Basic questions: Refugium, fuge, and sump?

[BorgDrone]

Hello,

 

I was just wondering

 

1) what is the difference between refugium, fuge, and sump?

 

2) what is the smallest size that I can use for a 4.6 Gal Alife tank?

 

3) I currently replace water biweekly and sometime every three weeks. I heard that if I have one of the above, then I can go for months (like 6 months) without changing water - is this correct?

 

My tank is pretty basic:

live rock

1 lonely virgin tank raised perc (established for about 6 months now)

1 cleaner shrimp (established for about 6 months now)

1 hermit crab

1 margarita snail

1 hammer (established for about 3 months now)

lotsa uncontrollable and uninvited hair algae

 

Thanks all.

[fishtankbabe]

Well, I’m new here and this may be a case of the blind leading the blind so to speak, but I think I can answer your questions, and if I say anything wrong I’m sure one of you pros out there will correct me.

 

1. A refugium is a separate container which either hangs on the back of, or sits next to or beneath the main tank. It functions as a place to grow macro algae (which helps reduce nitrates), and also serves as a refuge, hence the name, for copepods etc. to live and reproduce before getting sucked into the main tank where they will be dinner for various tank inhabitants. “Fuge” is just a shorthand way of saying refugium (saves typing time!). A sump is also a separate container, usually another tank, beneath or behind your display tank. It serves to effectively increase the water volume of your tank. If you have a 4 gallon display tank and a 10 gallon sump, you effectively have a 14 gallon tank (although you still can’t stock it like one, because fish need real estate as well as water volume). This gives you more of a cushion for maintaining parameters in the tank. You can easily have a sump function as a refugium with a little DIY modification and some PC lighting.

 

2. I’m not really sure on this one, but many people on this board have modified Hagen Aquaclear HOB filters to function as refugiums. Do a search and you’ll find plenty of info on this. You’ll need some DIY skill, and a small PC light like Azoo’s palm light.

 

3. No. Absolutely untrue. Even if these systems kept the water perfectly pristine (which I’m sure they don’t), reef inhabitants need water changes to replenish vital trace elements which they get in the salt mix. Dosing these elements can be done, but it's tricky to know how much and how often, the test kits for things like strontium and magnesium are expensive, and adding too much of something can be disastrous for your tank.

 

 

Bottom line is, refugiums are good for reducing nitrates, keeping algae under control, and providing a continuous source of ‘pods. They will never be a substitute for regular water changes. HTH!

[BorgDrone]

Wow thanks. That clears up alot of thing.

[Crakeur]

well said fishtank.

 

with regards to water changes and dosing, a successful tank can be had with no water changes and dosing (provided you add top off water to replace evaporated tank water).

 

This is a tricky thing and not the suggested route. However, you will find many successful tanks on these boards that have little or no water changes done on them (tinyreef is one that comes to mind). I am lazy as hell and I rarely do the changes. I dose b-ionic, iodine, trace elements and a few other things. The problem with this, and it is a huge problem, is that you end up toying with so many different chemicals and the testing (which I never do - very bad) for some of the trace elements actually takes longer to complete than the actual water change.

 

I strongly suggest you go with weekly water changes. 10-15%, once a week. your tank will appreciate it.

[BorgDrone]

Cool. Thanks. What's dosing by the way?

 

My cousin has a ~ 75 gallons tank. He only have a few fish in there. He hasn't change water for 6 months and things are still doing great in his tank. He tells me that the bigger tank you have the more buffer it has and don't have to change water that much. So I was hypothesizing that if I have a small tank and 1 fish and few inverts and not too many Corals, then it should be synonymous to a big tank with few fish. Whatcha think guys/gals?

[Pigup]

dosing is the addition/supplementation of certain necessary/beneficial elements/compounds to your water...

 

as far as your friends 75 gal, the name of the game is concentrations. it is true that a bigger tank has more "buffering" capacity it has, but that could be tricky. you have to take into account all other factors such as element depletion and such. if you're gunna have corals...just do water changes man...once a week. it's easy, for example, every friday, i get home and i buy RO water if i need any and i perform a water change/ scrub down, and hour and half's work (less if i don't need water).