Thoughts for complete tank nutrient handling based on refugiums

yanton · Jan 25, 2021

Musings on how to bypass the need for a noisy expensive high maintenance skimmer and use a more natural approach to handling nutrient control in our tanks. Probably wont appeal to high tech equuipment geeks, but might to those seeing benefits of refugiums and desiring a simpler low tech more natural approach. Possibly an approach to build on, to get our refugiums doing more heavy lifting in caring for a wider range of fish wastes. Side benefits would include a supplementary food supply for fish and corals. The following uses the sump as its basis:

Compartment 1: Fleece filter such as Rollermat Compact, receiving water from main tank.

Compartment 2: Roomy refugium compartment. Mix of several macroalgae species where species would thrive and reduce as tank bioloads and requirements change back and forth over time. As the water arrives here from the fleece filter, there would be minimal mulm deposits. What makes this refugium unique though, is besides the normal population of macroalgae and copepods there will be a mixed culture of daphnia salina and moina salina (saltwater moina and daphnia). These would increase/decrease in population according to nutrients coming from the main tank and would consume the gunk normally handled by the skimmer. Daphnia and Moina have been used in some parts of the world for water cleaning and pollution handling. Each species would increase/decrease according to nutrients available. Together all would become a living filter. The macroalgae absorbing nitrates, phosphates etc, and the daphnia/moina other fish wastes.

Compartment 3: A single sheet sponge barrier to prevent our daphnia/moina being washed back in the tank. (Google images: poret hamburg filtration). Needs to be a full barrier. Will also work as a huge bio filter in its own right. There should be a single bypass method with a valve that can be used to allow in as much as desired of the new moina/daphnia live food source into the main tank for our fish and corals, ideally collecting from the bottom of the refugium to keep it clean. The emphasis on keeping the fauna is not on feeding the tank but adjusting their population for ultimate waste handling.

Compartment 4: Return pump.

Anything to build on here? Or are these just crazy ramblings of a hobbyist in lockdown?

elysics · Jan 25, 2021

Do you think you are going to save all that much or any money if you buy a rollermat? Especially longterm?

yanton · Jan 25, 2021

I have 2 already and love them. Have found no better method yet of physical water filtration. The new compact is far better than the older big rollermats which left sediment in them. The compact replacement rolls are not expensive and last for a month+. At the right water level they are silent running.

elysics · Jan 25, 2021

Oh ok if you have them anyway then disregard my point. Maybe put an airstone or something in that system somewhere to offset the lack of airation a skimmer would provide

RocketEngineer · Jan 25, 2021

To my way of thinking, the fleece, skimmer, and refugium all work in concert. The fleece removes the largest particles before they can break down. The skimmer removes the stuff that’s too small for the fleece down to small molecules. The chaeto in the refugium uptakes these small molecules to grow.

When it comes to skimmers, they can be adjusted to be silent and can be found fairly cheaply. They really don’t need to be that big to work. The copepods you list can’t pull fats and protein molecules directly out of the water but a skimmer will. And they can be placed following the other two in order to remove the stuff that got through the fleece but wasn’t able to be used by the chaeto.

To me, these three methods compliment each other. And yes, you can have a successful tank with just one or two. But, having all three is the most likely to be successful long term. JMO

Reef-junky · Jan 25, 2021

RocketEngineer said:
To my way of thinking, the fleece, skimmer, and refugium all work in concert. The fleece removes the largest particles before they can break down. The skimmer removes the stuff that’s too small for the fleece down to small molecules. The chaeto in the refugium uptakes these small molecules to grow.

When it comes to skimmers, they can be adjusted to be silent and can be found fairly cheaply. They really don’t need to be that big to work. The copepods you list can’t pull fats and protein molecules directly out of the water but a skimmer will. And they can be placed following the other two in order to remove the stuff that got through the fleece but wasn’t able to be used by the chaeto.

To me, these three methods compliment each other. And yes, you can have a successful tank with just one or two. But, having all three is the most likely to be successful long term. JMO

+1

In fact I would take the skimmer over the roller mat. The problem with filter socks and sponges is you have to keep up on cleaning them the roller mat solves that problem but they are expensive and you have to keep replacing the fleece.