Skimmer vs Algae Refugium vs Both

[Kayanarka]

TLDR: LFS says skimmer better then algae refugium.


I know this has been discussed at least once. I walked into my LFS today and was asking about chaeto algae. They suggested a skimmer over running a refugium. They cited how hard it is to get the algae to tumble, and that it can spread through the tank.

I had ordered the refugium dividers for my 425xl, and I was planning on getting one of those submersible lights so it would not matter if the algae tumbles or not. I liked the idea of the algae being active at night and helping with co2 while the reef sleeps.

My LFS seemed to be against algae, and I left a little deflated about an idea I was excited about. I felt like the algae would make a great lesson about biosphere for the kids.

 

[mrlavalamp]

Keep in mind the LFS makes more money if you buy a skimmer from them. Just my $0.02

They both remove waste at different stages.

I say run both, but my tanks always run high nutrient. If running the skimmer means not having space for a refugium, then an algae reactor or other external unit (turf scrubber) would be ideal. This is what I do and my algae reactor fills up with chaeto in a couple weeks, it is easily cleaned, very easy to control light spill, and no issues with "tumbling" or whatever.

 

[ninjamyst]

Do both. It's not one or the other. What submersible light are you getting??

 

[MarshallB]

Honestly it depends how big your tank is, how mature it is, and how big of a bioload it has. You can do just fine running just a skimmer or running just a refugium or algae reactor ( if it's big enough ). It is very easy to suck all traces of nitrate and phosphate out of the tank if you are running both which causes issues.

A efficient skimmer may out perform a small refugium. A crappy skimmer will get out performed by a refugium.

I say if you have the space and can afford a good light then run both. If I had to choose one or the other I'd go with a skimmer. reason being is for any reason your algae dies off well there goes your filtration.

Running a refugium also has additional benefits. One, It's a home for your pods. Two, due to the refugium having a light more suited for plant growth, most neusance algae will grow much faster in there thus reducing its presence in thr display tank.

 

[Sean Clark]

TLDR: LFS says skimmer better then algae refugium.


I know this has been discussed at least once. I walked into my LFS today and was asking about chaeto algae. They suggested a skimmer over running a refugium. They cited how hard it is to get the algae to tumble, and that it can spread through the tank.

I had ordered the refugium dividers for my 425xl, and I was planning on getting one of those submersible lights so it would not matter if the algae tumbles or not. I liked the idea of the algae being active at night and helping with co2 while the reef sleeps.

My LFS seemed to be against algae, and I left a little deflated about an idea I was excited about. I felt like the algae would make a great lesson about biosphere for the kids.

Seems like from the wording of your post that you are not running a skimmer. If that is true then my vote is skimmer first before a refugium every time. I personally would not only use algae alone for nutrient control unless you have a very large refugium and have a very well established system.

Another thing to consider is the commercial setting that the LFS operates in. They tend to have very large systems and they are constantly changing water through livestock sales (one bag at a time), and have employees that are constantly working on keeping the tanks looking their best. From my experience most of the LFS staff do not even keep saltwater tanks at home; so their experience tends to be limited to the store. Skimmers alone may work for them and may seem easier or less complicated for them to maintain. Remove the cup, empty the cup, re-install the cup. I would bet that they still sell macroalgae in their store though.

Since you already have the refugium dividers, I would say do both; refugium and skimmer.

If you look around, that is what a lot of people do and have success with.

Good luck.

 

[Littlesquishy]

Nice thread, I may be at this crossroad too if my sump is too small for both or shrink the refugium. Why is it so important for chaeto to tumble in a refugium? Are there other algae options that don't require tumbling to be effective?

 

[Sean Clark]

Nice thread, I may be at this crossroad too if my sump is too small for both or shrink the refugium. Why is it so important for chaeto to tumble in a refugium? Are there other algae options that don't require tumbling to be effective?

In my opinion, tumbling algae is way over rated. If it grows so thick that light won't pennitrate the algae, perhaps it is time to harvest some algae. Just a thought.

 

[Kayanarka]

Do both. It's not one or the other. What submersible light are you getting??

I was going to get the submersible Tunz Eco Chic but it seems to be sold out. Amazon is trying to sell the broad spectrum version with a picture of the pink led's I almost fell for it.

I ended up ordering a Pico Refugium LED - ReefBreeders

Keep in mind the LFS makes more money if you buy a skimmer from them. Just my $0.02

If that was their goal it had the opposite effect, I just bought what I wanted anyway at an online vendor, got a lamp and some cheato on the way.

 

[Saltyanimals]

Pass on the tumbling effort too. It’s more of a cool factor but haven’t seen any negative impact from a pile of chaeto. I just have a big light and it grows so fast the under lighted parts don’t really matter.

 

[Kfactor]

both

 

[PeterC99]

Skimmer & cheap egg crate chaeto Refugium fit very nicely in the RSR 425 XL sump as you can see below.

 

[Kayanarka]

Skimmer & cheap egg crate chaeto Refugium fit very nicely in the RSR 425 XL sump as you can see below.

I ended up with both. My refugium was not pulling enough nutrients out by itself. We are definitely heavy feaders. I ended up getting a jump skimmer and I like it. It pulls a 1 to 2 inch deep ring of deep black crud out of my water in a week. My Chaeto is taking off. I also ended up adding a carbon/GFO reactor. This final addition really seemed to please my BTA.

I plan to run a full suite of tests today, and I need to decide if the carbon and GFO runs full time or on a schedule.

The Chaeto is hard to see, hiding behind the skimmer in the left rear chamber. I like your egg crate better then my black panels that I ended up setting sideways to get more water flow through the refugium.