Refugium

[Chase31]

Okay so with getting the tank going I was planning to start running a fugue. I have a small place in my sump that my dual (currently both carbon) reactor feeds with very slow flow. I have a few questions.
1.when do you start a fugue? I understand the rock and sand should be in their from day one but when would you start to add cheato and other algies
2. My reactor is a very very slow feed for this chamber, should I get an extra pump for a larger turn over rate?
3. Is my carbon reactor feeding the fugue a bad idea?(don't see why it would be but mise well ask anyways)
4. What kind of things do you have in your fugue And what would you recommend me to put in mine?

Thank you all so much in advance for your replys. Don't be shy!!

[Chase31]

Are there no thoughts on this?

[icy.bing]

for a fuge to work, you would want a slow flow rate to allow the algea to "clean" up your water and I don't think it matters if the reactor is before the fuge.

You can put many things into your fuge as long as the size is fine. Usually w/ large enough fuge, people grow algea in it such a cheato. Some even put live rocks/sands in them to further help w/ the the biological filtration. You will want a light that will help with the algea growth.

[richmond]

how long to clean, and how??

[slakker]

I just started an in sump fuge using the Aqueon Pro 3... I put in mineral mud w/ sand cap after the tank was setup, so there was some sediment kick up and such, but cleared in a few hours.

I have LR, cheato and other macro algae 4 trochus snails in there to take care of the micro algae. Seems to be good and doesn't need more cleaning than that...

[asylumdown]

What is your goal of the refugium? Are you setting it up as a way to lower nutrients, or as an actual refugium for micro-flora and fauna?

Using fuges as a way to 'clean' your water is a relatively new notion in the world of fuges. The original idea of a refugium (and hence the name) was to provide a safe place for organisms that would be consumed/otherwise killed in the rest of your system a place to grow and reproduce, serving as a constant source of near microscopic animals to replenish what's being depleted from the display. Hence the lower flow, as you want a place where the smallest of animals and macro/micro algaes can grow without being washed away.

If your goal is for the fuge to 'clean' your water through the action of macroalgae consuming nutrients, chances are good that you're going to need a much, much larger refugium than you had originally planned, and there are far more efficient and effective set-ups/designs that than a fuge if this is your goal. A small corner of your sump is going to be functionally irrelevant to the overall nutrient regime of your entire system. Also, if the goal is the reduction of nutrients, you'll want the highest flow the plant life you place in that fuge can handle without getting damaged/blown away moving through the chamber, otherwise your fuge will simply be a place for detritus to collect, adding to the nutrient problem.

[Chase31]

I was planning to use it for nutrient export, probably just cheato, it's a little more then 5g. But the flow is very very slow so that's were I'm trying to decide should I use it to home some cool fish and algae. I don't want an ugly nitrate factory either

[asylumdown]

How big is it relative to the tank? Obviously every little bit helps, but if nutrient reduction is your goal I wonder if there aren't more efficient ways to use the space? Balls of chaeto provide other benefits too though, like a place for pods and other planktonic animals to breed, but you need enough flow to keep the ball relatively free of detritus and good lighting. The standard wisdom is that chaeto should 'tumble', but there are some writers on WWM that don't think it's critical, and I've grown it in the past in a little HOB fuge that didn't make it tumble. However, in that case the majority of your growth will be up at the top which I think might decrease it's effectiveness, though that really depends on the geometry of the chamber more than anything (is it a deep column, or wide and shallow, etc.)

Have you read through the wet web media pages on refugiums? There's a diversity of opinion there that covers pretty much every refugium case. Sometimes their advice is conflicting (don't use caulerpa! caulerpa is fine!), but if you have the patience to read through their pages of FAQs, you start to get a sense on what the consensus for the best way to set up a fuge is.

I'd say that if your goal is bang for your buck nutrient reduction in a limited space and you do want to do it with macro algae for all the other benefits that provides, your initial thoughts were probably right - a dedicated chaeto chamber is the best choice. I wouldn't put any sand or rock in there, as your'e not going to have enough space for something like a deep sand bed to do anything but create problems, and rock would just take up space that you want the chaeto to occupy. If you're concerned about flow, you might want to investigate whether or not a small powerhead could add the flow you're looking for in that chamber.

[Chase31]

I think I may use a pump to run from one chamber into this one to add some extra flow then I get a better turn over rate as well as the flow required for cheato, to Answer the question my tank is around 55 g with a 20g or so sump. The chamber is skinny 12 inches by 6 inches and 10 tall, so only 3-4g I may get a larger pump for this section and use it for my skimmer