Ditching my refugium-good idea?

[carey]

I'm thinking of getting rid of the refugium in my sump on my 125g reef tank.

It's been running for about 8 months and I gotta be honest, I don't see the benefits......

I have about 3 inches of sand, some live rock, chaeto and some caulpera. I have more pods in my TANK than I do in the fuge....lol Running a 25w macro light over it and nothing really seems to be growing. I have it on a opposite light schedule from my main lights too.

Anyone think this is a good idea or a bad idea?

I was thinking I could just shut down the system, remove all the fuge contents and use that space for a bigger skimmer. I also am planning on adding a bio pellet reactor next month or so.

I just don't get the refugium idea, I understand what it's supposed to do but I just dont' notice any appreciable benefits. My ph is almost always low and the nitrates are building at a normal level. I have absolutely NO algae in my main tank but I never really did even before the fuge.

Please help. I really am unsure of what to do.

Thanks everyone for reading and giving input, I really need it this time! LOL

 

[mr_X]

Not sure carey. If the macroalage is growing, then it's doing something.

 

[carey]

It's been growing very very slowly. I've only trimmed the caulpera once so far and the chaeto is almost the same size as when i got it. It is still green though.

You know I respect your opinion X, what do you think? Bigger skimmer or refugium?

Thanks!

 

[iadubber]

What's your lighting schedule?

 

[carey]

Fuge light is on at 5pm and off at 10am. I lengthened the time recently to see if i could encourage growth and work on my Ph.

 

[cmor1701d]

3" of sand is too shallow for any DSB benefits and there's not a lot of area in a sump/fuge for that anyway. Generally a fuge should have much slower water flow, so it should be separate compartment from the sump fed by a small pump. That's the theory anyway.

I use the last compartment of my sump to hold some lr rubble, sand and chaeto. When I was running bio-pellets, GFO/GAC my chaeto started to disappear as the nutrient level went down. Before that the caulpera out competed the chaeto for nutrients and grew like crazy.

When between having major back issues and being too busy at work to give my tank proper maintenance (changing GFO/GAC/ pellets) I started getting algae problems in the tank and added some chaeto back to the sump. I'm now pruning it regularly. But I also did my semi-annual maintenance over New Years and now have new bio-pellets, GFO/GAC running. I expect my chaeto may do another disappearing act.

So, if you're going to add bio-pellets and your already running (and changing) GFO/GAC regularly, dump the fuge. Otherwise, give it some more time and you may start to see some regular growth.

BTW, caulpera as I recall should be on a 24/7 lighting schedule. Having it on an opposite schedule is what triggers it to go sexual.

 

[carey]

Thanks so much for the input! makes alot of sense.

I'm only running a TLF GFO reactor and plan on adding a reef octopus biopellet reactor, but no carbon.

I DO have a pretty deep sand bed in my DT, about 6 inches or so, I had read that the more surface area the better so I skipped it in the fuge since its such a small footprint. I was running the lights 24/7 but then the chaeto started to get yellow so i backed it down to 12 hour cycles. Now its on like a 15hr cycle. I have not had any of the leaves on the caulpera turn clearish which I had heard is the sign of it going sexual so I think I;ve done ok as far as that. I also only have a small handful of that in the sump anyways. The caulpera also has not done well.

Just trying to find a happy place since the tank is actually maturing and I'd like to find a way to keep it as stable as possible.

Thanks again for the input guys, I appreciate it. I don't wanna do something drastic without getting a good amount of information either FOR or AGAINST switching it out.

 

[Leighton79]

You surely should be able to grow chaeto?

On my 40g bowfront I use a deltec MCE 600 HOB skimmer, I don't know if you are familiar with the model but if not have a look up.

It has a media chamber that is housed inside the return compartment. I however don't use this for chemical media, I use it for growing chaeto as it has a clear plastic cover that I attach a D-D led magnetic glow light to. It's basically 4 high powered led's with reflectors.

This grows chaeto like mad, I have to halve it every water change.

 

[Leighton79]

Crap photo but I can't pull this tank out, you can see the magnetic light on the chamber next to the reaction chamber.

 

[cmor1701d]

Not everyone has a Deltec! That's a great idea for that design though.

Take a look at the Aquamaxx reactor at Marine Depot. I think it's their brand. The water inlets at the bottom of the reactor force a circular water pattern up the reactor. It's a much better design than the TLF 150 I was using before.

 

[Gti_Leo]

3" of sand is too shallow for any DSB benefits and there's not a lot of area in a sump/fuge for that anyway. Generally a fuge should have much slower water flow, so it should be separate compartment from the sump fed by a small pump. That's the theory anyway.

I use the last compartment of my sump to hold some lr rubble, sand and chaeto. When I was running bio-pellets, GFO/GAC my chaeto started to disappear as the nutrient level went down. Before that the caulpera out competed the chaeto for nutrients and grew like crazy.

When between having major back issues and being too busy at work to give my tank proper maintenance (changing GFO/GAC/ pellets) I started getting algae problems in the tank and added some chaeto back to the sump. I'm now pruning it regularly. But I also did my semi-annual maintenance over New Years and now have new bio-pellets, GFO/GAC running. I expect my chaeto may do another disappearing act.

So, if you're going to add bio-pellets and your already running (and changing) GFO/GAC regularly, dump the fuge. Otherwise, give it some more time and you may start to see some regular growth.

BTW, caulpera as I recall should be on a 24/7 lighting schedule. Having it on an opposite schedule is what triggers it to go sexual.

i agree

your fuge in the sump is actually pretty small, its what liek 10x8? maybe holding 5 gallons of water? in my opinion thats really small and you do have a pretty big pump flowing water through it. i would drop the pump GPH to probably the same GPH that your skimmer pump is rated at and you will probably see it doing a better job thenit is doing now.

how much more space do you have in your stand? could you add a 20 or 40 gallon tank in just as a fuge?

 

[carey]

I already have a 10g reservoir tank for the ato under there which leaves me zero room. :-(

 

[mr_X]

I have never ran the lights 24/7 on my refugium and have never seen adverse effects. I also prune it regularly though. caulerpa does grow faster than chaeto in my experience.
I'm currently using a 150 watt halide over my refugium with a 2 year old bulb in it and the algae is growing like mad.
What skimmer are you using right now?

 

[Sniperhank]

I am very interested in this post. I want a fuge, but don't have the largest area for it. I'm about to try to design a stand so I can get my sump and everything under my tank. Only issue is my woodworking skills are slim and to make it all work...I'd have to move my antique icebox into another room or something...it is not a light object lol. If you tear down just send it all to me! lol.

Anyway, the concept should make things better and help stabilize everything...might be that it is just to small?

 

[carey]

I'm using an eshopps psk150. I would LIKE to add an octopus diablo to it. It wont fit in the skimmer area with the filter socks though so I was thinking to utilize the refugium area. I for sure don't want to remove the filter socks, I really like them.

I also in the big picture, would like a biopellet reactor and then maybe a carbon reactor. I've read that the use of biopellets will negate the need for a GFO reactor.....Is this accurate?

Thanks!!!

 

[melosu58]

I personally think you should keep it. Two reasons, 1) Added water volume is a great thing. It will be more forgiving when problems come. 2) Nutrient export is a wonderful thing. IMO Cheato is not a good exporter as calerpa is. If you have some calerpa in there with proper lighting it should be OK. I run my lighting 24/7.

 

[Sniperhank]

Why add the diablo and run both? I mean, I am not familiar with all your setups...but the diablo is for 150-300 gallons. Are you running one sump system for all your tanks? I thought you had a small sump with a smaller fuge in it? Following to many Carey threads...I'm confused.

 

[mr_X]

Carey, what about a Bubble Magus Hero 220? An awesome footprint and a potent skimmer.
BUBBLE-MAGUS - Aquarium Internal skimmer|external skimmer|Dosing pump|Calcium reactor|Nitrate reductor/NO3 reductor|Filters|Turtle shell lampshade|Water monitor and controller|Additives|moonlight LED

 

[carey]

Why add the diablo and run both? I mean, I am not familiar with all your setups...but the diablo is for 150-300 gallons. Are you running one sump system for all your tanks? I thought you had a small sump with a smaller fuge in it? Following to many Carey threads...I'm confused.

I plan to play musical skimmers. LOL The eshopps from the 125g is rated for 150 so would be great for my 90g fowlr, the octopus in the 90g is rated for 125g which is gonna be good for my next build, a 60g cube.

I only want to run one single skimmer in the 125g and a biopellet reactor.

X, I looked at that link but theres no price and its kinda vague...I know you've recently discovered that they are decent skimmers. wouldnt a diablo be better than the magus one?

 

[mr_X]

With skimmers, it's all about the pump, and air. The pump on this one is pulling a lot of air. I think this will out perform the Diablo, in terms of skimmate production. I have inquired about the price. I'll get back to you.