First Refugium Design Review

[ctopherl]

Planning out my first refugium and almost ready to pull the trigger. Would like some insights from people experienced with refugiums.

Goals

• Get a pod population going that will support a mandarin
• Reduce frequency of water changes
• Minimal ongoing cost
• Minimal ongoing maintenance

Current Setup

• Red Sea Reefer 250 v3
• 54g DT with 11g sump-has a middle empty chamber with refugium being one suggested use.
  • Chamber is currently empty other than my heater
  • Chamber is after filter cups with filter floss, and before skimmer chamber
• Tank is only about 2 months old and going through ugly stage
• Fish, few inverts, softies and some LPS corals - all seem healthy and happy

Plan

• Get this light and clip on to the edge of my sump
• Buy some dry rock from my LFS, break it up and put it at the bottom of the chamber as a "rubble" substrate-more surface area for pods
• Take a smaller piece of live rock from my DT that I'm not fond of and place that on top of the substrate for even more surface area for pods
  • Since my tank is going through ugly stage, there is a thin algae film on there currently. I will try to brush it off with a toothbrush or something similar before putting in my fuge.
• Buy some chaeto from either LFS (not sure if they sell it yet-have to check) or Algae Barn and add
• Dump a bottle of pods in from LFS

Questions

• Does this seem like a reasonable plan based on what I am looking to accomplish? If not, what would you change?
• How much (ounces) chaeto do I need? Chamber can't be more than ~2 gallons.
• Do I need phyto to seed initially?
• I am expecting to not have to regularly buy pods or phyto to dump in, or at least very rarely. Is this correct?

 

[TankMaid]

Sounds like a solid game plan to me. I would start with the cheato and after you see success, add pods and rubble rock. If, for any reason, the cheato dies it denigrates and will make a huge mess of the rock and be hard to remove. After you see it growing, add rock and pods. If you have detritus in your tank, the pods will feed on that and you do not really need phyto from my experience. I wouldn’t buy more than a handful of cheato to start with, it will grow quickly and your tank and fuge aren’t huge. It will be self sustaining, but to keep biodiversity, I would add a new set of pods every year or so. Hope this helps, best of luck.

 

[BlennyTime]

Looks like a good plan! Buy the smallest amount of chaeto you can that won’t get sucked through the baffle, it will grow anyway so no reason to go crazy. My pods grow inside the chaeto, so don’t worry about too much live rock.

You will probably need to buy phyto to feed the pods, but the population should self sustain and grow if being fed properly.

 

[ichthyogeek]

It looks good, but I'd still look into buying/making a brine shrimp feeder. Dragonets go through an unholy amount of copepods/day, and I'm worried that a 2 gallon refugium isn't going to be making enough pods.

If possible, buy the Tisbe pods. If not Tisbe, then Apocyclops (aka Apocalypse/Apex Pods). If not either of those two, then Tigger-pods. This is based off of fecundity of the pods, since Tisbe>Apocyclops>Tigger-Pods when it comes to reproduction.

 

[BlennyTime]

Look for ORA or Biota captive-bred mandarins, when you are ready to buy. They have been conditioned to eat regular tank food like pellets and flakes. Should help keep the pod consumption down.

 

[Auqaman]

Thanks for sharing. I also have a reefer 250 and will be adding a fug in the near future. I don't think the light you picked is the best option (anyone with more experience feel free to chime in). You'd want to go with a red light to promote more growth. The light you picked looks like it only has blues and whites. Show us a picture when its up and running!!

 

[BlennyTime]

Thanks for sharing. I also have a reefer 250 and will be adding a fug in the near future. I don't think the light you picked is the best option (anyone with more experience feel free to chime in). You'd want to go with a red light to promote more growth. The light you picked looks like it only has blues and whites. Show us a picture when its up and running!!

It’s a bit more expensive, but the best light is probably Kessil Tuna Flora. It grows our chaeto like crazy. But any light with sufficient power should make it grow, maybe just not as fast.

 

[ctopherl]

It’s a bit more expensive, but the best light is probably Kessil Tuna Flora. It grows our chaeto like crazy. But any light with sufficient power should make it grow, maybe just not as fast.

Which model do you use? I see the H160 and H80, and unsure if there are more. It's hard to stomach $200+ for a light to grow algae especially when there are plenty of options under $50, but ~$100 for a premium option is a bit more bearable.

 

[BlennyTime]

Which model do you use? I see the H160 and H80, and unsure if there are more. It's hard to stomach $200+ for a light to grow algae especially when there are plenty of options under $50, but ~$100 for a premium option is a bit more bearable.

I use the H80. I’m sure that there are other lights that would work great too. I just figured I was buying it once and it wasn’t that much more than the other options.

 

[scabbedwings616]

I would stay away from a lfs cheato because I once Bought some and got flat worms. if you do buy it inspect it well. Their are cheap lights that are waterproof and good for growing macro algae on Amazon. I have them on my tanks and have to harvest it every two weeks. If you got it from algae barn you will be good and start to you refugium. I have seen a item called a pod hotel that people love and swear by it. If you keep some rubble or rock in your refugium, you will be fine as well. I have had my mandarin over 2 years and never fed pods to the tank.

 

[ctopherl]

I would stay away from a lfs cheato because I once Bought some and got flat worms. if you do buy it inspect it well. Their are cheap lights that are waterproof and good for growing macro algae on Amazon. I have them on my tanks and have to harvest it every two weeks. If you got it from algae barn you will be good and start to you refugium. I have seen a item called a pod hotel that people love and swear by it. If you keep some rubble or rock in your refugium, you will be fine as well. I have had my mandarin over 2 years and never fed pods to the tank.

Great anecdotes thanks! Do you have a specific light you suggest? I did see some submersible ones but wasn’t sure if they were effective.

I really trust my LFS in general but that’s scary so I will be careful.

How big is your tank and fuge? I am a bit worried my small fuge size may not sustain a mandarin even if I do it all correct.

 

[Wolfman238]

H380 light for the fuge pods will have to be replenished occasionally. Research research and apply lol

 

[scabbedwings616]

Great anecdotes thanks! Do you have a specific light you suggest? I did see some submersible ones but wasn’t sure if they were effective.

I really trust my LFS in general but that’s scary so I will be careful.

How big is your tank and fuge? I am a bit worried my small fuge size may not sustain a mandarin even if I do it all correct.

Click on my build thread. I have 4 saltwater tanks, 1 29g with a sump, 1 biocube, 90g and 80g on the same system. I use a trigger 39 emerald sump for that system. Your tank will be good just find ways to make the pods thrive. Look at the pod hotels. They can help with making sure pods are breeding. Just be careful with the lfs. I’ve had some tell me wrong information about things and issues I’ve had in the past. I ask a question to them that I already know the answer to and see how the respond.
Below is the light I use on my tanks that have sumps! Amazing and great macro algea grower.

 

[Pistondog]

Click on my build thread. I have 4 saltwater tanks, 1 29g with a sump, 1 biocube, 90g and 80g on the same system. I use a trigger 39 emerald sump for that system. Your tank will be good just find ways to make the pods thrive. Look at the pod hotels. They can help with making sure pods are breeding. Just be careful with the lfs. I’ve had some tell me wrong information about things and issues I’ve had in the past. I ask a question to them that I already know the answer to and see how the respond.
Below is the light I use on my tanks that have sumps! Amazing and great macro algea grower.

OP, You need a $50 dollar blinding pink horticulture light like this above
Or this
Which might be too big physically
But not a kessil unless its a 360, $$$$
Set yourself up for success.
Will the a80 or 160 grow chaeto, maybe but much slower than these others above. The kessils have less par, except maybe the 360.

 

[Pistondog]

Planning out my first refugium and almost ready to pull the trigger. Would like some insights from people experienced with refugiums.

Goals

• Get a pod population going that will support a mandarin
• Reduce frequency of water changes
• Minimal ongoing cost
• Minimal ongoing maintenance

Current Setup

• Red Sea Reefer 250 v3
• 54g DT with 11g sump-has a middle empty chamber with refugium being one suggested use.
  • Chamber is currently empty other than my heater
  • Chamber is after filter cups with filter floss, and before skimmer chamber
• Tank is only about 2 months old and going through ugly stage
• Fish, few inverts, softies and some LPS corals - all seem healthy and happy

Plan

• Get this light and clip on to the edge of my sump
• Buy some dry rock from my LFS, break it up and put it at the bottom of the chamber as a "rubble" substrate-more surface area for pods
• Take a smaller piece of live rock from my DT that I'm not fond of and place that on top of the substrate for even more surface area for pods
  • Since my tank is going through ugly stage, there is a thin algae film on there currently. I will try to brush it off with a toothbrush or something similar before putting in my fuge.
• Buy some chaeto from either LFS (not sure if they sell it yet-have to check) or Algae Barn and add
• Dump a bottle of pods in from LFS

Questions

• Does this seem like a reasonable plan based on what I am looking to accomplish? If not, what would you change?
• How much (ounces) chaeto do I need? Chamber can't be more than ~2 gallons.
• Do I need phyto to seed initially?
• I am expecting to not have to regularly buy pods or phyto to dump in, or at least very rarely. Is this correct?

No phyto.
I'd think about adding pods every 4 to 6 months if you don't see them on the glass.
Get a tank raised Mandarin used to mysis.

 

[ctopherl]

OP, You need a $50 dollar blinding pink horticulture light like this above
Or this
Which might be too big physically
But not a kessil unless its a 360, $$$$
Set yourself up for success.
Will the a80 or 160 grow chaeto, maybe but much slower than these others above. The kessils have less par, except maybe the 360.

Interesting! Not sure if this changes your opinion but we were talking about H80 and H160 and you mentioned A80 here. Seems odd though since H160 costs more than my DT lights and seems to have phenomenal reviews!

 

[Pistondog]

Interesting! Not sure if this changes your opinion but we were talking about H80 and H160 and you mentioned A80 here. Seems odd though since H160 costs more than my DT lights and seems to have phenomenal reviews!

Sorry, A for aquarium, H for horticulture, difference is color spectrum.
No, opinion change.