Today, the fuge is gone

[pdiehm]

Woke up this morning, and went downstairs to check on the tank (been having an awful time keeping my beananimal drains flowing right...get it set, go to bed, and next morning the water level is over the open channel elbow, but I digress).

Looked in the sump and it was just nasty, ugly, dirty. I drained it, and decide to remove the refugium area. The skimmer section is 12" wide x 9" high x 17.5" deep. Bubble trap 3 baffles, and then about 22" of return area 22" x 9" x 17.5.

The sump was covered in algae...smelled awful. Maybe when I understand more about refugiums I'll look into rebuilding a sump to include one.

 

[ritter6788]

One of the best things I've done for my tank is remove the fuge. Created more of a mess than anything. For me the benefits weren't noticeable but the negatives were. I run a barebottom sump and can vacuum clean each water change.

 

[Reefrookie220]

@ritter6788 I always like to read your advice.

I'm on the fence about a fuge myself, with the tangs I've got and the cool looking macro algae around I thought about putting it in my display.

 

[pdiehm]

My sump is barebottom as well, except for a pile of pukani rubble in the corner of the return area. Have the heaters in the same compartment as the return, with the temp probes in the skimmer compartment. Apex probes are with the return as well.

I really would like to run chaeto just so I could give an area for pods, but when I got my chaeto from reefcleaners, it literally fell apart. I figured I'd give it a month or so, and while the chaeto was growing, it didn't tumble or roll. just sat on the bottom stirring up the detritus and chaeto pieces that settled there. If I'm going to do a refugium, I think I'll come up with a way to have it as a stand alone tank and feed either the return area or my display tank.

 

[ritter6788]

@ritter6788 I always like to read your advice.

I'm on the fence about a fuge myself, with the tangs I've got and the cool looking macro algae around I thought about putting it in my display.

I'm a macroalgae lover. Very few out there that a tang won't plow through quickly. I still keep a few types of decorative macro but not in my main setup. I haven't run a fuge in a long time and don't plan on it anytime soon. If I was to run a fuge again it would be for pod growth but not for nutrient export or pH reasons like so many claim.

 

[ritter6788]

when I got my chaeto from reefcleaners, it literally fell apart.

Same here. It was so bad I wasn't even sure it was chaeto. There is better stuff out there but even healthy chaeto traps detritus and drops strands all over the sump.

 

[pdiehm]

I'm a macroalgae lover. Very few out there that a tang won't plow through quickly. I still keep a few types of decorative macro but not in my main setup. I haven't run a fuge in a long time and don't plan on it anytime soon. If I was to run a fuge again it would be for pod growth but not for nutrient export or pH reasons like so many claim.

that's the reason I was trying to run chaeto. to give a place for pods to grow and breed. If I do it again, i'll set up like a 10 gallon tank with some chaeto, fed by a MJ1200, and drill for a 3/4" bulkhead which feeds either the return or the display. I have toyed with putting a pair of 2x4's on my sump trim, setting up the 10 under the light I have, and just going at it that way. Get some rocks, again bare bottom, with a nano koralia, get some chaeto from a local shop, and drain into my return of my sump.

 

[melypr1985]

Well I guess I'll butt in with something positive to say. I love me fuge. I keep calerpa macro (i dont care much for chaeto) I have tons of pods in there and the macro grows crazy fast. I dont have any sand down there, just the macro, pods and a few rocks that i didn't want to put in the display. The only negative that I have seen with the calerpa is sometimes when i prune it, it suffers a wide loss. It tends to bounce back very quickly and never seems to effect anything in the display when that happens. It's only happened twice in the last year.

 

[Wiz]

My 12x12 sump fuge was great but not enough to keep phosphate in check. (I like to feed) I swittched to a 30g stand alone piped into the same sump as my 40b display for indirect water exchange. Removed my dual reactor 2+ months ago. Nutrients are perfect. Great pod population as well as other "bugs" you don't normally get to see. Macros are beautiful and make a pretty tank alone. In short. I love my fuge. With nothing but a skimmer and carbon for allelopathy my tank runs smooth. Completly overstocked with corals, inverts and 9 fish.