with the t-test and ANOVA (ARE = .64 v. t-test). Using the median test on the data above, resulted in a quite significant T score of 2.2571 and an approximate p-value of 0.012. For those who have no idea what i am talking about, this means that there is less than a 1.2% chance that the drop in nitrate was due to random chance, suggesting the tube fuge does indeed work!

Oh, one last thing i forgot to mention. The arabian dottyback and the firefish are not in the same tank together! The video of the dottyback was from a while ago......yes, meaning i took some video of my fish for my personal amusement then edited it in to this video :)

Just Curious, how long is it taking people to download this thing. I'm getting on the order of 3-4 hours.

Eeeesh.. I can't be of any help here, I saw/downloaded it from another source, days ago...

I'm guessing it depends on your ISP. I'm at work (we happened to be involved in the creation of the internet) and have a rock solid connection.

Dave

I have a high speed connection, so maybe its just my outdated computer.

It may also be that when I downloaded for review.. it wasn't made "public" and now, with multiple connections to the download, you could be sharing the pipe with a gazillion others (okay...a gazillion is just wishful on the part of the TR Staff).

D

as noted in the original post
"BE ADVISED
This video episode is almost 30 minutes long, and the file is over 100 MB. Downloads for the first few days of release will take a while"

there is a cap as too how much data my servers can send out at once, but the nature of a podcast feed as soon as i release it everyone starts downloading it at once. so there are literally hundreds (maybe more than a thousand) people all trying to get this huge video..

if you sit tight it will work it self out, after the first few days things will calm down...

you should have been here when i released the plumbing video, it took almost a full week for the traffic to relax on the server.. it was pegged the entire time.. :)

Nyeah nyeah... I got mine down to 80M. Did you get my mail Rob?

good job, no i wont get that till later this afternoon when i get home

i may try a modified version of this in my sump/wetdry that holds nothing but my skimmer. i like cheap DIY projects!! do you think it would do better with a clear tube and a small light to allow for some macroalgaes to grow? it seems to be working with the results posted though! nice project!

i may try a modified version of this in my sump/wetdry that holds nothing but my skimmer. i like cheap DIY projects!! do you think it would do better with a clear tube and a small light to allow for some macroalgaes to grow? it seems to be working with the results posted though! nice project!

Ahh yes, i was wondering if someone would ask that. My answer: sure why not. :) A clear acrylic or PVC pipe would be good for this too, albeit a bit more expensive, and i think a cheap HO or T5 light would work. One thing you could do if you want to leave the basic design the same and add some light is wrap tin foil around the side of the tube facing the tank. The foil would reflect some light back into the tube and help the algae grow (macro i assume).

If you go with macroalgae in the tube, you might want to not add any LR. Try some chaetomorpha floating in the middle. I am thinking the inside of the tube will eventually be covered in microalgae (slime) and rob the macro of light. If you left only macro in there, cleaning the inside of the tube would be relatively easy provided you can fit your hand in. If there were LR in the tube, you might have to take it all out every time you needed to clean the plastic.

right when he gets to talking about using the water jug and not his real tank....my screen just goes white and silent...the time is still moving..but everything else stops...anyone else get this?

right when he gets to talking about using the water jug and not his real tank....my screen just goes white and silent...the time is still moving..but everything else stops...anyone else get this?

not me. the first attempt to download did get cut off for me, but the second download worked fine. you may want to download it again.

uhh
ok...i havent had to do that before so lemmi figure it out

you are getting the video very close to release day, its possible you didnt get the whole thing.
the server has been at 100% network utilization since i released it yesterday and has not let up yet.. :)

you are getting the video very close to release day, its possible you didnt get the whole thing.
the server has been at 100% network utilization since i released it yesterday and has not let up yet.. :)

Yea i think that is what's going on there. I downloaded it once and it got cut off at one point too. After i did it a second time it worked okay.

Has making these Podcasts available through bittorrent been considered. It could ease the server load.

Has making these Podcasts available through bittorrent been considered. It could ease the server load.
yes, but since i cant track downloads and i loose total control over the file (incase it needs to be updated or fixed) i do not allow or supported the distribution using bit torrent.

these delays usually clear up within a few days

I had no trouble getting it this morning. It downloaded quickly (for 130MB). I only got part of it on my two attempts previous days.

Well I am hoping this works out well. I have a 6 gallon cryptic fuge with about 10 or so lbs of LR in it on my tank and I believe its the only thing keeping my fish alive considering that I have a hard time getting water changes taken care of.

Well I am hoping this works out well. I have a 6 gallon cryptic fuge with about 10 or so lbs of LR in it on my tank and I believe its the only thing keeping my fish alive considering that I have a hard time getting water changes taken care of.

did you build a tube fuge for you tank?

No. I built mine out of a 20H tank. Observe: sump in progress on Flickr - Photo Sharing! (http://flickr.com/photos/rocketseason/214099267/in/photostream/)

Hey All,
Well I watched the podcast and was so motivated by it I went out to the store that afternoon and got some supplies. Here is the version i made, the only difference is i found a 3" piece for the top that had a spout. I currently have a piece of a bottle i washed and cut up to use as a top. thanks for the video podcast it was great!

First of all WELCOME TO TR Srg Majors!

Oh hey that is good to hear. I am flattered :)

I like the idea of the top. And since you have the black hood, it should hide behind there quite well. When did you set it up and what did you fill it with? Also, i don't see the hose from the powerhead in the images. How did you hook that up?

Thanks for the welcome!

For the powerhead I am using a minijet 606 like the one in the podcast, and i also set my hoses up similarly, using 45 degree bends. i still have to mess around with the powerhead and where i want it in the tank. I filled it with some Fiji LR from my LFS. It hasnt been running too long as of yet. HOpe this answers everything.

to hide it, couldn't run the tube through the output spout?

Hi Sgt Majors,

:welcome: to TR.

good point rob. After i had mine set up i was thinking that since the output spout is so large relative to the amount of water coming from it, you could string the hose up through there. This might also save you from having to drill through the damn PVC. There was a part in the video i cut out since it would have reduced my (imaginary) respect and threatened my ego. When drilling through the top the drill bit got caught and spun the cap around slashing my hand. Dumb thing. :)

But to the point, yes i think you could string the hose up through the 45 output. I understand your concern about where to place the powerhead Sgt. Mine is just hanging down behind a piece of LR.

Thanks for the welcome CarmieJo! I go to OSU so always good to see a fellow Buckeye.

well just for fun here i took a picture of how i have it situated, i have the pump running it in the upper right corner, and in the other shot you can see the tube and the sweet looking plastic i zip tied on to take care of the bubbles.

I need numbers. So, i have some real data for you all regarding this device.

Nitrate levels before the tube fuge:
10 10 10 15 15 10 5 10 15 10 10 15 20 15 20 10
The fluctuation is due mostly to water changes. These numbers were taken about twice a week although sometimes i missed a date.

Nitrate levels after the tube fuge:
15 10 10 10 5 5 5 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
[/B]

Have you had any change in the amount of hair algea in the tank? I have a similar problem in my tank and was thinking of doing this.

http://www.theculturedreef.com/welcome.gif

To TR, GTinNH

Always cool to find another NH reefer.

http://www.theculturedreef.com/welcome.gif

To TR, GTinNH

Always cool to find another NH reefer.


Thank you, although I have been lurker for a little while. Yeah we are few and far between in NH arnt we?

Hi GTinNH and :welcome: to TR.

Have you had any change in the amount of hair algea in the tank? I have a similar problem in my tank and was thinking of doing this.

I pulled much of the hair algae out and so far it has not grown back. I will keep you posted but to date, it seems to be working to keep it down.

oh, and WELCOME TO TR! :)

Thank you Astrivian, I too was motivated by your video and the low cost of this mod, I went out to my local Home Depot(Canada) and I purchased the parts, but I was able to find the flat ends and I used the same part as Sgt Major did for the outflow, (less drilling/cutting etc). Mine will be between 48-60 inches tall and is a 4 " pipe. I just need to glue it together and pick up some more LR. A local LFS has fiji on sale to clear for $3.00/lb they need to make space for their new Fusion LR.

I was able to find a stand of sorts it holds the end piece perfectly its called a toilet floor flange. It would still be a good idea to attach it to the tank stand just to ensure no accidents with bungie cord or something

thanks

Macsturm

macsturm, any chance you could tkae a pic of this toilet floor flange, so I could see what you mean by that?

I am thinking about taking on this project as well. I think I am going to spray paint mine black.

Astrivian thanks for the vid as well as the updates in this thread. Oh and stop neglecting the cat. Poor thing. You can tell it's starving for attention, lol.

Jon

I will see what I can do, life as usual is busy :)

macsturm, any chance you could tkae a pic of this toilet floor flange, so I could see what you mean by that?

I am thinking about taking on this project as well. I think I am going to spray paint mine black.

Astrivian thanks for the vid as well as the updates in this thread. Oh and stop neglecting the cat. Poor thing. You can tell it's starving for attention, lol.

Jon

LOL The cat both loves and hates that i am getting into this hobby. She digs watching the swimming critters, but not the DIY stuff that does not involve her :)

I was definitely inspired by this podcast, it was/is the first one i've watched.

here's my situation:
I have a 55g all hang-on tank that has been up for nearly 5 years and i've never seen a copepod :(

for a while, I had a phosphate problem and i bought a Two Little Fishies PhosBan Reactor, which is basically the same structure as the tube fuge. Now that I am no longer using the reactor, I was thinking I could use it as a tube fuge.

I have a maxijet 900 (i think- pretty small), and my goal would be to establish a Pod population in the tank. How would you recommend cranking the powerhead? If I put a bottle of copepods or live mysis in the reactor, would it be likely that they would reproduce and have some drizzle out into the tank, perhaps enough to have a mandarin survive?

thanks for the idea!

That might be a start in the right direction. How much LR do you have currently? It will take a while for the pods you get to populate the tank. It also depends on how much LR you keep in the tube fuge. One about the size of the one constructed in the video on a 55 would probably not produce enough pods for a 55.

In short it would help, but it would need to be big, your tank would need to be healthy and have lots of LR in it as well, and then... with caution a Mandarin might be possible.

Hi mdcorcoran, :welcome: to TR.

I agree that a fuge of this size would probably not give you enough to maintain a mandarin.

If you have thoughts of mandarins though it would be a step in the right direction especailly if you never see any pods. It would also increase the health of your tank. I've wanted Mandarins for years and have been slowly addeding to my system to make it safe from them. I think I will be getting a breeding pair in the next three days! I'm so excited.

I completed the project yesterday and I did with a 3inch pvc T and a 3to1 bushing. i made it so it hangs of the side of the tank. The tubes just barely touched the stand. I hooked up 2 of them (3 inch X 24) on a 37 gallon tall. I have very slow flow threw them because it will be a sea horse tank. Im not sure if such a slow flow is good? also i filled it with rubble just to under the drain elbow. Does rubble size mater? mine was pretty small? hot sure how much room there is for growth in the tube. If anything it will just be 15lbs more LR in the system.

I a;so would like to have pods grow in it. do you think the way I have it would work for pod growth?

You will get some pod growth in it regardless. How much will depend on a ton of factors. The most important factor may be if you have a good population in your display tank to start with.

cool. good to here. i need to get a culture going in the tank. any ideas how to kick it off?

does this require slow flow or does not matter as I stil have fairly high nitrates, i made mine 60 inches and diameter of 4 inches, 3-4 inches of aragonite on bottom and then pieces of live rock all the way to the top, but my flow is fairly fast

thanks for any thoughts
macsturm

does this require slow flow or does not matter as I stil have fairly high nitrates, i made mine 60 inches and diameter of 4 inches, 3-4 inches of aragonite on bottom and then pieces of live rock all the way to the top, but my flow is fairly fast

thanks for any thoughts
macsturm

if you have room, you may want to consider a remote deep sand bed.

i suggest reading EVERYTHING in this thread. even the links ...

remote dsb (http://forum.marinedepot.com/Topic20039-13-1.aspx)

thank you very much for the link, I think I will try it after I get back from Germany, right now, I am trying a diy sulfer denitrator, also using Fauna Marin Ultralife (Highly active clay minerals directly bind diverse nitrogen compunds and phosphate, which can easily be removed by protein skimming. UltraLife is not based on zeolites thus it may also act as a carrier particle for nutrients and bacteria.) And also trying vodka dosing which is also supposed to reduce nitrates and phosphates.

So far I am 3 weeks into the vodka dosing and at 1.5 ml(very slow) and everything still looks healthy

4 days into the Ultralife, and it has definitely made the tank look clearer

and 2 weeks into sulphur denitrator, but I am guessing it might take a month to populate, yes I do have it going through aragonite container after the sulphur.


I am probably doing way to much at the same time

thanks again

Mark

Hi rarelyseriuosb and :welcome: to TR.

I would suggest Ocean Pods - Aquacultured Copepods for the hobbyist (http://www.oceanpods.com/) for pods. They are also a TR sponsor. You may also want to listen to this podcast http://www.talkingreef.com/forums/podcast-episodes/2140-copepods-podcast-episode-69-a.html where Rob interviews Dr Adelaide Rhodes from Ocean Pods. The podcast has tons of information and is definitely not a Commercial.

Hi rarelyseriuosb and :welcome: to TR.

I would suggest Ocean Pods - Aquacultured Copepods for the hobbyist (http://www.oceanpods.com/) for pods. They are also a TR sponsor. You may also want to listen to this podcast http://www.talkingreef.com/forums/podcast-episodes/2140-copepods-podcast-episode-69-a.html where Rob interviews Dr Adelaide Rhodes from Ocean Pods. The podcast has tons of information and is definitely not a Commercial.

Good point Carmie. I think i am going to order some pods from ocean pods to boost my tank populations. Can't hurt at any rate.

thanks for the help. i just noticed today i have stuff crawling around the fuge. yay. but not sure they are pods. they are about 1/16 in size and seem to crawl.

Oh really! That is wonderful.

Unfortunately i had to dismantle mine. I took down the nano tank and moved everything into my 100 gallon. But when i dumped the rocks from the tube fuge they were covered with white sponges and strange critters. I don't have it hooked up anymore, but i might attach it to the sump of the 100, just for entertainment. It was working quite well on the nano though.

Serious,

That sounds like pods! Sometimes you get so many they seem to cover the glass.

woo hoo I have my ecosystem going. I just had an idea. I was thinking of taking a SCWD and using it to feed the fuge and then swich to create a curent in the tank. It would be cool to put a fuge on either side of the tank and put the SCWD between them creating a alternating current from side to side. But the boss vitoed that idea because on of pipes would be visible. So Ill put 2 together and just put the other sid of the SCWD feeding the other side of the tank via flex hose.

woo hoo I have my ecosystem going. I just had an idea. I was thinking of taking a SCWD and using it to feed the fuge and then swich to create a curent in the tank. It would be cool to put a fuge on either side of the tank and put the SCWD between them creating a alternating current from side to side. But the boss vitoed that idea because on of pipes would be visible. So Ill put 2 together and just put the other sid of the SCWD feeding the other side of the tank via flex hose.
This sounds like a good idea. Please post some pix when you get it up and running.

ok will do. but I make no promises I am an aw full procrastinator. I need to find a reducing bard fitting from 5/8 to 1/2.

But the boss vitoed that idea because on of pipes would be visible. So Ill put 2 together and just put the other sid of the SCWD feeding the other side of the tank via flex hose.

LOL!

Would "the boss" be a spouse-like person or a fish?

I dig your point though. I thought my boss was going to kill me when i siphoned 30 gallons of salt water on the living room floor!

lol the boss is the wife. like the old saying goes if mama aint happy aint nobody happy. lol . just kidding she is sweet. I guess we all have nice understanding spouses or we could never be in this expensive time consuming hobby.

I guess we all have nice understanding spouses or we could never be in this expensive time consuming hobby.

This is very true. We need a "Reefer's Spouse Appreciation Day"

Hallmark would probably be happy to start it. :)

Itunes has stopped downloading this video and a number of episodes. This video stopped at 114MB. IS there any other way of getting this video? I really want to see what this fuge looks like and how it works.

I think that there is a problem with the downloads. I thought it had been fixed a few weeks ago but enough people have said something about it today that I think it has broken.

i can not even attach it to an email and send it though ANY of my email accounts.

new instant video added to this thread
you can now view this video right here in the post live

see post #1 to view the video

Is it safe to use ABS for this project. I know in the construction trade it is used almost interchangeably i just didn't know if the ABS would leach chemicals into the water. I built a 4" tube fuge out of ABS and have still not put it into use because i can't get complete info. One guy says yes, one guy says no, and so on and so on. oh and by the way way i am new to this forum but it is great, i have liked the podcasts and i look forward to seeing the new ones are downloaded!

welcome bud.

I lifted this from a fellow countryman of yours, actually, same state.
you might be related..lol

Hi all,

I'm new to this forum and thought I would share my experience to this subject. I'm a Civil Engineer and a Reefer. SCH 40 IS used in Potable Water systems. I design new buildings and onsite water systems with it every day. ABS does NOT have an antibacterial leaching agent in it. It is the number ONE material used for on-site sewer treatment systems (septic systems) in the US. WHY is this important? If your home is not connected to the sewer treatment plant you are disposing of the wastwater in your home in your own septic type treatment system.

Just like a fish tank an onsite sewer septic system must allow anaerobic bacteria to devour the nitrates in a septic system and allow the water to leach and filter into the soil until it is purified and diposited back into the ground water where it is used again for potable water. ANY antibacterial agent would kill this process and your septic system would cease to function. Federal quidelines require ALL pipes and adhesives designed for those pipes used in NATURAL sewer and waste treatment to be completely inert for this reason.

Why is ABS black and SCH 40 white? Amoung other things the pipes are color coded. You don't want a plumber making repairs in your home to accidentaly connect the sewer to the water system. Keep in mind these pipes are design for Human consumption and waste and color coded for ease in constrcution and maintenance. Even though we are using them in an aquatic environment, they are functioning in the same way and for the same purposes that they were designed.


i hope that helps

Hi I just watched the video and read the posts. I can't wait to try this DIY on my BC8.

I just have a question. Has anybody ever suggested shopping at a plumbing supply store? I am a delivery driver for a local shop, you wouldn't believe the stuff that's avaliable for plumbing. I can't help but cringe when someone says they can't find something at Home Depot. I use them on the weekends when a project goes wrong and I need something now...BUT I don't like it!!;) My wife just laughs at me as I walk out of the store bi#%*ing because I couldn't find what I wanted. Then on Monday I go to work and find three things that would have worked better. Just my opinion...Hope it helps, and maybe saves you all some money.

I didn't know that they sell to the public. Our friend is an electrician and I have been to electrical supply houses with his wife to pick up stuff for a job and they won't sell to consumers.

The place I worked for would. I would probably try a couple of them and see. I can't guarantee the prices, I paid 10% over cost. I do know that there is stuff avaliable that Home Depot doesn't even know exists. The best way is probably get a couple of people together and buy in bulk to get the best prices. Go to this site for example: Spears Manufacturing, PVC & CPVC Plastic Pipe Fittings & Valves (http://www.spearsmfg.com/) . This is only one of the vendors I drove to to make P/U's

By the way....I made my own pipe fuge tonight 4' of 4" pipe, I not have a BC8 with 10 gallons of water!! Yippee!!

Grats ITeach2Wheels... do let us know how this works out for you, if the cryptic fuge produces the desired results.

Warm Regards,

I will, it can't hurt....much. :sailing:

Good deal on the fuge! Plus you increased your water volume by at 20-30% and that is always a good thing!

I have take inspiration from this thread to make a pipe fuge of my own. I have a BC8 in my bedroom so space is a little tight. I don't have the room for a congenital fuge. So, when I saw the video I was struck by the intense desire to smell PVC glue.

This is what I came up with:
http://i275.photobucket.com/albums/jj284/poppashaw/IMG_0872.jpg,
The parts list is:

38" of 4" dia PVC pipe
1 4" PVC cap
1 4" PVC Closet (toilet) flange
1 4" PVC clean out adapter with plug
1 1/2 PVC slip to female pipe thread adapter
1 1/2 plastic male pipe thread to male hose barb
1 1/2 plastic hose barb 90 deg. elbow
10' clear nylon hose

Here it is:
http://i275.photobucket.com/albums/jj284/poppashaw/IMG_0864.jpg,
This is my fuge installed and running:

http://i275.photobucket.com/albums/jj284/poppashaw/IMG_0873.jpg.
The total volume is a little over 2 gallons. I put about 10# of rock inside. 2# live and 8# base.

I also modded the hood to allow for a clean install of the hoses.

Now all I need to do is monitor my nitrates and watch them drop down to nothing.

Probably if you would have just sat down and waited a bit the desire to sniff glue would have gone away. Oh, wait that is not the same. :) Seriously this looks really nice and I think it will make a substantial contribution to the well being of your tank.

I almost wish the glue did do something to me. I did the fitting and fabrication in the garage. It is only slightly warmer than the outside air.......I think it was about 5 above outside. The primer didn't even want to dry. Just a little chilly, but gluing PVC inside wouldn't have gotten a warm reception either.

So far the nitrates are a little high, but water changes are taking care of it.

I've started my tubefuge project, after discovering that my Nitrates were through the roof (at least 160ppm because that's as high as my test measures) Doing the Waterchange route too, but really needed to get begun on this.

I would have loved to install a RDSB (like Anthony C recommends) but didn't have the space available to me (OK, the wife said that I couldn't just set a bucket by the tank). Anyhow, I decided to double deck the tubefuge and RDSB by making my tubefuge BIG! I was going to go 6" pvc up to 24" and then down to 4" for the fuge up to 54". but when I got to the plumbing store, I found that the 6" wouldn't fit behind the tank, so all 4".

The bottom 18" will be sand, with the water inlet tube going down to 1" ABOVE the sandbed. Rock will fill the rest. I really looked at using the coil denitrefier tubing style, but felt it would be difficult to fit it properly.

My decisions:
1 - bring nitrates down
2 - keep wife happy
3 - have tubefuge sit on floor to avoid undo stress of hanging
4 - fit in narrow space behind tank
5 - make it look good in the area that tank is (see item #2)

To do this I picked up:
1 - 5' 4" pvc
1 - 4" tee
1 - 4" - 2" bushing
1 - 2" street ell 90
2 - flat screw caps for 4" clean outs
1 - outer fitting 4" clean out for bottom (so it would sit flat)
1 - slip in 4" clean out for top of tee (to be able to get in to the thing)
2 - 4" j-hook pipe supports
10' 5/8" polypropelm tubing to go from small rio pump through 2" 90 to bottom of live rock)
1 - Rustoleum spray paint for plastic in brown to match molding
1 - 50# play sand (I know I'll have some left over)
rubble rock

I have pictures, will post them soon, the paint is drying right now - but it may take a while out side at 32 degrees, I think I'll go bring it in...

BTW, Brooklyn, MICHIGAN - if you're a NASCAR fan you've heard of it.

more later!
Kelly

PastorKDS - Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting (http://s201.photobucket.com/albums/aa44/PastorKDS/)

Wow. i am glad this caught so much attention. I dig your design Teach, it looks much cleaner than mine did. I will have to stop by a plumbing store sometime and see what toys i can find. I dig the size of your tube too; after i built my little one i thought it would have been better to go all the way to the floor. It shouldn't affect the pump any since all it has to do is push the water over the top; a siphoning would nearly suck the water down after that. Having the outlet up (oh, and i dig the tubing from it as well) would force a siphon to shut off just from gravity.

Also, putting a DSB at the bottom is a great idea Kelly! If mine were taller i was thinking of doing the same thing. Maybe put a rock or something directly beneath the water outlet so the pressure doesn't drill a hole through the sand. With tall the rock on top though, you will probably be okay.

Glad to hear you two like the idea!

My tube has been up almost a month, I started with mostly dry rock with a couple pieces of live rock for seed. The only problem I've had is getting everything started again if I lose prime. Otherwise it's a great project.

I am getting some nice slimy bacteria growth on the sides of the pipe, but nothing else as far as I can see.

The only modification I will make to the next version is to put a piece of 1" or 3/4" id hard PVC in the tube to the bottom. Then I will pile rocks against that. Then I will have a chase for the nylon tube to slide in when I need to remove it or make changes. I would probably use the PVC with an ID that closely matches the OD of the nylon I am using. I think the water will flow the same, it's just that the elbows are a bugger to remove from the tubing, and having a slip would make it easy to make the assembly cleaner.

What do you think??

One more thing, If you use the PVC inner pipe like I suggested, you could cap it and drill holes at the level above the sand bed to slow the flow as well as changing it's direction.

astro my friend.. youv'e started a movement! :cool:

Hats off to you brother, & then my hat goes back on cause you didn't start selling astro components online & capitalize on this movement like all good americans are belived to do! lol

Hi Pastor Kelly and :welcome: to TR.

http://i201.photobucket.com/albums/aa44/PastorKDS/TubeFuge%20-%20DSB/100_1085.jpg
Before Shot

http://i201.photobucket.com/albums/aa44/PastorKDS/TubeFuge%20-%20DSB/100_1084.jpg

http://i201.photobucket.com/albums/aa44/PastorKDS/TubeFuge%20-%20DSB/100_1085.jpg

http://i201.photobucket.com/albums/aa44/PastorKDS/TubeFuge%20-%20DSB/100_1099.jpg

http://i201.photobucket.com/albums/aa44/PastorKDS/TubeFuge%20-%20DSB/100_1100.jpg

http://i201.photobucket.com/albums/aa44/PastorKDS/TubeFuge%20-%20DSB/100_1102.jpg

http://i201.photobucket.com/albums/aa44/PastorKDS/TubeFuge%20-%20DSB/100_1103.jpg

http://i201.photobucket.com/albums/aa44/PastorKDS/TubeFuge%20-%20DSB/100_1104.jpg

http://i201.photobucket.com/albums/aa44/PastorKDS/TubeFuge%20-%20DSB/100_1105.jpg

http://i201.photobucket.com/albums/aa44/PastorKDS/TubeFuge%20-%20DSB/100_1106.jpg

http://i201.photobucket.com/albums/aa44/PastorKDS/TubeFuge%20-%20DSB/100_1107.jpg

http://i201.photobucket.com/albums/aa44/PastorKDS/TubeFuge%20-%20DSB/100_1109.jpg

http://i201.photobucket.com/albums/aa44/PastorKDS/TubeFuge%20-%20DSB/100_1111.jpg

http://i201.photobucket.com/albums/aa44/PastorKDS/TubeFuge%20-%20DSB/100_1112.jpg

http://i201.photobucket.com/albums/aa44/PastorKDS/TubeFuge%20-%20DSB/100_1123.jpg

http://i201.photobucket.com/albums/aa44/PastorKDS/TubeFuge%20-%20DSB/100_1124.jpg

http://i201.photobucket.com/albums/aa44/PastorKDS/TubeFuge%20-%20DSB/100_1122.jpg

http://i201.photobucket.com/albums/aa44/PastorKDS/TubeFuge%20-%20DSB/100_1127.jpg

http://i201.photobucket.com/albums/aa44/PastorKDS/TubeFuge%20-%20DSB/100_1128.jpg

The best part of this project was that 3 kids and my wife asked me when the project was going to be done NOT REALIZING IT WAS INSTALLED AND RUNNING. So keeping the wife happy was accomplished, now waiting for the nitrates to go down.

I really liked the j-hooks adding stability! I have 18" of sand in the bottom and the balance filled with rubble rock.

I will most likely add a 90 in the poly to make it work a tad better and an extension on the 2" to put the end just in the water to avoid splashing noise. Currently there is really no way for it to leak, which is the reason I didn't cut the poly pipe.

Total cost, $63. Total time, about 2 hours of construction and painting

It looks very cool!! I should have painted mine, but I am impatient and just couldn't wait. Maybe the next one.

Did you keep track of how much water you have in the tube?

Mine holds almost 2g but yours looks taller than mine. Good job!!

It looks very cool!! I should have painted mine, but I am impatient and just couldn't wait. Maybe the next one.

Did you keep track of how much water you have in the tube?

Mine holds almost 2g but yours looks taller than mine. Good job!!


With the 18" of sand in the bottom, mine holds about the 1.5 to 2 gallons. And the painting was really simple and dried in about 2 hours, although I left it overnight to be safe.

Thanks for the kind words.
Kelly

It looks really nice. I like how you made it blend in!

At the 1 month stage, my nitrates are down from 160+ to between 20-40. I didn't check the water coming out of the fuge last night when I ran the test.

I did make one addition to the setup. Letting the water fall from outlet to the water caused a lot of salt creep/spray. So I added a cleanout to the end and drilled the cap and stuck a nylon fiting in it with a tube going to just below the water line. I'll add a picture of it soon. I also drilled a "snafu" hole :raining: in the cap so if the tube got plugged the water would flow out of it and drip into the tank instead of leaking out soemplace else:o

At the 1 month stage, my nitrates are down from 160+ to between 20-40.

Holy fish turds :wow: .. was this 160+ during a cycle? I've never seen nitrates that high. I'd wonder if the test kit was still trusted.

Do the tests even go that high? I thought 160 was top threshold.

Dave

I'd wonder if the test kit was still trusted.

Do the tests even go that high? I thought 160 was top threshold.

160 is the max, but when it gets there before you even wait the five iminutes and the solution turns red as you drop the drops in - you got troubles.

I have wondered about the test kit, I should get new chemicals, but then again, it has dropped :|

Wasn't during a cycle or anything - established for 18 month's no major problems with it except keeping hard corals.

Wow that is a serious nitrate reduction. Like i said: wider and longer is better :tongue2:

I have wondered about the test kit, I should get new chemicals, but then again, it has dropped :|

I've been burned, time and time again, with old kits, or reagents. I've recently thrown away unopened kits just because they are out of date. I'm sure you are doing better, if your readings dropped. I'd still get a new kit if you get a chance.

except keeping hard corals.

Laughing with you... not at you.. but I'LL BET!! :lol: Even if not 160, it seems as if the Nitrates were high.

Dave

Wow! I panicked and did water changes when the test showed 20. I do love the fuge, the tests have showed 0 for the last week or so. I started with dead rock and one small piece of LR for seed. I open the top and peek inside every couple of weeks to look in on what's growing inside. So far, it's just various slimes, but I'm holding out for something more substantial.

Reef keeping is SO cool!!

Keep your fingers crossed for sponges. They are the worlds best filters :)

D

As of 3/23, my Nitrate's are now down to 20ppm :up:

Attached is a picture of a change I made to avoid salt spray from the original setup. Adding this meant placing a 2x6 block of wood under the pipe to gain the height I needed. The overflow hole came in very handy when the drain line clogged with algae.

http://i201.photobucket.com/albums/aa44/PastorKDS/TubeFuge%20-%20DSB/100_1134.jpg

i dont know what is is but every video i watch has lagged sound and cutes the end off so i never get to see the point of the podcast :mad:

is that the integrated video in the first post?
have you tried downloading the video file? i would recommend doing that...
use the download link in the first post...

WOOO HOOO!!! I've got SPONGES!! Just checked the pipe this morning, first there has been a slime happily growing and getting thicker for a month or so. Now I see small white sponges....I think. They look like small cotton balls with a spiky thing at the tip. I assume this is the mouth. Any way, I haven't tested in a week or so, so I will give results tonight after I get time to test.

My nitrates have been holding at 5 or less, so maybe they will hit 0 today!!

:) Yes.. we sometimes (lazily) refer to them as pineapple sponges. They are Scypha sponges. A very neat little filtering critter.

Dave

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b294/mantisfreak/scypha_tb.jpg

Scypha: A genus of marine sponges of the class Calcispongiae (calcareous sponges), characterized by a fingerlike body shape known as the syconoid type of structure. In the syconoid sponges, each “finger,” known as a radial canal, is perforated by many tiny pores through which water passes into the central cavity. The water exits through an oscule, or larger opening, at the tip. Scypha species may grow to about 2 or 3 cm (about 1 inch) in length.

That's COOL!! Exactly what they are, I actually have some in the BC8 that are getting close to a 3/8" long. The sponges in the pipe are much smaller, only an 1/8" or so., but there are a lot of them

I did my water tests today. It's been 10 days, since my last full test and water change. EVERYTHING was 0!! Even nitrates, which have always bounced between 5 and 20, depending on water changes. I changed it today just for grins, and because it's been over a week.