Those who have removed their refugium... how'd it go?

[Velcro]

Just curious about this. I have a 15ish gallon refugium on a 150 gallon system. I have a very powerful horticulture LED on it. If I remove chaeto (1-2 gallon pitcher full) my nutrients tank and my acropora gets really mad.

Seems like many very successful tanks don't run refugiums. Obviously many do. So, what has your experience been?

 

[Ron Reefman]

I've never removed a refugium from any of my aquarium systems, so I can't answer directly. But yes, people can have successful tanks with or without a refugium. Just like people have successful tanks without a skimmer, or without using a carbon reactor, or without doing water changes. That's both a blessing and a curse in this hobby, there are so many successful ways to approach it. What's the old saying, "There's more than one way to skin a cat."

Political correctness adjuster: 'ON'
And just so everybody knows, I do have a cat and I love her very much.
PC adjuster: 'OFF'

 

[UWC]

Have you tried lowering the amount of time the light is on? We have a few sps systems where we only run the refugium light for a few hours each day

 

[jtl]

I could easily take mine out because I keep my tank so clean that chaeto hardly grows. There are plenty of tanks that don't run refugiums and they look great.

 

[Gregg @ ADP]

I’ve gone back and forth with refugiums over the years. 15 years ago, they were a staple. Then, I went away from them. Now, I’m using them here and there, just a little differently.

As I do more and more SPS heavy systems where people still want a lot of fish, I just find that life is a little easier with that safety net in place.