Pax Bellum or refugium?

[Miller535]

Will not be doing either immediately but hopefully in the next few months. Tank is established 125 gallon mixed reef. I'm really torn between the two. My reason for either would primarily for nutrient control. IF i do a refugium it will be a seperate tank plumbed into and sharing the sump of my tank. The refugium would likely cost a lot more, but once up would require little to no maintenance other then occasionally sticking my hand in and pulling out chaeto or whatever I was growing. Pax bellum would be a lot cheaper, but would require monthly maintenance. Help me decide reefing community. what are the benefits to both? Downsides? am I missing something?

 

[Jseimo]

I use a diy algae or light reactor if you will. The biggest benefit I’ve read is that they’re super effective. Also they done have any light bleed into my sump area growing any unwanted algae

 

[Spare time]

I am a big advocate for refugiums (that is the only filter I run besides carbon and socks and I do maybe 1 or 2 20 gallon water changes a year on my 75). I think that a dedicated refugium would be more powerful (or at least has a greater potential), but I think it all depends on how much of a problem you currently have with waste. If it needs to be more on the complimentary side then the pax would be my pick. If you are looking to have it become a primary filter or have a very heavy bioload, then I would go with a larger refugium. Keep in mind that it is not necessarily the size of the refugium that matters, but rather the rate that the macro is growing.

 

[AcanthurusRex]

I thought this was clever.

 

[billwill]

A fuge is definitely lower maintenance. If you’ve got room for it, that’s what I would do. The reactor is a reactor like any other, in that you’ve got to pull it offline and carry to the sink to do the maintenance.

 

[Pistondog]

Will not be doing either immediately but hopefully in the next few months. Tank is established 125 gallon mixed reef. I'm really torn between the two. My reason for either would primarily for nutrient control. IF i do a refugium it will be a seperate tank plumbed into and sharing the sump of my tank. The refugium would likely cost a lot more, but once up would require little to no maintenance other then occasionally sticking my hand in and pulling out chaeto or whatever I was growing. Pax bellum would be a lot cheaper, but would require monthly maintenance. Help me decide reefing community. what are the benefits to both? Downsides? am I missing something?

Refugium
I have live rock from 3 inches to the bottom, then chaeto on top. Podz, starfish and emergency timeout if required. No sox, skimmer in next chamber. Triton method, so few water changes. Pax bellum looks like a lot of work when you remove chaeto. The tunze looks easier.

 

[Miller535]

I do not have a nutrient problem currently, my No3 sits around 5-6, and PO4 around .1. But I would like to feed a little heavier, and feed my corals more. I have the room, I could totally set a tank up next to my display and plumb it into the displays sump. And have it be a separate but attached refugium. I guess I'm trying to weigh out ease of maintenence and effectiveness.

 

[BiggestE222]

Don’t have room in sump for refugium do I git the N18. Works great. Takes 5-10 to clean out excess algae and reconnect. The larger versions have east disconnect connections. I have them too but they are inline so it’s really not useful. Any standard refugium needs to roll otherwise you will get die off from shaded area

 

[reeftivo]

Don’t have room in sump for refugium do I git the N18. Works great. Takes 5-10 to clean out excess algae and reconnect. The larger versions have east disconnect connections. I have them too but they are inline so it’s really not useful. Any standard refugium needs to roll otherwise you will get die off from shaded area

N18 here. 15 minutes to harvest. super efficient!

quick disconnects on mine are a must

 

[BiggestE222]

Standard look have not taken picks. I stilll have SPS frags so it’s nice to get LDS store credits with my Chaeto

 

[saltwaterpicaso]

i would go algea scrubber having had both the refugium always gets dirty. the pax was hit or miss when it grew it was great when it turned cheato to mush it was horrible i think it needs dimable leds they are very bright i would harvest some out of it then a week latter would have cheato mush it drove me nuts. i finally bought an algea scrubber and it does what its supposed to no issues and its clean

 

[Jeffcb]

That works for me.

 

[Crevalle]

I prefer a refugium with red ogo and plenty of copepods and amphipods.

 

[QuarantinedCorals]

I think a fuge is better for housing all sorts of organisms, but the reactor should be better for nutrient control because it grows algae so efficiently.

 

[reeftivo]

i would go algea scrubber having had both the refugium always gets dirty. the pax was hit or miss when it grew it was great when it turned cheato to mush it was horrible i think it needs dimable leds they are very bright i would harvest some out of it then a week latter would have cheato mush it drove me nuts. i finally bought an algea scrubber and it does what its supposed to no issues and its clean

I hear ya. i would have a fuge if it weren't for the location my tank is in downstairs. I have no regrets though with the reactor. I get that dense harvest every three weeks. any longer and the core gets bleached out from pressing so close to the center tube. I only had a little of what you call mush (mix of dying bleached chaeto and hair algae) in the first couple months of running it. Now that the reactor is seasoned a bit, i only get loads of perfect chaeto. I dunk the chaeto in a 5 gallon bucket and shake loose pods, then put them in the display.

 

[saltwaterpicaso]

I tried it for 3 months I was bummed I couldn't get it to work properly. But I will say that algea scrubber I have now is just plain simple and it works

 

[BiggestE22]

I unfortunately I cracked by n18 case and although I glued it back the fix was not perfect so now it leaks. As such I had to put in my sump. It should work but it makes even more maintenance necessary. Got it in. Now a bunch of wire maintenance needed.