Refugiums: Are they worth the extra time, money & work?

[Neil S.]

First what is a Refugium?

The refugium is an auxiliary tank on your main, display tank. It serves as a sort of refuge for both primary producers and primary consumers (i.e. intermediaries) such as pods. There, desirable and beneficial macroalgae are cultivated out of the reach of large, gluttonous herbivores such as tangs. Pods proliferate there too, safe from the constant predatory pressure of small fishes like damsels, gobies, etc. Even so, as the pods reproduce, they drift out of the refugium into the main tank to continuously feed fishes, corals, and so on. As the macroalgal bed grows to maximal carrying capacity, it is harvested and either discarded or (better yet!) fed out as a nutritious live veggie for fish and invert herbivores in the main tank. - Thanks AlgaeBarn

So let's talk about your refugiums past, present and the future.


1. Are you currently running a refugium on your tank? Tell us why or why not.

2. What has been your experience with refugiums and are they worth the extra work, time and investment?


image via member @rmchoi from this thread.

Running a Triton system, so yes....my refugium is 11.12 gallons in a total system volume of 61 gallons. This will be changing shortly to 85 gallons as my new display tank has arrived. The refugium has worked really well for controlling nitrates and the water chemistry has been relatively stable. I have been battling a persistent hair algae problem and tried just about every process to knock it down, including manual removal, more cuc, GFO, etc....nothing has really worked for much more than about a week....the stuff just kept coming back. So chemical warfare it is, I've been dosing Vibrant now for 2 weeks and the hair algae is GONE!!..... along with the chaeto...... so, I'll continue the process for another 7 weeks, as per BRS deep dive into Vibrant. Once the Vibrant process is finished I'll restart the chaeto.

 

[Scrubber_steve]

Algae scrubber here. On a tank with a decent fish population I'd never be without some form of algae filtration.

 

[DxMarinefish]

I ran one for 2 years. It worked okay but was a constant headache. Siphoning detritus was a pita. Algae growth I didn't want in there. Cyano blooms.

I made a DIY ATS out of an old 15 high I had laying around. It killed off the fuge and I removed it. My ATS has about 3 inches of water in the bottom full of rubble. Mad pods grow in there and I have to feed heavy to keep up with the nutrients. I like that. It makes me the god of nutrients rather than the slave and the fish are thick and healthy.

The ATS didn't come without it it's own problems though. First was trying to get the flow right, then the drain right. Went through several types of bulbs until I found Expressions LTD. Water slot clogging with algae, had to figure out how to shade the top of the screen. Yellow tint in the water that adding a UV fixed but it's all dialed up and running well.

In my experience the fuge/chaeto thing works well but I needed something more efficient. I scrape one side of the screen once a week and that's it. It doesn't matter what grows on it. Cyano, dinos, hair, turf. It all gets thrown away.

I also have the benefit of having my sump in the basement. I couldn't imagine having to keep my ATS under my tank. That wouldn't work for me. Just like a fuge an ATS has to be large enough to work properly.

I also use the led’s from Expressions LTD on my ATS. 3 on each side! Ulva grows like weed

 

[K7BMG]

I’m really new and have been reading all the post in this thread to learn something new,, but I’m stuck on one thing /. What is Aiptasia any explanation will help and please keep it simple. Thank you

Aiptasia is a nusance pest Anemone.
It will over run a tank and can kill off desirable corals.
Aiptasia does not spontaneously apear out of nowhere.
Like everything its introduced into the tank by hitchhiking on live rock, coral plugs, fuge algaes and the like.
Things like this can be avoided by being carfull and buying livestock from reputable retailers.

 

[LC8Sumi]

I've pulled mine recently after running it from the start of the tank (3 years) as an experiment. Tank has never looked this good, so I have a feeling that we don't know the whole story to fuges and what they pull/push from/into the water.

 

[italquam]

I used to use a refugium , however I switched to a Turbos Aquatics algae scrubber and I am having much better results with it. I plan on adding a small refugium just to grow some pods in a small portion of Chaeto , but the scrubber will handle the bulk of the export for nutrients. I had Serdar at Geo's Reef design my sump around the algae scrubber and it worked out great. I know the upfront cost is more but it is worth the investment long term.

Most public Aquariums use algae scrubbers for a reason.

 

[DxMarinefish]

I use a refugium that growS a mixture of chaeto and Ulva, lit by a H380 and the pod life in the fug is insane.

I also run an ATS that sits on top of the Hang-on back refugium that is glued to the back of the DT. this is lit by 27watt leds on each side and grows predominantly Ulva.

they compete against each other but I feed 14 times a day and nitrates and phosphates are barely detectable.

so my refugium is mainly to grow pods. I have 3 aiptasia eating shrimps in the fug so no issues there.

I have no skimmer so would never run a system with out a refugium or ATS.

 

[italquam]

I use a refugium that growS a mixture of chaeto and Ulva, lit by a H380 and the pod life in the fug is insane.

I also run an ATS that sits on top of the Hang-on back refugium that is glued to the back of the DT. this is lit by 27watt leds on each side and grows predominantly Ulva.

they compete against each other but I feed 14 times a day and nitrates and phosphates are barely detectable.

so my refugium is mainly to grow pods. I have 3 aiptasia eating shrimps in the fug so no issues there.

I have no skimmer so would never run a system with out a refugium or ATS.

That is cool you use no skimmer, how long have you been running without one?

 

[DarthSimon]

I believe Refugiums work, and can work very well. The only problem is most people have under sized refugiums. I have found over my years in reefing refugiums to make a nominal difference in my nutrient export.

Now Algae Turf Scrubbers on the other hand I’ve found to be super efficient at lowering nutrient levels, and they take up much less space.

 

[DxMarinefish]

That is cool you use no skimmer, how long have you been running without one?

Since 2007.

Filtration is:
Refugium, ATS, Fluidised Sandbed filter.
No water changes ( just salinity adjustments which is I so rare these days because I also dose 10ml phytoplankton every hour 24/7)

 

[italquam]

Since 2007.

Filtration is:
Refugium, ATS, Fluidised Sandbed filter.
No water changes ( just salinity adjustments which is I so rare these days because I also dose 10ml phytoplankton every hour 24/7)

Do you have a thread of your setup? Are you cultivating your own Phyto?

 

[Paulie069]

Aiptasia is a nusance pest Anemone.
It will over run a tank and can kill off desirable corals.
Aiptasia does not spontaneously apear out of nowhere.
Like everything its introduced into the tank by hitchhiking on live rock, coral plugs, fuge algaes and the like.
Things like this can be avoided by being carfull and buying livestock from reputable retailers.

Thank u that helps a lot,, I never imagined I would have to take notes to have a tank

 

[ReefReadyYouTube]

I have a HOB refugium I made with the aquaclear 50. Haven’t put macro algae in yet but I think it looks good. Here’s a video of it.

 

[DxMarinefish]

Do you have a thread of your setup? Are you cultivating your own Phyto?

Sorry i don’t have a thread.
I culture my own phytoplankton which I run for 2 weeks to get it really super green in 4.5 litre glass jugs. I use TNC Complete plant fertiliser

 

[MrSkumfrog]

I prefer to run a denitrator instead of a refugium. I have a DIY 5 gal unit running with vodka. Five cycles per day, 3 ml of ethanol per cycles keeps my NO3 at a stable 2.5 ppm

Do you have a YouTube channel? This looks intriguing.

 

[italquam]

Sorry i don’t have a thread.
I culture my own phytoplankton which I run for 2 weeks to get it really super green in 4.5 litre glass jugs. I use TNC Complete plant fertiliser

Any photos of the setup , I am very interested in doing one

 

[Royce White]

I have a refugium and have had one for many years but I haven't been able to grow cheato for more than 2-4 months and then it melts away. have tried many different lights nothing seems to work, parameters stay good so I don't worry to much.

 

[NHgoalstop]

I already posted that I use a fuge. I see people posting that they are time consuming and ugly but honestly they are the opposite of time consuming and anyone can make one that's actually visually attractive. My next one will have a side job as being a sea horse tank.

 

[NHgoalstop]

I have a refugium and have had one for many years but I haven't been able to grow cheato for more than 2-4 months and then it melts away. have tried many different lights nothing seems to work, parameters stay good so I don't worry to much.

I'm having good success growing it with a cheap 6500k cree lightbulb from homedepot.

 

[living_tribunal]

I have a refugium and have had one for many years but I haven't been able to grow cheato for more than 2-4 months and then it melts away. have tried many different lights nothing seems to work, parameters stay good so I don't worry to much.

Try adding iron?