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Innovative Marine Aquariums

Refugium Yes or no?


TieuMuchReefing

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I just recently (read: yesterday) put the InTank refugium I've had for a year now back into my tank. As far as a nutrient export - no, I don't personally think it does much of anything - and maybe there's a caveat there of 'doesn't do much in small tanks'; I don't know; but either way, my answer is "no" in that aspect.

 

But if you want it for growing your critter population, depending on what fish you have in your tank, I think the answer is "yes" it's helpful. It gives pods a place to reproduce without being gobbled up as soon as they start to get a colony going. And that's why I put the fuge back in my tank (well that, and I had the space, and I did pay for it, and it isn't doing anything sitting in a closet lol). I noticed that sometimes when I'd shine a flashlight into my tank I'd see it teeming with pods and then a few days later I wouldn't see a single one. I'm thinking my very fat watchman goby and probably the tailspot blenny (who also seems to have a bit of a gut) as well are feasting when the lights go down and that's probably why the pods seem to be wiped out whenever they get the mere start of a foothold. I'm imagining that I'm seeing this ebb and flow of my pod population is because the few that manage to escape back into the rock work begin to reproduce again, the pop gets large enough for some to be pushed back out into the open, and then the process starts all over again, and that's likely why I see a ton (and get excited that I finally have a good pod pop) and then see nada. So... that's why I decided to put the fuge back in. We'll see if it helps in the long run. If not I'll probably take it out again and sell it this time. I'm not a fan of extra crap you have to maintain if I'm not actually seeing the payoff with my own eyes. Each time I have to take apart my skimmer and clean it I question it's merit as well. lol

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IronChefItaly

Though fun, refugiums are more often than not horribly undersized to be considered as a dependable nutrient sink. Unless you can incorporate a fuge 5% or more of your tank capacity, I'd probably skip it and just run a few media reactors.

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A refugium is basically biological nutrient export. For one to be as effective as a skimmer and reactors it would be have to huge. If you are already running a good skimmer and/or carbon/gfo reactor then a tiny fuge in that tank would be absolutely useless.

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Mikeymikemike

thats the one!

 

I guess it depends on what you are after... I fyou like playing with more tanks and having a secondary environment then i would say go for it. I think refugiums can be very nice as well. Imagine a display refugium setup like a planted tank.

 

But for most people, that is not the case.

 

I run a canister filter with polymers and carbon and a skimmer to take care of things.

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fishfreak0114

On a small tank it doesn't do much for nutrient export but it is a great place for pods and such to hide and reproduce, that's pretty much the sole purpose of mine. It depends why you want it. If it's for nutrient export I'd say it's not worth it, if you're wanting it for critters to breed then sure

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So I pretty much agree with what's been said so far. Incorporating a good protein skimmer will do much more for a tank than a fuge in most cases.

 

Pros for refugium:

- nutrient export (can be quite effective when it's larger. For example I have a 40br and an approximately 17g fuge. Since I've kicked it into gear I have experienced a reduction in nuisance algae with the exception that I still have a little cyano.

- place for pods and such to reproduce without predators

- kinda cool looking IMO and something else to play with

 

Cons:

- Costs more (Lighting, possibly extra flow, macros themselves, more LR, etc)

- More to maintain

- Not really that effective unless it's a larger % of total system volume - I would go more like 10-20% ideally.

 

 

All that being said I still think they're cool. If you just want something to look cool and act as a topic of conversation or whatever then it's totally worth it. If you're looking for maximum nutrient export then go with skimmer/chemical filtration.

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  • 1 month later...

I just went thru this debate on my current build. I decided it was something I enjoyed having on my big tank and therefore I'm gonna put one in, no good reason. I think it likley helps a little and thats ok. It's fun to look at and harvesting cheato is satisfying, regardless of effectiveness.

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Soooo... I've sort of changed my position a little on this topic.

 

Skimmers rock - but if you ever have the chance to create a refugium that can be a decent % of your tank volume then go for it.

 

Oddly enough I wrote my first post just as I was attempting a refugium - again. Previous attempts didn't seem particularly effective.

 

This time however, I've gotten great results - without a skimmer even. I went out of town for a week and turned the skimmer down so the cup wouldn't fill up. During that time I got phenominal growth from my macros - so much that there's basically no nuisance algae at all in my tank.

 

Check out the thread: http://www.nano-reef.com/topic/369004-chaeto-1-month-growth/

 

My refugium (16.5 gal) is about 40% of my display tank volume (40 gal) and 25% of my total system volume (70 gal).

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  • 2 weeks later...

Just a comment but what about the whole reverse lighting theory and keeping a stable pH. This to me would be a sole and important benefit of lighting the sump/fuge area alone. Not to mention 1) they're cool, 2) it's a second habitat for things to grow and 3) nutrient export (however much/little it must help in someway).

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Just a comment but what about the whole reverse lighting theory and keeping a stable pH. This to me would be a sole and important benefit of lighting the sump/fuge area alone. Not to mention 1) they're cool, 2) it's a second habitat for things to grow and 3) nutrient export (however much/little it must help in someway).

The fact is that the pH swings on nightly cycles in the ocean as well. That being said I still light my fuge at night lol. I love my fuge. My advise is to get the biggest fuge you can fit. I have a basketball sized clump of macro in the back of my 90g AIO.

I still have problems with film algae in the display even when running GFO also so its not some magic fix to all your problems. My nitrates are always low though so it probably helps there. Purigen might be better for his small tank.

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burtbollinger

save your time and energy/effort and skip it. I've had one on every tank I've ever run and regretted it in the long run every time. as I start up a new tank, my motto going forward is 'clean and easy'....NO fuge, no mixed reef...and heck, might even skip the sandbed.

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