Need refugium advice

[Steelerfan747]

Hi guys and gals.

I just picked up my new sump today that will allow me to set up a refugium. I have not had a fuge in some time. The last time I had a real fuge I used live sand in it and when I briefly used a hob fuge I used miracle mud. However, lately I have seen many go substrate less and just have live rock rubble. My question is what is the benefit of this and what would you guys recommend?

 

[Steven R]

I am using miracle mud on my 30g fuge and on my other system I am using Kent Bio-sediment and between the two I have to say that the miracle mud system seems to have a'lot better color and overall growth and have not added any trace elements since it was started I also use brightwell salt though, and it does not cake and clump together ( no need for sediment agitation) As far as the Kent marine not very happy with it, it seems to cake up and flake off in whole plates and needs to be stir'ed quite frequently,and the color and growth of the coral does not seem to be close to the miracle mud. I tend to stay away from rock rubble since a'lot of stuff seems to get caught in the nooks so in my opinion it is more work then needed to clean rock rubble. IMO i would go with a 8 inch bed of miracle mud to create anoxic zone's ( de-nitrification) with Chaetomorpha on top under a par 30 5000k 5 led bulb on a 24 hour cycle and I think you would be pleased with the results.

 

[Pappy]

I'm running lr only in fuge.

 

[Pappy]

IMO there is plenty of sand for filtration in the dt so don't really see the need for substrate in fuge especially with very good skimmer.))

 

[reef life]

I used to use a fuge, now just a 75 gallon sump. Every system is diff.

 

[Steven R]

IMO there is plenty of sand for filtration in the dt so don't really see the need for substrate in fuge especially with very good skimmer.))

skimmer removes organics a deep sand bed however removes all ready broken down nutrients, its fish poop for the skimmer and nitrates for the sand bed. only if it is deeper then 6 inches to create oxygen free zones for denitrifying bacteria to exist and most people that i know including my self do not have more than 6 inches of substrate in the display. it just work's really good for removing all nutrients in the system I have found if you use chaeto with the deep sand bed method. but each to there own. and you are right no matter how much sand and rock you have it is only useful if ran with a quality skimmer.

 

[wysiwyg]

i use a miracle mud with a aragonite in my fuge and love it aproxiamately 4" mix of the 2

 

[caudill187]

I'd always go with at least a 4" bed in the fuge. My thinking is, this allows me to have a deep sand area for reduction of nitrates without creating the problem of a nutrient sink in the display over time....works for me

 

[Steelerfan747]

I am using miracle mud on my 30g fuge and on my other system I am using Kent Bio-sediment and between the two I have to say that the miracle mud system seems to have a'lot better color and overall growth and have not added any trace elements since it was started I also use brightwell salt though, and it does not cake and clump together ( no need for sediment agitation) As far as the Kent marine not very happy with it, it seems to cake up and flake off in whole plates and needs to be stir'ed quite frequently,and the color and growth of the coral does not seem to be close to the miracle mud. I tend to stay away from rock rubble since a'lot of stuff seems to get caught in the nooks so in my opinion it is more work then needed to clean rock rubble. IMO i would go with a 8 inch bed of miracle mud to create anoxic zone's ( de-nitrification) with Chaetomorpha on top under a par 30 5000k 5 led bulb on a 24 hour cycle and I think you would be pleased with the results.

Funny, I actually purchased that light from hd a few days ago. I will look into possibly picking up some miracle mud and maybe a combo with live sand to keep costs down

 

[PAK]

I use Miracle Mud..2.5 inches and an inch of sand. Put a few pieces of live rock and then of course live plants.

 

[pumarjr]

I use to run miracle mud in my sump, then I disturbed it one day and it made my tank very unhappy which in turn made my very unhappy, I removed the mud from my sump and I have now only Lr and Chaeto in it and it's perfectly fine.

 

[Steelerfan747]

okay but again what is the benefit of only having live rock with chaeto?

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[Pappy]

okay but again what is the benefit of only having live rock with chaeto?

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The live rock helps filter with beneficial bacteria and the cheato sux up the nitrates, therefor, IMO no need for live sand. I know lots of people with sand in sump and lots of people without. Both equally happy with results.

 

[Steelerfan747]

The live rock helps filter with beneficial bacteria and the cheato sux up the nitrates, therefor, IMO no need for live sand. I know lots of people with sand in sump and lots of people without. Both equally happy with results.

would you do live rock or live rock rubble

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[Pappy]

I used live rock on both tanks (lil bigger than softball size to baseball size pieces).

 

[Steelerfan747]

I have a piece that I would like to remove from my tank but it has mushrooms on it would that be a problem ?

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[SeahorseKeeper]

I have a piece that I would like to remove from my tank but it has mushrooms on it would that be a problem ?

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No, it would not be a problem.

 

[Steven R]

I have a piece that I would like to remove from my tank but it has mushrooms on it would that be a problem ?

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I think you are fine just pop the shroom off with a small piece of rock on it and relocate it. And yeah those LED bulbs from Home Depot are awesome. you got the PAR 30 5k right?

 

[ritter6788]

I have a few larger sized liverocks in my fuge just to give pods a place to grow freely for my mandarin. I keep a big ball of chaeto for pod production and nutrient removal, although I've done without it just fine. I like to go BB in my sump so I can vacuum the detritus out when I do water changes. Deep sandbeds have never done anything for me except collect waste and if you saw the filth I just cleaned out when I removed a 3+year old 3 inch sandbed from my display then you wouldn't add sand either. Lol

 

[Steelerfan747]

I think you are fine just pop the shroom off with a small piece of rock on it and relocate it. And yeah those LED bulbs from Home Depot are awesome. you got the PAR 30 5k right?

Yes. Are you running it with or without the reflector?

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