Sump - Refugium or Not

flyguyscott · 03/17/2016, 04:01 PM

I'm new to saltwater and building a 180 gallon tank for my office with a 60 gallon Synergy Reef sump.

I'm debating whether to have an inline refugium in the sump. My plan is to put Marinepure bio balls in the refugium area before the skimmer. It will also provide room for cheato alge down the road if beneficial.

I can also forego the refugium wall and have a larger skimmer area where I can place a couple Marinepure blocks. This may also leave room to put carbon / gfo reactors right in the sump later down the road if required.

Should this be enough or is a separate external refugium recommended?

Sorry if I sound like a novice... I'm still learning :-)

Mrw1936 · 03/17/2016, 04:08 PM

For me personally I tried a refugium in my sump, it was a pain. I still have a refugium but I plumbed in another separate tank. In the sump it was crowded, the light spill caused algae to grow in unwanted places, and took up space for pumps, skimmers, ect. I found it much better to keep the sump clean.

camaroguy · 03/17/2016, 04:22 PM

Most of the research I did suggested that the refugiums most people keep are too small to have any real effect on nutrient reduction. You need a vary high percentage of the display volume in cheato for this to work. The more common size refugiums are great for cultivating pods and such where they are not eating as fast by fish. So it really depends on the goals of the refugium as far as I can tell.

I had one originally, and it grew cheato like mad, but I completely removed it and saw absolutely no measurable difference in nutrient export. Mind you this was a more common size, subsection of a standard sump that you mostly see when someone says refugium.

Mrw1936 · 03/17/2016, 04:48 PM

I agree. For me I didn't have much luck with chaeto, but I had a decent amount of success with calurpa prolifera. I ran it on a 24/7 light cycle. It was in a remote 30 gal tank fed from my return pump and drained back into the same chamber. It did make SOME differences but they were fairly minimal in my opinion to the real cost. It's just another thing to take care of really. It most definitely grew pods, kept my ph more stable, and was a good spot for putting things I didn't want in my display. Now I carbon dose to control nutrients. A lot easier and much more effective.

sixpackgarage · 03/17/2016, 05:01 PM

I have a very small fuge in my sump, but remove a basketball size clump of chaeto every 2 weeks. That IMHO quantifies pretty efficient nutrient export for virtually zero effort. That being said, I'm sure my tank would be fine without it, but every bit helps especially if you feed a lot.

EvenFurther · 03/17/2016, 06:17 PM

If you have the space, a dedicated tank seems ideal to me. If you're going to run it in the sump, I would tee the return, for a tall baffle, to maximize the water volume, and water flow control. Also use a large sump tank size, to gain space specifically for the fuge chamber.

Mrw1936 · 03/17/2016, 06:19 PM

That's exactly how my first fuge/sump was set up.

flyguyscott · 03/17/2016, 08:05 PM

Thanks for the super quick replies everyone. As I suspected, a separate refugium is ideal. I do have the space for it, but it'll be a bit tight for a decent sized one.

I'll leave my order as-is with synergy reef which was not to install the inline refugium wall.

03/17/2016, 04:01 PM	#1
flyguyscott Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2016 Location: Burlington, ON Posts: 10	Sump - Refugium or Not I'm new to saltwater and building a 180 gallon tank for my office with a 60 gallon Synergy Reef sump. I'm debating whether to have an inline refugium in the sump. My plan is to put Marinepure bio balls in the refugium area before the skimmer. It will also provide room for cheato alge down the road if beneficial. I can also forego the refugium wall and have a larger skimmer area where I can place a couple Marinepure blocks. This may also leave room to put carbon / gfo reactors right in the sump later down the road if required. Should this be enough or is a separate external refugium recommended? Sorry if I sound like a novice... I'm still learning :-)

03/17/2016, 05:01 PM	#5
sixpackgarage reef mechanic Join Date: Jun 2015 Location: Phoenix, AZ Posts: 819	I have a very small fuge in my sump, but remove a basketball size clump of chaeto every 2 weeks. That IMHO quantifies pretty efficient nutrient export for virtually zero effort. That being said, I'm sure my tank would be fine without it, but every bit helps especially if you feed a lot. __________________ my build: http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2512689 my fuge thread: http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2523500 Current Tank Info: DSA NEO 65G reef powered by Kessil

03/17/2016, 06:17 PM	#6
EvenFurther Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2014 Location: Houston, TX Posts: 352	If you have the space, a dedicated tank seems ideal to me. If you're going to run it in the sump, I would tee the return, for a tall baffle, to maximize the water volume, and water flow control. Also use a large sump tank size, to gain space specifically for the fuge chamber. __________________ Slowly Building: 38 Gal. DT Cube \| DIY Sump \| DIY Stand

03/17/2016, 04:08 PM	#2
Mrw1936 Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2014 Location: new hampshire Posts: 95	For me personally I tried a refugium in my sump, it was a pain. I still have a refugium but I plumbed in another separate tank. In the sump it was crowded, the light spill caused algae to grow in unwanted places, and took up space for pumps, skimmers, ect. I found it much better to keep the sump clean.

03/17/2016, 04:22 PM	#3
camaroguy Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2014 Posts: 134	Most of the research I did suggested that the refugiums most people keep are too small to have any real effect on nutrient reduction. You need a vary high percentage of the display volume in cheato for this to work. The more common size refugiums are great for cultivating pods and such where they are not eating as fast by fish. So it really depends on the goals of the refugium as far as I can tell. I had one originally, and it grew cheato like mad, but I completely removed it and saw absolutely no measurable difference in nutrient export. Mind you this was a more common size, subsection of a standard sump that you mostly see when someone says refugium.

03/17/2016, 04:48 PM	#4
Mrw1936 Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2014 Location: new hampshire Posts: 95	I agree. For me I didn't have much luck with chaeto, but I had a decent amount of success with calurpa prolifera. I ran it on a 24/7 light cycle. It was in a remote 30 gal tank fed from my return pump and drained back into the same chamber. It did make SOME differences but they were fairly minimal in my opinion to the real cost. It's just another thing to take care of really. It most definitely grew pods, kept my ph more stable, and was a good spot for putting things I didn't want in my display. Now I carbon dose to control nutrients. A lot easier and much more effective.

03/17/2016, 06:19 PM	#7
Mrw1936 Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2014 Location: new hampshire Posts: 95	That's exactly how my first fuge/sump was set up.

03/17/2016, 08:05 PM	#8
flyguyscott Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2016 Location: Burlington, ON Posts: 10	Thanks for the super quick replies everyone. As I suspected, a separate refugium is ideal. I do have the space for it, but it'll be a bit tight for a decent sized one. I'll leave my order as-is with synergy reef which was not to install the inline refugium wall.