To Refugium or not, that is the question?

[Mark...]

Been reading some conflicting info regarding refugiums, and I thought I'd throw it out to the seasoned veterans here. I'm sure its an old topic, but it sure is interesting...

I'm thinking of just having my sump=filter socks, skimmer, frag area, return...being a long 6 foot sump. maybe skip the baffles all together...

 

[JRWOHLER]

I am in the plus side.
Helps with PH swings if you run opposite light cycle.
Export nutrients with cheato etc.
Provides good safe refuge for pods.
Can also give you an emergency place to put an injured or damage critter.
Or a place to put say a bad crab....had one of those that lived in my sump for couple years.
Sort of neat in general.

 

[Lostinthedark]

I am in the plus side.
Helps with PH swings if you run opposite light cycle.
Export nutrients with cheato etc.
Provides good safe refuge for pods.
Can also give you an emergency place to put an injured or damage critter.
Or a place to put say a bad crab....had one of those that lived in my sump for couple years.
Sort of neat in general.

Same.

Phosphates and nitrates are negligible and you very rarely need GFO.
I'm always amazed what can grow in there when nothings bothering it.

 

[SeahorseKeeper]

I'm another in favor of running a fuge. I have seen improved water quality in my tank.

 

[mrehfeld]

Agree with having a refugium

 

[Juano908]

+1 To fuge.

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[Spideybry]

+1 Fuge (or some sort of natural filtration woth algae).

On top of the already mentioned, algae gives off a lot of by product when it performs photosynthesis, a lot of beneficials to the tank.

I do vote how ever for no DSB in the refugium. Hell, even forgo the refugium and perhaps look into an algae scrubber.

 

[ahvrivera]

+1 on fuge.

 

[redfishbluefish]

I shall be the nay-sayer.


I recently started biopellets and am now considering turning my refugium into a frag tank section. The biopellets take over the job of the refugium.

If you have a “conventional” sump/refugium…..I’m all for the refugium!

 

[greybolt03]

I also switched over to bio pellets. So I lost all my cheato & macro algae. So I filled my fuge with rock so it is being used as a pod motel.

 

[Mark...]

Please correct me if I'm wrong. Bio pellets act the same as live rock since it provides surface area for bacteria?
Can any rock be live rock (once it has be (inoculated), as in lava rock or dead coral etc?

 

[downbeach]

The pellets take it one step further in that they also provide a food source(carbon)for the bacteria. I would look for rock that is made up of dead coral, i.e. Pukani, Fiji, Tonga, etc. Some rock (any) may have some elements/minerals in it you don't want to introduce into your system.

 

[mnat]

Just about any rock can be used as live rock however some rocks are considered better. The more surface area, the more beneficial bacteria you have, so you want open, pourous rock. This is why the old pound per gallon rule went by the wayside, older rock used to be essentially solid base rock that was not pourous. The new rock (even the real reef) is much more pourous so it does not weigh as much and therefore you need less. We used a combination of branch, reef reef, and any other pieces we could fine.

 

[Mark...]

The pellets take it one step further in that they also provide a food source(carbon)for the bacteria. I would look for rock that is made up of dead coral, i.e. Pukani, Fiji, Tonga, etc. Some rock (any) may have some elements/minerals in it you don't want to introduce into your system.

So pellets are made of carbon? I thought they were just pvc, that makes more sense.

 

[Hockeynut]

I like my refugium, from what I've read and I could be wrong without first hand experience, I'm not crazy for bio pellets. I see success without them from a lot of people. I feel my algae does a fine job exporting nutrients and also gives my pods a cozy home.
I do have to keep it small or it will die off due to lack of nutrients. But if I watch it it does well.
My tank is also not a year old yet and as it ages I may change my mind but for now ill leave it be.

 

[e_baer]

I am all for a fuge for a few reasons. A DSB is also incredibly beneficial as long as it is done properly! I currently have a 5.5" DSB in a 40g breeder with caulerpa, sea lettue, mangroves and cheato. For a long time, I didnt even use my protein skimmer because of the plants and DSB. The bio load of my 90g tank is enough for my fuge to handle and I would definitely say that a fuge can benefit most systems.

 

[reeferwanabe]

I have gone back and forth between pellets and fuge. Never really saw the results from pellets even after a year.(just didnt have the patience I guess) currently running fuges on my tanks.
However I noticed it was much more beneficial to run a seperate tank above my display tank and gravity feed back into display.
You also get the benifit of seeing the refugium at eye levil as long as you can keep your hands off it.

 

[dppitone]

It's like many things in this hobby - electable. A system can work with a refugium, and can work without a refugium. People have success every day with either approach.

That said, IMO it comes down to what interests you. If you setup a fuge but don't have your heart in it and are doing it because you have to, it may falter or at best not be helpful to your system. If you're really into it, it'll do well and help the system. Personally, I love refugiums. We have a 55 gallon display refugium, among others. I'm really into stocking it and keeping pods and all that. So I'd suggest you ask yourself where your interests stand and go that direction.

Dave