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Old 03-14-2014, 11:48 PM
straightrazorguy straightrazorguy is offline
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Default Refugium, anyone?

I'm surprised nopbody mentioned a refugium so far. It's all about reactors, denitrators, etc. Plants will remove nitrates very efficiently. And when I say refugium, I don't mean an afterthought, like a ball of cheato in the sump with a small lamp above. I mean a tank plumbed inline with the display tank with macroalgae to suck the nutrients out of the water column.

Another solution is an algae scrubber. Whether it's a waterfall style (in the sump) or upflow type, it's not that relevant, they are both good means of nutrient export.

I have an inline refugium behind the DT with a small chamber in it where I run an upflow algae scrubber. I have to go and prune it weekly, but my nitrates are undetectable. For phosphates I run Rowaphos, but that's another topic altogether.
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