for the life forms that live there.
All you need is a small CPR refugium. Your sump looks really small though. might want to measure to see if it will work for you. The small one will hang right off my skimmer compartment with room to spare on my new system. The size isn't as important really as all you need is a safe place for these organisms to be able to reproduce. They will move out to the tank and populate the rock too. A small refugium is capable of keeping a relatively decent sized tank populated. Not eveything that makes it out ot the tank is eaten. Things will start populate the rocks and everything. You will definitely notice a lot of pods in your tank after a while which is good and after that, your corals are going to start being much happier and you're going to see the fish picking at the rocks a lot more too because they're eating.I have a Red Sea G2+ 200 and in the sump the RS Skimmer and Reefmat. I am wanting to put in a refugium. However, I am unsure of where to put it. What little space there is in the cabinet for a hang on is taken by the pull out controller panel to the left. Can I put it in the same chamber as the skimmer?
Yup! What he's saying! Ditch the roller and go full on fuge!I'm sure you won't but I'd pull the reefmat and put the fuge there but I'm not a fan of reefmats and am a fan of fuges
My reefer 170 sump. The entire front chamber used to be fuge until I added the skimmer
I’ve a 200xl Gen 1 so my sump is pretty much identical to yours.I'm sure you won't but I'd pull the reefmat and put the fuge there but I'm not a fan of reefmats and am a fan of fuges
My reefer 170 sump. The entire front chamber used to be fuge until I added the skimmer
Sure
Can you share a pic of this. Looking at the 200xl and want a refuge, but not sure if it is better to get a HOB skimmer and use the sump as refuge or get a HOB refuge and put the skimmer in the sump.
I went this route and I just was never happy. I have a thread here about doing this and a build where I elevated a fuge above the sump in a RS 250 and eliminated the socks. Any system I saw, and had, that deployed this always had some serious trade offs. Physically upset anything in the sump and it was sure to be in your display, shut the system down = the fuge floats and crap is in your return chamber, and so on and so on. I REALLY like having the muck hit the fuge though. The biodiversity that is created over time is outstanding. However, it doesn't consume all of it. I recently gutted one of my sumps and added a roller - All I can say is wow, just wow. What a difference. So much so, I added one to another tank this weekend. Fish look like they are floating the water is so clean. To each their own and everyone's mileage is will be different. With OPs current set up and the fact all the gear is brand new, I wouldn't worry about a fuge right now. In fact, if OP is turning the tank on for the first time, I would pull the skimmer out for a while and not even think about running it, or take the cup off so the water can oxygenate (and perhaps get the PH up with some scrubbing) the water. I might even go a couple weeks without a roller, or un do it 12 hours on 12 hours off. But then again, I like to muck up a tank when it is starting off... But that is just me.
