Refugium?

[~Erik3.8.07~]

i want a refugium to help fine tune my 10g nano, i have a spare ac30 and plan on using that but have a couple questions

1) how am i suppose to cut the lid? does it need to divide off the impeller entirely?

2) what do i put in it to help keep my nitrates under control?

[cocoa_pleco]

when i made my AC110 a fuge i didnt cut the lid, i just chucked it away. to handle ntirates put in that cheato algae, plenty of people sell it on ebay. for my AC110 fuge lighting i used a 1x13w clip on PC light

[~Erik3.8.07~]

i thought you had to cut the lid to use it as a divider between algea and the impeller?

[coachfraley]

I used an AC30 on my tank at work. It holds a little bit of chaeto, but I am not sure if it is enough. My nitrates are zero so far, but we'll see.

I will try to post some pics of how I "modded" mine on Monday.

I basically did 3 things:

1. I had an extra ac20 impeller, so I put it in to slow down the flow a little.
2. I cut off the "handle" on the top of the filter basket so that more light would reach the chaeto.
3. Cut a hole in the top of the lid and put a 5w PC palm light on top for the chaeto.

[cocoa_pleco]

as a divider i cut up the media tray

[~Erik3.8.07~]

ok im still a little bit confused i think so let me try and explain what i planned on doing:

I plan to take my ac30 and cut media basket and to make a divider, then i was gonna rig up some kind of little lighting system and use one of the tiny 15w bulbs at petsmart and fill the filter with cheato algea

now the questions:
i would just run the filter like normal right?
should i buy a less powerful impellar?
does the algea need to be replaced periodicly?
anything else i need to know?

[cocoa_pleco]

A) reduce the flow to minimal
B) with reduced flow no
C) shouldnt need to be
D) nope

[~Erik3.8.07~]

ok, great, thx a bunch cocoa

[coachfraley]

Did you get it set up Erik? Sorry I didn't put up pics, but I have been really busy at work.

[~Erik3.8.07~]

np, but not yet, im gonna go out this weekend to get what i need for the light system, i'll update you guys as i go