Need help with refugium?

[InDahOcean]

So I'm setting up my tank and realize I don't have anything to put into my refugium....

• What plant or plants should I put in the refugium?
• Should I have substrate in the refugium?
• Should I add pods?

 

[InDahOcean]

lol Algae i mean not plant

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

I would just start with Chato. It's easy and works well. If you decide to put some sand in later and add other macros you can. It nice to start a little cleaner and see how it goes and if you need to make adjustments.
Like if you get odd or large detritus build up you wouldn't know with sand at first.

Pods will probably come in with the Chato. I got tired of paying top dollar for them and usually for more and more diverse by just buying Chato.

 

[InDahOcean]

Ok chaeto....uhmm and should I use crushed live rocks instead of sand?

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

No. I'd stay bare bottom. A pice of live rock or something.
Crushed coral is tough to clean if it gets full of stuff.

 

[RJinPV]

I have some live rock in my refugium. I did it mainly to add biological filtration capacity. No substrate. I wanted to avoid creating a nitrate source. I am tempted to swap the rock out with some Marine Pure ceramic balls because it has a much higher surface area per lb. I have Chaeto algae to support pods. It's starting to work. I'm seeing a number of pods in the Chaeto now. Without the Chaeto I and a hard time finding even one pod in the sump

 

[InDahOcean]

Will Live Rock or Dry Rock Rubble do for like a substrate (I mean just some on the bottom of the refugium)? Also, can I keep Chaeto with the rubble rocks? What pods should I get, I don't know anything about pods because I'm kinda new to sump refugium thing.

 

[JJ1796]

Will Live Rock or Dry Rock Rubble do for like a substrate (I mean just some on the bottom of the refugium)? Also, can I keep Chaeto with the rubble rocks? What pods should I get, I don't know anything about pods because I'm kinda new to sump refugium thing.

I use a little substrate with lots of rubble on the bottom. I also fill a berry basket from amazon full of rubble so I can transfer pods from the refuge to the DT once every 2 weeks. Yes you can keep chaeto with whatever is in the bottom. Get a grow led from amazon and it will grow like crazy. I went from having 20 ppm nitrates every week to zero consistently.

 

[InDahOcean]

Hey man, should I use a UV sterilizer? I have one right now, don't know if it will harm the pods.

 

[InDahOcean]

I have a Finnex FugeRay Aquarium LED from my 20 gallons tank, will it work as a refugium light?

 

[JJ1796]

Hey man, should I use a UV sterilizer? I have one right now, don't know if it will harm the pods.

Go for it. Fish will take out more pods than a sterilizer ever will. The light should work. Doesn't take much light for chaeto to grow. 5000k range is best, but since I changed to a grow led the chaeto has exploded and dropped my nitrates to zero.