Stagnant water in refugium, problem?

[trmiv]

I've noticed lately that there is little to no water movement on the bottom levels of my fuge. Mine is a HOB made by Reefer_Buddha. By itself, the movement is fine. Add live rock, and a ton of chaeto, and the water movement at the bottom of the fuge is little to none. Is this going to cause a problem? Should I add a really tiny powerhead to circulate the water in the bottom a little?

[Reefer_Buddha]

the macros and chaeto usually hover near the top of the fuge and thats where they tend to like it since its closer to the light source. Water level near the sand and live rock doesnt make a ton of difference and the reason i didnt cut the baffles low like cpr does was to avoid disturbing the sand and also so you could stack more lr and macro in the main chamber with it being blown all over the fuge with a smaller baffle. Ive thought about the same stagnate water problem myself and thats why i put up the thread about my redesigned fuges where im going to try and incorporate an over the baffle type of spray bar so the entire main chamber receives adequate flow. Right now just tryin to find a powerhead/pump that i can run a hose in and out of the pump. Since most powerheads just have a plastic screen for intake i have to find one i can actually attach a hose to , maybe a mag pump or something if it will fit in the intake side.

[Wonder Boy]

Little giant makes several pumps that are commonly used for ponds and water fountons but I think they'd work for what you're talking about.

[tinyreef]

i don't believe you need (should) agitate the lower portion. one, the draw of the pump should be sufficient agitation.

 

and second, the lower turnover allows for other type of fauna/flora (e.g. feather dusters, tunicates, etc.). you should start to see feather duster worms along lower half very soon, tiny white spots. they're usually the first visible organisms in those areas.

 

a complete biotope (as complete as we can hope for) all contributes to the plankton (e.g. spawning/reproduction) and/or filtration (e.g. biomass absorption, filter-feeding, etc.). by letting all types of zones exist you are trying to create the balance found in nature. hth

[trmiv]

yea, i've had a ton of feather dusters down there for awhile. the fuge has been thriving, and works great, I was just curious if having the really slow water moving at the bottom was a problem.