Wet/Dry to Refugium (yes another)

[Greg Depo]

So I currently have a 50g bowfront tank with a koller Craft wet/dry filter (RP90). The tank has been set up for about 10 months. I used about 10 lbs of cured live rock and 35lbs of base rock. I have 5 fish, an anemone and recently a few corals. The water parimeters are all good and overall the tank seems stable. However I've struggled with algea since the beginning and Ive been reading that wet/dry isn't the way to go if I want to establish a Coral tank, which has always been the goal.

Soo after researching I'm interested in converting to a sump. This way I could install a better protien skimmer and any other equipment under the stand. My question is one, how evasive would a change be from the wet/dry (bio ball fun) to a sump setup? Two, Can it be done and not cause issues to the livestock? And third, is there a good guide to this conversion. I'm curious what will will act as the biological filter once the bio balls are removed.

I'm obviously new to the hobby but I really enjoy it and have found so much quality information on reef2reef. Thanks everyone.

 

[legionofdoon]

I personally feel that refugium sumps are the way to go. Wet drys are fine for fowlr, they have a tendency to elevate nitrates which are bad for corals but process ammonia very well. I switched from wet dry in my first tank to a refugium way back when and I don't recall any issues with the fish but that was in 2002 so can't vouch for my memory LoL

 

[legionofdoon]

The macro algae is what processes the waste

 

[Greg Depo]

The macro algae is what processes the waste

So I'm assuming macro algae would be placed into one of the sump divided areas? Also you'd need to add light down there to help cultivate it?

 

[legionofdoon]

Yes you need a separate light source. I'm using a led grow light from Amazon but you can use anything from compact spiral florescent to high end LED. Look at BRS videos on YouTube.