Reducing Refugium size?

[ellisz]

Hi all,

I have a fuge that is separte from my sump. I have a PH that supplies water to the fuge and then it gravity feeds back into the sump. I now have a sump that has an area for a fuge that currently has a little bit of sand and LR in it but no macros.

I have been considering taking the fuge down and setting it up in the sump. Current fuge is in a 25 gal rubbermaid with around 15 gal water. My sump/fuge combo has a 24 gal water capacity. Tank is a 75 gal.

Pros:
DSB in the new fuge since the current fuge has a SSB
More room in my sump room
simpler setup

Cons:
Less water volume and sand bed surface area.

Do you think the addition of the DSB would outweigh the loss of water volume? There is nothing wrong with my current setup but sometimes simpler is better.

Thanks

 

[phases99]

If your tank is stable and not overstocked the loss of 15% water volume should not cause any harm. A remote DSB will eventually help with denitrification so in effect it may balance out.