Refugium Anyone ?

[seove]

True, but poo will also be trapped by the gravel which is where the majority of excreted nitrogen is going to be.

Sand is still much easier, but gravel has some potential

Agreed!

 

[trennamw]

In looking at the various arguments about discus in planted tanks, I came across a suggestion on The Barr Report to do a refugium instead of plants in the discus tank.

All this conversation makes me want to go dig up lots of blueprints and schematics! So fascinating compared to my little 29 with a HOB!


Sent from my iPhone with three hands tied behind my back.

 

[J.Mcpeak]

Thanks. I didn't quite understand the last question but to calculate amount of substrate to use go to: Substrate Calculator

I just got up so if this doesn't make sense I'll try again later!

No that's a basic calculator. I use the rough guess method in FW, add, add, store. Half a bag of subs gets used up eventually.
I think mebbid may have answered this question.
(Generally sumps are not big enough)
What is big enough?

(How do you calculate the size a DSB needs to be to effectively condition 100 litres. Normal stocking)

It isn't built yet! So it can be any size, is there a way to work out a minimum effective size? Like in reef environments they recommend X kilo per litre for rock, I wonder if there is a sand bed size equation maybe based on footprint size instead of water volume.
A tank size X needs an isolated DSB bed size of Y to have an effect on nitrate reduction. There are some cases where an in tank DSB is not recommended, digging species etc.

 

[Mebbid]

I just got up so if this doesn't make sense I'll try again later!

No that's a basic calculator. I use the rough guess method in FW, add, add, store. Half a bag of subs gets used up eventually.
I think mebbid may have answered this question.
(Generally sumps are not big enough)
What is big enough?

(How do you calculate the size a DSB needs to be to effectively condition 100 litres. Normal stocking)

It isn't built yet! So it can be any size, is there a way to work out a minimum effective size? Like in reef environments they recommend X kilo per litre for rock, I wonder if there is a sand bed size equation maybe based on footprint size instead of water volume.
A tank size X needs an isolated DSB bed size of Y to have an effect on nitrate reduction. There are some cases where an in tank DSB is not recommended, digging species etc.

I'm almost positive there's.nothing that's backed with evidence or actual research on the topic. The thing to keep in mind about deep sand beds is that they are only going to be good for a few ppm of nitrate a week.

 

[Fishfur]

Well, given I have the fluorite, I'm probably not actually going to take it back now . But I must admit the appearance of a sand substrate is very attractive, even though it's light coloured, which tends to make many fish look less colourful than they do on a dark substrate.

But unless I win a lottery sufficient to let me buy a house, I won't ever have room for a refugium, a sump or even a large tank. But it's still extremely interesting to read about how these systems work.