Finnex External Refugium/Breeder Hang-On Box/Water Pump

LOVE IT... I see some of the comments say the powerhead it comes with wasn't strong enough.. I don't know if they upgraded them before I bought this or not, but its strong enough for what I wanted. I use it as a refugium on a 55g reef tank.. I put a small hand full of chaeto in it with one divider to keep it in the refugium and out of the tank and it easily doubled in a month. I didn't have a ton of nutrient in the tank but it definitely helped dropped my phosphate. The LED light it comes with works great. When I notice its growing too fast for me to pick out for my tang to eat I keep the light turned off to slow the growth. FYI... Maybe it was just my ignorance, but the light has 2 light switches... one on each end of the light fixture. I didn't realize this and was only turning the one on that faced the end of the tank I have easy access to as it is between the tank and the wall on the back of the tank and I didn't notice the other light switch. One turns on the actinic and the other is white. I just used the blue for a few weeks and still got good growth. It really took off after I noticed the other. Now that I found the white light I put the other divider in and added live rock rubble that keeps getting buried in the sand. My opinion... works great, looks nice, and I thought with the light and powerhead it's a really good price.

Opening the box was a little like Christmas.I bought the Water pump w/ LED OPTIONAnd it was full of useful stuff for me.. first off the refugium is fairly well built, easy to assemble and seems to tumble my chaeto algae ball really well. The FUGERAY LED light seems bright enough to sustain life.The zoanthids in the bottom of my main tank started to open when i turned it on.The air pump parts were still in my box even though I got the water pump option which was nice because it included the little air control valve.. I am using this for drip acclimation now .. all in all definitely worth the moneyReally I only have two complaints about this product ,one is that the levelers didn’t completely level it, I had to cut some acrylic spacers to finish leveling . Two I had to move some rock work to accommodate the pump inside the main aquarium. Other than that this thing is awesome

I believe the bottom line is that if you are looking for a refugium, grow out, or even just a saddle tank for micros, this is absolutely the best value for your dollar. I ordered my first to use as a shrimp breeder, the second as a breeder/refugium, and the third as a grow out for some very, very fragile baby freshwater pipefish. All three are successful beyond my expectations. I've now over time purchased four, keeping a total of three.The Good- Real miniaturized Finnex lights: If you've never used a Finnex LED, believe me in that they are truly fantastic for aquatic plant growth. The StingRay and FugeRay have their unique advantages (Fuge being much brighter). Read up on the fullsize LED reviews, as these units are the same. I personally find the StingRay to be a killer light, and more than enough, for my freshwater growth needs. The FugeRay is strong enough to turn to saltwater fuge green.- Ample space: This is one of the largest hang on boxes you can get. The one I use as a shrimp breeder is fully planted with soil/substrate/sand cap and works great. One could easily use these as a hide for hardware, or as a saddle tank to showcase fragile baby fish/inverts.- Standard breeder box function: comes with all the bits and pieces you need for that end.The Okay- Pump: The water pump is fairly quiet, and is has somewhat adjustable flow rate. I've found that the water flow was actually too high for one of my needs and slowed it down manually with some filter foam - a problem easily avoidable by just using the air pump.- Outflow gate: The gates that comes with these units are just a little too big for some smaller inhabitants, but still small enough to keep most fish in. Don't count on microscopic fry, or inverts being trapped, however. I used cut sponge filter on two of mine to solve this problem.- Air pump: I have to place this on neutral, because my only problem with it was the echoing sound it makes. I personally hate the sound of air bubblers, and this one was noisy as all hell. First one came with the air pump, and I quickly switched it out for a spare water pump I had laying around. If you don't mind the sound of air bubbles, great - go for it. The flow rate for air pump is very low as well, FYI.The Not So Great- I mentioned that I've ordered 4, but only keep 3; the reason for this is one of my units had a dead light. Not a huge issue by itself, since the replacement came no problem, but along with the next point it made quality control somewhat questionable.- Scuffs: These plastic hang-ons are extremely easy to scratch and scuff. Only my first unit came completely unscuffed, whereas all the others had some scuff or imperfection somewhere on the box. Granted, these are small and relatively unnoticeable, but none the less reality.Overall, if you need a hang on tank for anything involving plants the lighted kits are absolutely the best buy out there. Sure, a full on refugium or sump is better, but if you don't have the space or money this isn't just the lesser alternative - it's a truly great piece of hardware regardless. Even if you just need a breeder box, it's certainly still a great buy. Aside from the few cosmetic issues, I am extremely happy with these units; if this is the sort of thing you're looking for - I fully recommend this product.

I’m using this a a hang on back refugium for my saltwater tank. I was worried if the little outflow area got blocked by some algae it would flood my home. Other reviews talked about that happening. So I added some more holes along the box . So now if the outflow gets blocked the water will trickle out the holes and not just pour out over the top. I used tiny holes, but I probably should have used a bigger drill bit so the water would flow even more, or just put them higher up so that it would only flow out if the water level gets higher. The sound of the dripping water is ok since it goes into this tray I have in the back chamber of my tank. But if I didn’t have that I would want the holes higher.One thing I wasn’t that excited about the design of the spray bar, the way it just rests on the box is kinda strange where it seems like it can easily get pulled off. Like I want to tape it down or figure out a way to zip tie it down.

In general the box and other kit with it is okay, however, the small pump supplied stopped working after 1 day, if buying in the UK be aware it has a USA plug on both the light and pump. I am now buying a small USB pump to see if it works.

Excelente producto.... Su iluminación es excelente ...

I ordered it from amazon.com.au and therefore expected that it would be suitable for the Australian market. Unfortunately the plugs are american format and the pump motor and FugeRay LED light are rated for 120V AC so are both unusable.I waited more than a month for this to be delivered so I am very disappointed.