Can a refugium be to big?

[bane]

Hey all

Here is the quick version of the story i try to keep it short.

I will soon be haveing a 30 gal setup handed to me (tank, stand, hob skimmer, light) with plans to up grade later on. End goal to eventually converting my fw 210gal to reef tank. I would prefer to go over size on the refugium so I wont have to up grade it as i upgrade to biger tanks. Any how Im planning on picking up a 4'x8' sheet of plexy for the build , looking at it i can build a refugium 3'x2'x16" l,w,h Total volume at about 60 gal fuge chamber about 30gal, max working volume at about 48 gal.
Yes i know its over kill but it would be nice to have onething all ready taken care of for future upgrades. Hate to waste money on a small one when i know ill need a biger one later.

Is there any reason why this would be a bad idea, any problems im asking for but dont know it yet?

[D to the P]

nope, just more water volume and more filtering capacity which equals cleaner and healthier water for your fishes or inverts. I've seen threads where guys have hooked up thier less than 10 gallon nano reef up to the same filtration system that their 200+ tanks are being filtered by.

[Denbf58]

the bigger better more water is a good thing

[inachu]

If it was too big then the fish tank would not be creating enough nitrates and nitrites for the plants in your refugium.....


I never really studied the science behind it but I would assume that a refugium should be at least half or 25% the size of the fish tank.

[Tswifty]

The bigger the better...

First and foremost it will increase your overall system capacity and boost your bioload and carrying capacity. Also, it will allow your system to be less reactive to sudden changes in water parameters. Greater water volume = greater dilution.

The refugium will be a place for you to export nutrients and waste product via natural filtration, and also cultivate invertabrates such as bristleworms, copods, and amphipods. These pods will filter in to the main tank, and serve as an additional food source for your inhabitants.

[Tswifty]

Here's a thread you can look at for some ideas of just how "big" some refugiums can be, and also a discussion on their utilization.

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh...readid=1349443

[inachu]

Originally posted by Tswifty8
The bigger the better...

First and foremost it will increase your overall system capacity and boost your bioload and carrying capacity. Also, it will allow your system to be less reactive to sudden changes in water parameters. Greater water volume = greater dilution.

The refugium will be a place for you to export nutrients and waste product via natural filtration, and also cultivate invertabrates such as bristleworms, copods, and amphipods. These pods will filter in to the main tank, and serve as an additional food source for your inhabitants.

your answer is much better!

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

My 4 refugia are substantially larger, all together, than yours will be, so IMO it is fine. Mine support a 90 and a 120 on the same system. IMO, if you really want to use a refugium for all nutrient export, then it may need to have as much surface area or more than the main tank and have roughly similar bright lighting.

[Tswifty]

I agree with Randy...

One of the discussions that have came up in the thread link that I posted, is just how beneficial refugiums are in the reduction of nitrates? As far as how "large" of an effect does it really have? Mainly this point was debating the incorporation of refugiums added within the sump. The refugium ends up being much smaller than the tank volume when added in this instance (majority of the time) and will have little effect on the bottom line. However it still serves as a great place for the cultivation of invertabrates.

I'm not telling you to scrap the skimmer... but I would be interested to see with the size of your refugium in relation to your display tank, if you would be able to rely soley on natural filtration.