refugium setup...LR, substrate, etc

[Mbeef61]

right now i am setting up my 29 gal refugium for my 90 gal big fish tank....how much substrate should i use? would like 20 lbs LR work? im thinking about ordering gulf rock from LR.com...i think the tank is gonna hold macro algaes and maybe a couple inverts (shrimp etc)...i just need to get my nitrates down from these messy eaters.

 

[Gatorfreak]

If it's just for the refugium, I would say just get some cheap rubble rock. It will become live with time.

 

[RMPD109]

If you are looking for a substarte to reduce nitrates you need a DSB. That is 4-6 inches of sand to create the needed environment for denitrifying bacteria.

 

[Phyl]

In my fuge I have about 4" of sand, calurpa and chaeto. One of these days I'll find some rubble to throw in there as well. I think the macro has helped my trates more than my DSB possibly could since it is so new the sand isn't even seeded.

 

[Flsprophet2]

In my fuge I have a 5" DSB, Culerpa which will soon be chaeto (arriving in the mail tomorrow) and I actually threw in a few big pieces of LR. LR Rubble is good for pods but normal LR will do just fine. My nitrates used to sit at about 20ppm but now less than 5ppm

 

[Phyl]

While live rock would due just fine, rubble will have more surface area giving you more bang for the buck (not to mention the fact that it is usually significantly cheaper).

 

[RMPD109]

The nice thing about the LR as opposed to rubble is that it will have denitrifying bacteria as well as nitrifying bacteria. The rubble is not capable of providing the anaerobic conditions for denitrifying bacteria to grow.

 

[seaham358]

IMO Macro or caluerpa is the most important thing in the fuge to help lower nitrates.. A few inches of sand is fine and I like LR rubble... Cheap.. But if you got some extra cash then chunks of LR is fine also what ever you like...
Its your fuge so what ever you like is fine.
Stay away from Grape caluerpa.... great nitrate remover but goes sexual a lot..

 

[Flsprophet2]

[/quote]Stay away from Grape caluerpa.... great nitrate remover but goes sexual a lot..

This is true that is what I have in my fuge. My Chaeto should be here tomorrow. One way to prevent caluerpa from going sexual is to keep your fuge light on 24 hours