who uses a refugium???

[Ian]

I read the filter sock thread and the mention of mixed feeling about refugiums. My concern with my fuge is the accumulation of detritus, breeding of aptasia, etc, etc... I realize the cheato helps to reduce nutrients but as long as I keep up on water changes and other regular maintenance, Is the refugium necessary??

[Lordhelmet]

i like it as an interesting "second" tank. get different things in there then if your reef. my 2 cents


Chris

[funman1]

Nitrates 25-30 BEFORE MY FUGE

Added fuge



ONLY 2 WEEKS LATER!!
0 Nitrates



Single BEST thing I have ever added to my tanks

[UrbanSage]

Best thing ever added to tank!

[808-340]

Originally posted by funman1
Nitrates 25-30 BEFORE MY FUGE

Added fuge



ONLY 2 WEEKS LATER!!
0 Nitrates



Single BEST thing I have ever added to my tanks

OMG! well at least you know that the chaeto is working...

[hubris007]

Those look like some overwhelming poll results, heh. I'm all for the refugium. I have a 90 softie/fuge and a 20 fuge running on my 200 gallon system, heh.

[xraydoc]

Funman,what brand fixture/bulb/Kelvin are you using for your fuge? That chaeto growth is incredible, and FAR superior to mine!

[kar93]

If its in your fuge aiptasia shouldnt be a problem as they will help filter the water. There was something about it on Reef Videos. Somebodys water was crystal clear and when they looked in the overflow and fuge there was tonnes of aiptasia filtering the water

[Amphiprion]

If you don't want detritus settling in the refuge, keep the water moving through it. It is a common mistake to have low flow in a refugium (though it does tend to be "friendlier" on 'pods and such, but that can be solved with rubble and the like). Give it reasonable water movement and the Chaetomorpha grows very well and you get little detritus.

[miwoodar]

I agree with them in concept...but...I couldn't get the chaeto to grow in my system. Instead, the fuge grew a bunch of red cotton candy like algae and passed it to my tank on a continuous basis.

I'm using a GFO reactor instead. My nitrates are ND.

[ACBlinky]

I love having a refugium on my 90g. Not only does the chaeto keep nitrate and phosphate levels undetectable, but the sump give me a place to hide equipment, I was able to put a filter sock in, it adds water volume... indispensable IMO.

[tprize]

I got rid of detritus in my fuge by popping a few snails ans crabs in there, they are happy residents, who love there own condo

[thor32766]

I too have some clean up crew in the bottom tank. I love all the for mentioned reasons, also will add that the extra water volume helps to. Like on my tank I have a 450 gallon tank with a 230 gallon sump. So it really bumps up my total water volume.

[funman1]

Originally posted by xraydoc
Funman,what brand fixture/bulb/Kelvin are you using for your fuge? That chaeto growth is incredible, and FAR superior to mine!

The light is a LOA(Lights of America) it's a 65W CF flood Light, and the color is 6500K
It's not a 13W bulb that equivalent to 65W
It's actually a 65W Bulb

Cheato needs 3 things to grow like that;
Nitrates (Won't grow very fast if you only have a 3-4 reading)
Good Flow (50% of my return goes through the fuge) I have a quiet one 3000 for return
And last HIGH Light!!

[bsagecko]

i plan on making a 10g fuge for my 90g tank would a mag5 be to much flow?

[rich415]

Before I had a Fuge, i always had algae problems in my tank. Now I never worry about hair algae at all. I can even purchases a coral that might have a little hair algae on its rock without worry. The cheato in the fuge will out compete most other algaes for phosphate and Nitrate.

It also makes a great Salad!

[cloak]

I've never really had a refuge per say. I can always light this up, but I'm not having any problems that would warrant that.

[scottallens]

I cant live without my fuge, My family likes to feed the fish while I am at work, "No dad we did not feed the fish" Hmmh, the fish are getting fat and I am running out of fish food. So I was given a 55 gallon by a friend, did not really need one that big, but I told Ron that would make one awesome fuge. Now my water quality is even better, less water changes, and room to expand if I see something else that may benefit. Downside is it does require more SW to fill it up mine is 3/4 the way full, but the peace of mind far exceeds the costs. Light dusting with the mag float once a week before a small WC ( 5 gallons).

[scottallens]

and to add, I split my fuge, skimmer left, with drain from aquarium,
bubble trap, return to aquarium, fuge is fed from the return just turned down to keep the vortex of sand to a minimum. Return also has a bleed off back into the sump for turbulence. Very little detritus, but suck it out at WC if necessary, ( sump design and that last little tip from Melev. He is a Wealth of knowledge.

[hootie51]

I really want to set one up, but I don't have the room in my sump for one. I can't get anything bigger than a 10g under my tank b/c of its shape (stretch hex) but my next system will definitely have one!

[aninjaatemyshoe]

I love refugiums. For the longest time I had a nice 40 gallon refuge in which I grew mangroves and chaeto and kept a peacock mantis. I think I actually had more fun messing around with it than my display tank. I tore it down a few months ago because I was running out of space to keep all my tank crap. But, I'm moving into a new place where the tank will be in the basement - so I'll have tons of room for my tank crap without my girlfriend b****ing at me. Can't wait!

[funman1]

A 10G tank is all I have on my system above.
That's all you need!!!