Refugium yes or no

[Jason aguila]

I removed mine, it was too efficient for my previous bioload. But now, it might work fine -- which means 'it depends' is the correct answer.

was your system a frag system?

 

[Rakie]

Yeah that can be a problem but i like to feed a lot my grandson was over today so we feed 3 times while he was here

was your system a frag system?

No I just like to keep my nutrients elevated. Above 10 no3 and above 0.1 po4. I feed a ton, and have a heavy fish load -- but when I last had chaeto my fish load was light, and it kept bringing me down to zero no3/po4.

So if you have a healthy population of livestock chaeto is no problem. But I see people with brand new tanks wanting to add chaeto because "it's what people do", and seem to not realize it won't help them.

 

[Jason aguila]

No I just like to keep my nutrients elevated. Above 10 no3 and above 0.1 po4. I feed a ton, and have a heavy fish load -- but when I last had chaeto my fish load was light, and it kept bringing me down to zero no3/po4.

So if you have a healthy population of livestock chaeto is no problem. But I see people with brand new tanks wanting to add chaeto because "it's what people do", and seem to not realize it won't help them.

yes I totally understand the new tank process. this would be my 3rd current system. I do plan on feeding a lot. an mostly stocking SPS. so my gfo is probably what I should be concerned about.

 

[Jason aguila]

made a few cut on the baffles that I'm 100% on. more to come

 

[Rich Klein]

I actually have mine set up the opposite of this. Socks>chaeto>rock rubble>skimmer.

I didn't want to strip nutrients out before the chaeto had a chance to feed on them.

I have the same order of flow (refugium, skimmer, return), but ditched the filter socks and have never looked back. The refugium is fed directly from the overflow.

 

[Rakie]

yes I totally understand the new tank process. this would be my 3rd current system. I do plan on feeding a lot. an mostly stocking SPS. so my gfo is probably what I should be concerned about.

Yeah I can tell it's not your first tank. I just advocate that people add chaeto a little farther down the line in general. I see a lot of new people asking about chaeto and carbon dosing before their first tank is even set up -- So I always point it out for whomever comes across the thread in the future.

 

[Jason aguila]

I have the same order of flow (refugium, skimmer, return), but ditched the filter socks and have never looked back. The refugium is fed directly from the overflow.

since you ditched the socks do you get detritus build up in any of your Chambers? any pics?

 

[Jason aguila]

Yeah I can tell it's not your first tank. I just advocate that people add chaeto a little farther down the line in general. I see a lot of new people asking about chaeto and carbon dosing before their first tank is even set up -- So I always point it out for whomever comes across the thread in the future.

yes good thinking the more info out there for new reefers the better.

 

[Jason aguila]

I made a few cuts on the baffles that I know are going to be 100% the overflow inlet will not be sitting on top of the rim like that it' just on top for the picture. I'm pretty confident i will have the sump finished tomorrow. I hope lol. I was thinking of splitting the center refugium chamber (skimmer in back an bare glass an rolling chato in the front center) an splitting the inlet/overflow chamber an rolling it with rock rubble or a deep sand bed. any thoughts on that or opinions? thanks

 

[elisa h]

For a frag system in my opinion it's best to not run a skimmer but to just run a refugium or algae scrubber. Skimmers don't remove nutrients from the water, they remove food (particulate matter that coral love to eat). Algae will not remove the particulate matter but will actually remove nitrate and phosphate from the water while also consuming co2 and adding oxygen to the water. It also adds things like amino acids to the water which corals enjoy as well. A skimmer will skim this food out. You'll be successful either way just wanted to put that out there.

 

[Jason aguila]

For a frag system in my opinion it's best to not run a skimmer but to just run a refugium or algae scrubber. Skimmers don't remove nutrients from the water, they remove food (particulate matter that coral love to eat). Algae will not remove the particulate matter but will actually remove nitrate and phosphate from the water while also consuming co2 and adding oxygen to the water. It also adds things like amino acids to the water which corals enjoy as well. A skimmer will skim this food out. You'll be successful either way just wanted to put that out there.

yes I have been weighing that option for a while now. Even before I started this build. I got a good deal on the skimmer so I bought it. an was planning on adding another 50gal low boy to this (in the farther future) but I know all the good benefits of a algae scrubber. I never ran one. I'm pretty good at diy. I may just give that a run. I was only planning on running the skimmer a few hours a day as it's over rated for this system. I could easiy add it to the chambe the skimmer would sit in. thanks for the input.

 

[Sir Chris]

Here’s mine I just made for my 75. Middle is he fuge. I don’t wanna slim up pods so it’s after all the reactions there’s a bio pellet reactor and it’s a 10 inch baffle. Then the fugues 13 inches under over and marine pure of all types everywhere. I won algae barns big prize so got the cubes.

 

[Pntbll687]

I have the same order of flow (refugium, skimmer, return), but ditched the filter socks and have never looked back. The refugium is fed directly from the overflow.

I only use the socks a few days a month. When detritus builds up and I need to blow it if rocks, I add the socks do catch it, then two days later take the socks back out.

 

[Rich Klein]

since you ditched the socks do you get detritus build up in any of your Chambers? any pics?

Since the 1st chamber of my sump had a baffle opening at the bottom I had an insert built out of acrylic. For a refugium it is important for the water to flow over the top. It also allowed me to make the refugium taller. I fashioned a channel to hold a removable egg crate filter. This keeps the chaeto from getting into the sump. The front is black to help contain overflow light.

This was the chamber holding the dreaded filter sock before the insert went in.

Here is the water flowing before adding chaeto. I didn't want any sand in my refugium, but wanted a good place for the copods and other critters to grow, so I added a few layers of marine pure cubes.

I bought a $45 led horticulture light off Amazon for the 12 x 14 " refugium and within a few weeks it was packed with 4-6 inch deep chaeto. The 150 watt LED light is super powerful (link below). I have to feed my 165 gallon reef tank pretty heavy to keep measurable amounts of Phosphate .02 ppm, and Nitrates 2 ppm. I will never change (or wash) a filter sock again.

UFO Led Grow Light, Growstar 150W
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07312WKX2/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

[Jason aguila]

Since the 1st chamber of my sump had a baffle opening at the bottom I had an insert built out of acrylic. For a refugium it is important for the water to flow over the top. It also allowed me to make the refugium taller. I fashioned a channel to hold a removable egg crate filter. This keeps the chaeto from getting into the sump. The front is black to help contain overflow light.

This was the chamber holding the dreaded filter sock before the insert went in.

Here is the water flowing before adding chaeto. I didn't want any sand in my refugium, but wanted a good place for the copods and other critters to grow, so I added a few layers of marine pure cubes.

I bought a $45 led horticulture light off Amazon for the 12 x 14 " refugium and within a few weeks it was packed with 4-6 inch deep chaeto. The 150 watt LED light is super powerful (link below). I have to feed my 165 gallon reef tank pretty heavy to keep measurable amounts of Phosphate .02 ppm, and Nitrates 2 ppm. I will never change (or wash) a filter sock again.

UFO Led Grow Light, Growstar 150W
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07312WKX2/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Thank You for the detailed response. I have so many new ideas now. I didn' do any building today just scetches an brain storming lol. I just want to get this system to be very efficient to grow some solid sps. so I'm taking all this in. thanks again Happy reefing

 

[Jason aguila]

this is what I'm going to go with so far. I'm in between if I want to as rock/bio media in the first chamber or the front center chamber. the first chamber is bigger. if like to have chato tumbling in the front center chamber. what are your preferences an why? I'm open to all thoughts an opinions. thanks

 

[Chef Tommy]

Looking great!