What is a refugium?

[Platinum]

Might be a dumb question, but what is a refugium? Where does it go, what does it house, how much does it cost, do I need one, what benifets will i get, any drawbacks? Sorry if I sound demanding, but I always see people talking about refugiums but I have no clue what they are.

 

[sumphead]

No sweat. I didn't know what a refugium was at one point either. IMO there are no drawbacks to having a refugium only benefits. The need for one is debatable, but a great addition at any rate. In short: a refugium is a sump like container that holds additional substrate (mud, sand, LR rubble, anything else) that adds additional filtration and usually macro algeas (saltwater plants). The macros remove exessive nutrients from the water column (like a natural skimmer kinda) and they also provide a safe haven for pods to grow without predation. They can serve as a small hospital for corals or segragation units for fish.

Refugiums come in different styles. There are small Hang-On-Back refugiums that water is pumped into with a PH and gravity flow back into the display. (basically small acrylic boxes that sit just above the waterline on the back of hte tank. There are sump/refugiums that sit under that tank and is fed just like a sump and pumped back up into the display. There are even IN-tank refugiums. They are small boxes that sit inside your tank, but IMO are not large anough to provide the real benefit of a refugium and cram up the tank.

So, no you don't NEED one, but they are nice to have and add not only filtration, but nutrient export, more water volume for stability, and other benefits.

HTH
R-

 

[sumphead]

Oh I forgot cost. Factory manufactured systems like CPR and eco-systems units can be very expensive. Upwards of $400 depending on size of tank it supports. However, one can be made from acrylic without to much hassle, and filling it isn't bad as at all. I would look around on eBay, or even at some of the more expensive models to get an idea of how they work and go from there. You could probably get one setup and running for $50-$150 very well without breaking the bank.

 

[Platinum]

Thanks for the input, reefnewb, but i just thought of more questions, LOL

I have a wet/dry-sump with a gravity in and a little giant pump out. can I buy, lets say a 10 gallon glass tank and put it next to the sump and have a PH pull water from sump to 10 gallon refuge and a PH to push it back out? also does a refuge need lighting? and where can I get or buy these macro algees from? and also WHAT THE HELL are pods? I keep hearing about them but I cant figure it out. Please help, BTW I love this website, so much INFO!!!

PS. I have a 100 gallon tank with 150 lbs of sand and close to 200 lbs of LR.

 

[sumphead]

OK. I think what you first need to decide is what type of aquatic life you want. If you intend to do a reef or fish only. I would have to recommend losing the biomaterial in your wetdry (looks like bio-balls from here) as eventually you may have a problem with nitrates. It looks like you have enough LR for natural filtration assuming it is cycled correctly the bio balls aren't required. (insert another opinion here as I have never used bioballs). Thus it may be possible to convert part of your wet dry into a fuge, but normally fuges have a slower flow allowing lag time in the water to pick up additional trace elements and the macro algeas time to export nutrients.

I would say for effectiveness 20% of you main tank volume is recommended for refugium sizing, however IMHO any fuge is a good fuge. A powerhead in and a powerhead out of a 10G just wont work. Eventually one pump will out work the other and you'll have a mess on your hands or at least a dry pump. You could slit your gravity fed flow from your main tank with a ball valve into a fuge and them pump it back out into your wet/dry, but even then you will have a difficult balance to maintain.

pods: copepods, amphipods - basically they are like small water "bugs" that serve dual roles as part of your clean up crew and food source for your livestock. If you see little opaque/white "bugs" on your rock. Just like Martha says. "It's a good thing!"

Is it possible for you to have a hang on? or is your tank too close to the wall aready? Or even another small overflow?

Anyone else have a suggestion?

 

[sumphead]

And yeah a light is required for a sucessful fuge. Which adds another bonus. If you run opposite photo periods for your tank lights and fuge lights, it helps to maintain a constant Ph.

 

[Dewey]

refugium's

Well everyone just for a little input. I did allot of looking around for prebuilt refugiums and they cost lots of money. I went on e-bay and met this guy by the name of Bill Heil (USA aquariums) he builds kits for refugiums out of Acrylic. So i bought one, its a copy of the eco style. It was easy to assemble. Mine was 24 inches wide by 14 deep 12 high. It cost $100.00 with light. I just wanted too build one I know you could do it alot cheaper yet by just buying a glass tank and adding baffles. If any is interested in Bills e-mail you can pm me ill send it two you.

Good luck Dewey

 

[dustybrannum]

i have a 180 gallon tank with a sump approx 40 gallons would a 25 gallon fuge be good enough

 

[Electrobes]

Hey Dewey can you post a pic of what it looks like? Also reefnewb, I was planning on building a fige for my coral only tank (maybe will have some fish). I was interested in what you said about not having bio balls. What would you suggest me building? My tank is a 45G tall tank with LR and base rock (about 18 pounds of base and 5 pounds of LR (seeding)) and a mix (seeding) aquarium sand and LS (about 3 inches... 50 pounds of aquarium sand and 22 pounds of LS). Thus far I have a corals only tank with a few frags. Right now the filtration is a Filstar XP3. What do you think.. should I go completely refugium or sump/refugium in one? I wish I could do both but I have one extra 29 gallon tank and not enough room in the stand. Thanks

 

[captivereefs]

Here is a hang on style.


http://www.cpraquatic.com/products/citr.html

 

[fishtender]

I built my fuge from the DIY one that Gordon has designed. It is only 10% of my tank size, but I still reap the benifits. The design allows it to sit next to the main tank and becomes a show tank of its own. With an small used aquarium, some plastic tubing, sand and and a small pump, I was up and running in no time. Total cost of the items I didn't have laying around.....maybe 20.00 max.

My problem is finding the macros I want for it.

Howard

 

[dustybrannum]

hey fishtender do you do opposite lighting for your fuge? as in the light is on at night

 

[Electrobes]

Question is, what tanks should have a total refugium (no bio balls) and which tank should have a combo of sump and refugium?

 

[sumphead]

OK, I am going to try to take a few pics here in a minute of my setup, but this will get you guys reading anyway. Electrobes: Just because it's sump doesn't mean it has bio-balls. Bio-balls are primarily for wet-dry filter application that just so happen to be sumps themselves or in sumps. My personal opinion of a sump isn't for filtration exclusively but for increasing the total capacity of your system and clearing your display of add-ons and hang-on thingamajigs. The problem that you will most likely run into as mentioned is nitrates with bio-balls. Like I said in the earlier post I have never ran bio-balls so I cannot testify to this, but it is my understanding that is the case. And with you wanting to run a soft coral tank nitrates are important to keep low.

Your rock should take care of your biological filtration and a good skimmer to take care of the mechanical filtration. I know several locals who don't skim at all and have the most beautiful corals I have ever seen. And I personally feel that if your bio-load is small and you are dilligent with water changes (10% weekly or more) skimming is an option. Also when first setting up unless cycling with uncured live rock skimming isn't even needed for the first month or so. No DOCs no Skimming needed is my principle there.

I have a sump, fuge combo I designed myself. I'll go snap a pic and post it in just a few.

 

[Electrobes]

okay cool, yeah I was wrong about the idea of what a sump truly was.. I thought it was the whole bio ball (nitrate eating, etc) idea. Basically the reason I was asking is because I don't have a bio load, nor will I really ever have one (basically a coral only tank), and after hearing that you do not have bio balls, I got confused. In my tank I seeded the base rock with LR, which seems to be working out well. But yeah, it makes me happy because now constructing a sump won't be hard.. I plan on just having the refugium as the sump (or sump/refugium if wanna call the box below the main tank holding all machinery and macroalgaes). I definately like the idea of the reverse photoperiod maintaining the pH, adding a lot more water volume to the tank, and a place to hold the machinery while growing macros.

 

[sumphead]

Well, the batteries in my camera are dead so the best I could come up with is a sketch. I have a valve on the fuge intake side to restrict the flow a little. I thought about haing two separate units but I was affriad of the fuge overflowing or running dry by having to restrict the flow in but drawing from the same soure as the sump (if that makes any sence whatsoever) I decided to let them share the return chamber and it is working beautifully. I also have dual return pumps so I can live with one if one goes out until i can replace it. It also gives me more return options. I plan on ading a SCWD on one of the returns shortly. I made it out of 1/4" acrylic and the baffles are 1/8" separating the chambers. It is long and relatively thin to fit under my stand. I estimate the total capacity at 25 gallons at optimum level leaving the fuge at about 15G. I am not at the 20% recommended level, but as i said any fuge is better than no fuge.

 

[Electrobes]

Looks interesting. Though I do not have a skimmer yet, and don't really see the need for one, I may make room for it in the 29 gallon fuge, but as far as design goes I am just going to have a first short compartment where the water will pour in and waterfall into the next compartment, where the skimmer's place will be, then have it waterfall (more like just get to the other side of the wall) to the next compartment which will be the fuge, which will then lead to the next compartment which is the return. So basically it will be what you have except without the "walls" that are attached from the top section of the tank, and I will be using a single return pump (Rio 1400 rated at 600 GPH) which should be okay considering my tank is 45 Gallons. What do you think?

 

[sumphead]

The only drwaback I found with not having the lveled baffles is micro-bubbles. With the water just falling over you may have an issue with them. I know it my local Lowes they will cut thin glass for framing for next to nothing (prolly a buck or two each). they could be silicones in easily in a glass tank. As for the Rio, I have never owned one except for the smallest for powerheads. I know there are many on here that don't suggest them for relyablitly issues. But hey, if you have it already then USE IT. I also know someone else on here that has been using one for months without issues at all. Just be sure that your sump can handle the overflow from the main tank before until the siphon beaks on your overflow.

 

[fishtender]

I do run my fuge at nite. My PH only varies by .2. As for my design, I do not run my skimmer in the same circuit as my fuge. I want my macros to get a fair share of the nutrients and if I were to skim them off before the fuge it would defeat the purpose altogether. Aside from that, the fact that I do not run a sump, and have a hang-on skimmer would certainly complicate things when it came to balancing water flow.

As for deciding wether to use a skimmer or not. I think water quality is first on my list of importance and so I skim 24\7. My fish and corals are very happy. Unfortunately so are the micro algaes.

 

[Electrobes]

Good call I will silicon in the glass pieces (yay a stop at lowes!). Yeah the reason for the Rio pump is that I have it laying around doing absolutely nothing and its new. I can't wait to build this beast when I go home for winter break