Cleaning sump/refugium

[sdergar]

Do people scrap the algae off the sides of the sump? Is there any benefit either leaving it or taking it off? As for the refugium I've heard that you should just leave it alone. Does anyone mess around in there?

Thanks...Steve

 

[neilanh]

I leave both my sump and fuge alone. Never cleaned either. But I do run a filter sock and clean that regularly.

 

[Fishguy2727]

The whole point of a refugium (in most tanks) is nutrient export, meaing the macroalgae grows and you take it out of the system. I would at least take it off the glass so you can see in there and keep an eye on things.

 

[Jimbo7]

You will need to periodically clean it out or prune to make sure the absorbed nutrients don't start leaching back out. But by no means is it supposed to look beautiful and clean or it isn't doing its job.

 

[austinsdad]

I liked scraping just the front of the fuge so that I could see what's going on inside. I had a lot of life in there and was always fascinated by it. Crabs, urchins, and not to mention checking to see if any of my little fish made it over the overflow from time to time.