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jglover 
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 Posted: March 09 2004 at 2:24pm |
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I'll throw my $.02 in as well styrofoam doesn't go bad in any water that has a PH rating to allow any marine life in it Mark not to argue but it wasn't the water that made it go bad Lighting does to be even more specific hot lighting does real fast keep the box away from any bright lights mainly PC or MH and you'll do fine.
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Jared Wood
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Posted: March 09 2004 at 2:57pm |
Speaking of $0.02...
Isn't that about what a styrofoam box costs. Maybe at that price he would be able to replace it before the two years are up and it disintigrates.
It might me a little cost prohibative but I'd be willing to bet that he could fork out the cash for a new one every month.
Are you ready to spill 20 to 40 gallons of sea water on the floor every month wsinbad? oops... sorry, that's isn't funny is it. I'm going to be worried about your carpet degrading before I worry about that refugium falling apart. But dont' worry. I have personally discovered that carpets can hold a good 50 gallons and still be recovered.  I hate overflows.
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In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth ... then He let it cycle. Have you read my dinosaur theory yet?
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Will Spencer
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Posted: March 09 2004 at 6:06pm |
I don't know where you guys are getting your styrofoam boxes, but mine cost around $70. My wife would kill me if I spent that much on a box every month.
Oh, did I forget to mention that it came with several fish and corals in it?
I really wouldn't mind having more of those every month.
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Jared Wood
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Posted: June 21 2004 at 2:01pm |
So Will,
How about an update on this? It has been almost 4 months. I asked you about it Thursday night and you said it was holding up fine. Can you give us any more details? Do you every get little bits of styrofoam floating around? I'd like to see a picture or two.
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In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth ... then He let it cycle. Have you read my dinosaur theory yet?
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Richard L.
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Posted: June 21 2004 at 2:58pm |
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You can get free boxes at any of the LFS. I have picked several in the past for transporting livestock over some distance. Just ask the proprietor, they are free!
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Richard
Alpine, UT
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Will Spencer
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Posted: June 21 2004 at 7:11pm |
Jared, The refugium is doing great. I have not noticed any problem at all with degrading. This is not to say that it still won't, but everything still looks fine. I actually have about 20 small hermits in it now and was afraid that they might pick at it, but so far they don't seem interested and they've been in there for over a month. As far as light or UV degrading it I haven't seen anything there either, but I recently took out a Home Depot light that was on the opposite side of the sump from the refugium and replaced it with a 55 watt PC I had kicking around, placed right over the refugium. I don't know if this will cause a problem for the sump, but I would guess not since any light or UV would have to penetrate the Macro Algae that is now growing rather well in there.
I'll post some pics when I can get some, but I guess my wife took off with the camera this evening.
Richard L., sure the box is free, but the stuff the LFS wants you to put in it can be pricey. I've gotten several of these boxes, but each time I've purchased $70-$140 worth of "stuff" to put in it. Is there anyone who can honestly go into an LFS without spending too much money? If there is it's not me.
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Jared Wood
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Posted: June 23 2004 at 11:49am |
Cool. I really like the floating refugium idea. Thanks to your experience I'll be able to do it on purpose instead of by accident.
I hope you can get some picture up soon.
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In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth ... then He let it cycle. Have you read my dinosaur theory yet?
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Will Spencer
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Posted: August 23 2004 at 10:37pm |
OK Jared! It took me two months and another request by Bugzme, but I finally got more pictures.
My floating refugium has been in the sump now for around 8 months. It seems to be holding up well, but I have had macro attaching itself to the sides and that seems to have started to break down the styrofoam a little. Not enough to worry about though. My tank has never looked better so if it is putting stuff into the water it must be "good" stuff.
Here's the full sump. As you can see I've added a skimmer since the last pics.
Here is the Protien skimmer side of the sump. this side also houses the return pump.
This is the filter sock side.
The filter sock side of the refugium I use as a frag area. When it's not overgrown with Macro.
Each side of the refugium has 6 holes drilled in it near the top. I have to clean the macro out of them every once in a while to keep them flowing. Also here you can see the deterioration on the top lip of the styrofoam box. I believe this is caused by the PC lighting that is on 24 hours now. Not to mention the Hermit Crabs that seem to love crawling around up here.
The other side of the refugium seems to grow macro very well.
All of this keeps my shy guys...
and their roudy friend, very happy. (Couldn't resist the extra pics.)
(P.S. sorry for the long download for all those with slow internet connections. Hope it was worth the time.)
Edited by wsinbad1
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Mark Peterson
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Posted: August 24 2004 at 7:26am |
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It was worth it. Thanks.
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Reefkeeping Tips, & quick, easy setup tricks:www.utahreefs.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=9244 Pay it forward - become a paid WMAS member 
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bugzme
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Posted: August 30 2004 at 5:05pm |
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will your setup is really cool!!!!! i basically did what you did but i used plastic buckets. i saw your tank and it is awesome. the mushrooms you gave me are overgrowing their space thanks----Jeff
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Jeff
125 tank
50 gallon sump
T-5 lighting
Rum drinker, Carbon User
I KNOW ROCKS THAT ARE YOUNGER THEN ME!! I AM A Realist! I write what I think!!
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Will Spencer
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Posted: October 09 2009 at 3:43pm |
Since we are back on the subject of sumps and I have found this super old thread here is an update.
I am still using the same styro box for the refugium. Very little about how this is set up has changed. I do now have a new better skimmer and a UV sterilizer, but other than that everything has almost not even been moved. I still use filter socks. I still run the same pump, the styro is the same with the same sand in it. The sand has been relatively undisturbed. I still have most of the same rock in the refuge with a few pieces added and probably a few pieces removed along the way. One other difference is I have moved from using Caulerpa algae to using Chaeto instead. Also the growth of the macro algae has slowed way down from when this was originally posted. One last change...this thing is no longer bright and sparkly. It is quite a mess now.
OK, so these pics were used in my cleaning a tank presentation so the idea was they should start out dirty. This sump now looks at least 5% cleaner so don't think I'm a aquarium slob. At least not with these pics as the only evidence. 
As you may notice the styro has broken down a little. The sides look a bit pitted, but it is still holding up very well, and still floats when the water level rises in the sump.
On rare occasion I get floating styro pieces in the sump, but that usually happens when I mess with stuff in the sump and knock the refuge around a bit. They float so they are very easy to scoop out with a net. I have had no problems in my tank that I can trace back to chemicals leaching from the styro. I don't think all the cyano in the refuge has anything to do with the materials in it, but rather a lackadaisical feeding process, which I have actually assessed and fixed in the last week. We'll see if that fixes the algae thing.
Anyway, I hope this update is at least entertaining, if not informative.
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Mark Peterson
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Posted: October 09 2009 at 4:15pm |
5 years and still floating.  Cool. I'm pleased to be wrong.
Edited by Mark Peterson - October 09 2009 at 4:23pm
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tropi_gal
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Posted: October 09 2009 at 8:21pm |
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Cool thread! Thanks for reposting it to catch us "noobs" up.
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