Refugium questions

[JBOD77]

LITTLE BACKGROUND: 65GAL DT BASEMENT SUMP.
I have a 29 gallon tank sitting that i planned on incorporating into the system as a stand alone refugium. I have some old PC lighting i was gonna use for it. My plans are to T off the return pump, use a bulk head drilled into the back of the tank for a return to the main sump. I was thinking I basically set this up as a low flow aquarium? Shallow sand bed, Chaetomorpha , maybe some Nassarius sp., some excess live rock rubble that i have and down the road a sand sifting goby or something interesting to look at {basement is finished so we do spend time down there}. Any problems with this? anything I'm missing. It's my first fuge so I'm not too sure

[stingythingy45]

I would T off the overflow instead of the return.
Then have the water flow back to the sump.I have a few pictures of my set up in my picture album.

[JBOD77]

i want all my turnover to run thru the skimmer and planned on draining fuge back to the return section of the sump, what's the advantage to T-ing off the overflow?

After some reading on the search, I may omit the sand. I keep LRR currently in the sump in "eggcrate baskets" so i can rinse detritus off when doing maint. So now i can move those into the fuge with some chaeto and run the fuge bare bottom....yes/no?

[thegrun]

+1, tee off the drain line and drain the refugium water back into the skimmer section if you want it skimmed although I would drain the refugium into the return section to keep pods from getting sucked into the skimmer. The biggest advantage is you don't waste energy short circuiting water pumped into the refugium and then drain it back to the return pump.

[JBOD77]

ok, so what about actually stocking this fuge

[PAnanoguy]

Im in the process of setting up my fuge as well. IMO you can do either system for getting water into the fuge. It will all pretty much be the same. I have a bulkhead drilled into the back an Aqueon Evolve for the drain to the return side. and a small pwerhead to pump water from the skimmer side. I put in some substrate and LRR from the display. I just ordered a refugium starter kit from Live Aquaria. Should be here tomorrow. Im thinking of getting a 3lb. box of Miracle Mud to try out also.

[JBOD77]

I left a T in the DT return when I did the original plumbing on the basement sump, hence why i'm leaning that way. My other thought here was to dump the return for my dual BRS reactors into the fuge and then gravity drain back to the sump. I have a mag 3 supplying the reactors....thoughts

[stingythingy45]

Your call,but ,imo,it makes no sense to mechanically clean the water(skimmer)before dumping it into the fug.The creatures in there,pods,mini brittles,nassarius,chaeto...whatever will benefit from the excess food that makes it down there.
But,your call...

Use the T in the return to expell wter for a water change.
I attach a garden hose and use my return to pump the old water out under my deck.Helps keep the weed down in the warmer months.

[PAnanoguy]

^^^ I would agree. not much benefit of putting "cleaned" water into the fuge, Id use the "unfiltered" water that still contains the nitrates and phosphates.

[JBOD77]

Originally Posted by pananoguy

im in the process of setting up my fuge as well. Imo you can do either system for getting water into the fuge. It will all pretty much be the same. I have a bulkhead drilled into the back an aqueon evolve for the drain to the return side. And a small pwerhead to pump water from the skimmer side. I put in some substrate and lrr from the display. I just ordered a refugium starter kit from live aquaria. Should be here tomorrow. Im thinking of getting a 3lb. Box of miracle mud to try out also.

would love to see the starter kit after you get it....

[JBOD77]

Originally Posted by stingythingy45

Your call,but ,imo,it makes no sense to mechanically clean the water(skimmer)before dumping it into the fug.The creatures in there,pods,mini brittles,nassarius,chaeto...whatever will benefit from the excess food that makes it down there.
But,your call...

Use the T in the return to expel water for a water change.
I attach a garden hose and use my return to pump the old water out under my deck.Helps keep the weed down in the warmer months.

UNDERSTOOD, AND ACCEPTED. Love the idea of using that tee to do water changes!!
Now I have to cut a tee in from my overflow and feed the fuge!

[JBOD77]

any other thoughts or advice is not only welcomed, but VERY much appreciated

[PAnanoguy]

I try the pics when I get the starter pack. Ill let ya know.

[stingythingy45]

You'll need a ball valve just above the T so you can shut off the display return and send it out the T to expell your change water.And a ball valve on the T as well.
I couldn't find a PVC fawcett that would take the female thread of a garden hose.So I ened up putting a hose barb fitting off the T that fit tightly into a garden hose.
I bought a cheap washing machine water feed hose and cut the female end off and clamped that end on the hose barb.I made a rubber cover for the male end of the hose and just leave that tucked behind my sump.
Then when needed I just screw a typical garden hose on my short hose piece.Open the valve that leads to the hose and close the one leading up to the tank.
Expell enough old water(about 30 gallons).Refill with a mixed up seawater Brute 30 gallon with a maxijet 1200 pump and a 1/2 hose.

[JSeymour]

One of my systems has a refugium that is fed from the return pump, most of my others are fed via the overflow. Honestly, I prefer sending filtered water to the refugium. It stays much cleaner. I also don't really see a difference in the population density of 'critters' down there when comparing the two, if anything, there are more sponges in the filtered refugium.




Also, from a refugium standpoint, I wouldn't recommend any fish. The whole point of a refugium is to allow a safe place for beneficial organisms to live and prosper. A fish will just eat all these good things.

[JBOD77]

Originally Posted by JSeymour

One of my systems has a refugium that is fed from the return pump, most of my others are fed via the overflow. Honestly, I prefer sending filtered water to the refugium. It stays much cleaner. I also don't really see a difference in the population density of 'critters' down there when comparing the two, if anything, there are more sponges in the filtered refugium.




Also, from a refugium standpoint, I wouldn't recommend any fish. The whole point of a refugium is to allow a safe place for beneficial organisms to live and prosper. A fish will just eat all these good things.

WOULD YOU HAVE A fts OF THE REFUGIUM??

[stingythingy45]

Here's my 20L with a whopping 1/2 gallon per minute turnover from the overflow.
Full of chaeto.

[JBOD77]

thnaks bob, i saw those in your gallery. some good ideas in there for me to mimic. thanks. it looks like JSeymour has some ledges or shelves in his?

[JBOD77]

Originally Posted by PAnanoguy

I try the pics when I get the starter pack. Ill let ya know.

Any pics? How'd it look upon arrival? Was it worth the $$

[PAnanoguy]

Sorry. I can't figure out how to get pics up on here. It was packed very well. Pods and stuff were good. A lot more macro than anyone would need for starters. Four different kinds. Yes it was a good deal IMO.

[JSeymour]

Sorry for the slow response, life's been crazy.

Here is a FTS of the refugium.


The "shelves" are DIY liverock plates spaced .5" apart. The fauna seems to love them.