Do I need a refugium? What are the pros and cons?

glb · Jan 29, 2016

I'm doing a 40g build with a sump and am wondering if I need a refugium. I'll have a skimmer and plan to keep softies, LPS and SPS. It will not be an ultra-low nutrient setup. I know nothing about refugiums so any and all suggestions are welcome!

shollis2814 · Jan 29, 2016

I modified a large HoB filter into a fuge and put some Chaeto in there on my 36 borfront. I loved it. I could tell a difference in water clarity. My setup had some disadvantages, and I took it down for two main reasons:

I use an overflow in an undrilled tank. I have my sump marked for margin of error in case of power outage. I had it worked out on my fuge, too, but realized if my sump return pump fails, and the fuge keeps going, I am going to have a mess as the fuge would feed back into the main tank and that would eventually end up in the sump and overflow into my living room.
The HoB had baffles and even a bottom chamber walled off from the main part of the fuge. Getting gobies and blennies out of there that decided to ride the siphon tube was a pain.

If you can get one, I really liked a fuge and I hope to figure out a way to get mine back once I get a contingency plan for pump failure.

redfishbluefish · Jan 29, 2016

Ideally you want some means of exporting nitrates and phosphates. A refugium is an easy way to do this by growing some type of algae.

But you could do this by using other means:

1. Water changes
2. Biopellets
3. Algae scrubber
4. Denitrification system (Natureef, as an example)

So Yes, you can run a system without a refugium. But, even if you only have a little extra room in the sump, it's so easy to throw a little light in there and some cheato, and you're now off and running.

glb · Jan 29, 2016

Thanks everyone. I'm building a compartment for one so I'll have a choice later. I'll show pics when it's done!

PatW · Jan 29, 2016

A second benefit of a refugium is producing copepods. The algae in the refugium gets grazed by the pods. Some of the pods get swept into the display tank and serves as a constant source of live food.

Sgt Jonny · Jan 29, 2016

Yes you want a refugium/sump.
1. you want the added water volume
2. you want a place to hide equipment such as skimmer, heater, ATO, etc.
3. You can grow macro algae to help export nutrients, or run a reactor with carbon/GFO.

I built 1 out of a 30 gallon tank I got on Craig's list for $10.00 bucks.

redfishbluefish · Jan 29, 2016

Sgt Jonny said:
Yes you want a refugium/sump.
1. you want the added water volume
2. you want a place to hide equipment such as skimmer, heater, ATO, etc.
3. You can grow macro algae to help export nutrients, or run a reactor with carbon/GFO.

I built 1 out of a 30 gallon tank I got on Craig's list for $10.00 bucks.

It's my understanding that the sump is already there. The OP queried whether it was necessary to have a refugium.

jetmaker · Jan 29, 2016

shollis2814 said:
I modified a large HoB filter into a fuge and put some Chaeto in there on my 36 borfront. I loved it. I could tell a difference in water clarity. My setup had some disadvantages, and I took it down for two main reasons:

I use an overflow in an undrilled tank. I have my sump marked for margin of error in case of power outage. I had it worked out on my fuge, too, but realized if my sump return pump fails, and the fuge keeps going, I am going to have a mess as the fuge would feed back into the main tank and that would eventually end up in the sump and overflow into my living room.

The HoB had baffles and even a bottom chamber walled off from the main part of the fuge. Getting gobies and blennies out of there that decided to ride the siphon tube was a pain.

If you can get one, I really liked a fuge and I hope to figure out a way to get mine back once I get a contingency plan for pump failure.

Float switch on the pump so if power comes on it wont start the pump.

glb · Jan 29, 2016

redfishbluefish said:
It's my understanding that the sump is already there. The OP queried whether it was necessary to have a refugium.

I do have the sump tank but it's a new build so I haven't put in the dividers yet. I want to plan everything out ahead of time to avoid problems.

Tru REEF · Jan 29, 2016

We try to make our reefs as close to natural as possible and a mile or 2 from every reef is a algae/seaweed garden (our refuge) its just a natural filter and u can get by with or without it, but i vote. Yes go with one its more pros to it than cons.

glb · Jan 30, 2016

So it seems that the only downside is the space it takes. What kind of light does everyone use?

Epicreefster · Jan 30, 2016

I run an algae turf scrubber, basically a modified refugium aimed at nutrient removal. I would recommend looking up the Triton method, as it is the only source I have seen that gives a recommendation on refugium design. Basically it recommends 1/5th tank volume as your refugium volume, and 10x tank volume flow through the refugium, as well as 1 watt/tank gallon of fluorescent lighting. This is more than I have seen most people run but I believe it is a big reason why their method works for sps as nutrients are a big issue for them.

Here is my setup a turf scrubber about 10x10" with two 10w leds and one 23w compact fluorescent. I run about 700-1000 gph over it and it runs a 50g tank. It's still a work in progress but sps growth is about 1/4" in the first month and I have no algae in tank, feeding 1/2 tsp of very high protein dry food via auto feeder and running about 0.5 no3 and 0.03 po4. I would recommend 1-2 compact fluorescent 23w bulbs, if you undersize lighting you reduce the functionality of the refugium

glb · Jan 30, 2016

If I wanted to use chaeto, do I just buy a ball and add some light? I'd rather use led's for less heat. I live in south Florida so the less added heat the better.

redfishbluefish · Jan 30, 2016

Yes, you can use LED's. However, what's important is that you want a kelvin of 5000 to 6500. Also, I don't know the size of your sump/refugium, but to pick a number, 9 to 15 watts. This bulb and a clip on fixture can all be had at Home Depot of Lowes.

Also, if you know a local reefer with chaeto, I'm sure they would give you some for free. Remember, you end up throwing out a clump every couple of weeks/months.

Tru REEF · Jan 30, 2016

Yea just by a ball of it and throw it in. You can even put 5 strings in and with time it'll be a ball of chaeto

glb · Jan 30, 2016

redfishbluefish said:
Yes, you can use LED's. However, what's important is that you want a kelvin of 5000 to 6500. Also, I don't know the size of your sump/refugium, but to pick a number, 9 to 15 watts. This bulb and a clip on fixture can all be had at Home Depot of Lowes.

Also, if you know a local reefer with chaeto, I'm sure they would give you some for free. Remember, you end up throwing out a clump every couple of weeks/months.

The sump is 20g and the refugium will be about 6-7g of that. Does that fixture run an led light?

glb · Jan 30, 2016

redfishbluefish said:
Yes, you can use LED's. However, what's important is that you want a kelvin of 5000 to 6500. Also, I don't know the size of your sump/refugium, but to pick a number, 9 to 15 watts. This bulb and a clip on fixture can all be had at Home Depot of Lowes.

Also, if you know a local reefer with chaeto, I'm sure they would give you some for free. Remember, you end up throwing out a clump every couple of weeks/months.

You just grab a clump and pull it out?