Questions about refugiums

[Skimmerking]

Ok I have a 40 gal sump and a 62 gal main tank, What size would you good people here on Canreef recommend for a refug.

I'm thinking of a 20 gal tha i ahve laying around, now i have to drill the tank. I havea small powerhead that i have for the in put and i thought about a 3/4 bulkhead or a 1/2 bulk head for the return.

any offers if this sounds right. I thought about using a rubbermaid container a clear one say a 5 gal or should i even bother......



mike

[SeaHorse_Fanatic]

I'd go with a 20g refugium since it's 24" length will make it that much easier to get a standard lighting system on it (PC, T-5s, NO). It'll also give you more room to grow plants & such. Best of all, you already have the tank sitting there waiting to be used :biggrin:

JMO

Anthony

[Tarolisol]

Id go as big as you can afford or have space for. It will add water volume which makes the tank more stable and allows for more macro or anything else you wanted to put in it.

[monza]

Dido Sean's idea... bigger is better

[Skimmerking]

How big or a DSB do you guys have in your s. I'm going to go with a 20 gal

can i run a Refug under my sump where it sits in the basement. and have it plmbed back into the sump from underneath...



mike

[Richer]

No sand in mine. Just some rock and a ball of chaeto.

-Rich

[muck]

No sand in mine either...
Lots of rubble, a couple crabs, cheato and halimeda. :biggrin:

[mr_alberta]

Hey Mike,

I agree with Rich and Muck. You don't really need sand and your really don't have enough surface area on your 20G to make an effective DSB. Just pack it with live rock and rubble and a bunch of Macro. If you aquascape it nicely you can show it off too :cool:

[Richer]

My fuge is a mess, with algae growing everywhere.... definately something you don't want to show off to other people. Gives the pods plenty of food, and hiding spots though :razz:

-Rich

[Willow]

My fuge is a mess, with algae growing everywhere.... definately something you don't want to show off to other people. Gives the pods plenty of food, and hiding spots though :razz:

-Rich

that’s pretty much what a successful fuge should look like.

[Skimmerking]

ok then What hole size do you guys have to the refug 3/4 bulk head or a 1/2 bulkhead

i'm going to have a samll powerhead running with a couple 90's plumbing with some flex hose just for the in put and hard plumb it with flex hose for the return.


I can still have say 3" of sand to if i want oo right

[Richer]

I would go with as large of a bulkhead as you are comfortable with. It is always easier to reduce the hole than to enlarge it.

The concern I have about the sand is that it may start leaking out nutrients in the future. Its your call.

-Rich

[Skimmerking]

Rich how do you figure there will nutrients laeching out its a sand bed it will still nitrify the water wont it


mike

[Richer]

As far as I know, the main concern with sandbeds is that detrius matter collects within them. Initially, the sandbed should aid in the nitrfication of your tank, but as time goes by, phosphates and nitrates will start to slowly leak back into your tank. Think of it as a nutrient sponge, after it becomes full, it starts to leak. There are huge threads on RC with regards to this, and thats what I could interpret.

-Rich

[Willow]

you could consider something like miracle mud.. it's basically all i do for filtration, mud and caulerpa. it's expensive to get in canada tho, i just ordered 20lbs thru the states and got a better deal.

[Tarolisol]

The only problem with miracle mud is lots of people say its just a gimick with no proof that it works.

[Willow]

ive used miracle mud for years with no skimmer. i guess i will never be able to convince people its not a joke until my reset up system has been running for a year and you can come over and look. frankly it sounds like a joke on paper, i took a chance and it worked out great for me. it takes a huge leap of faith to not plug a skimmer on and rely on macro algae for your filtration.

[JohnM99]

I use a 45 gal low with a bunch of Miracle Mud, leftover sand, a bunch of live rocks, and then I planted a stem of Mangrove, and a handful of Chaetomorpha.

Chaetomorpha kind of disappeared - (probably DOA) - but then some Caulerpa just kind of showed up.

I now feed my 20' tall bamboo hedge a steady diet of caulerpa ripped out of the fuge. It looks like a disgusting mess, but it is teeming with pods and all sorts of weird little critters, which wash up into my return and into my tank. The caulerpa stays put, and does seem to do a good job.

Interestingly, once my flow through the fuge was accidentally shut down to a trickle - and I got a huge growth of hair algae in my main tank. Once I realized what the problem was, and opened up the flow again, the hair algae declined steadily. So, it seems to work. I would rather have had Chaeto, and I know caulerpa is harder to get rid of than ........(pick your cliche - maybe relatives from the Prairies in January).

The isn't pretty, except to a discerning few.

[j83]

Sorry to hi-jack the thread but is it possible to run both a skimmer and a miracle mud fuge?

[Jaws]

Does anyone have any example of how they plumbed their refuge into their system?

[JohnM99]

To answer both questions - yes, just run the fuge in parallel with the sump, not in series.

Flow from tank is split - about 2/3 to the sump (with skimmer) then back to a return chamber, the other 1/3 of the flow goes to the fuge, which then also dumps back into the return chamber - any pods that fall in get pumped back to the main tank without going through the skimmer. The pump does very little damage to pods.

[JohnM99]

Mentioned the mangrove - I just got it because I like it - it doesn't contribute appreciably to cleaning - the algae is much more effective - but the mangrove is a neat plant.

[Willow]

Sorry to hi-jack the thread but is it possible to run both a skimmer and a miracle mud fuge?

you can and in fact eco systems sell them now incororated into one unit. it kind of defeats the purpose of an eco system running the skimmer full time, i suspect they are doing this as a way to sell units to unconvinced customers.

there are times i wish i had a skimmer i could flip on for a few hours so im not totaly against them, i just think most people overskim their systems.