Refugium question

[dottybackss]

Do i need to put live sand in a refugium if i only have cheato in it?

[dragonxflare]

nope.

[Chew_Magna]

Nope. There is a lot of leeway in what you can do with a fuge. Deep sand, no sand, rock, no rock, planted macros, chaeto tumbler, they all work fine.

[dottybackss]

So what's the sand bed for in the fuge?

[Angel<3Nanos]

Unless its a true deep sand bed. Sand in a refuge is mostly for looks.

[Chew_Magna]

So what's the sand bed for in the fuge?

Denitrifying bacteria, a place for junk to collect, biological filtration, ph buffer, home for critters.

[dottybackss]

Isnt a deep sand bed is not tht gd, since it trap junk? some ppl doesnt like deep sand bed rite or in a fuge is different?

[Angel<3Nanos]

Isnt a deep sand bed is not tht gd, since it trap junk? some ppl doesnt like deep sand bed rite or in a fuge is different?

I wouldn't say is not good. There are a lot of people who wouldn't have a tank without a deep sand bed. And have beautiful mature tanks.

[Chew_Magna]

It all depends on how you want to run it. A dsb can be very beneficial if you let it do it's thing and never touch it. There is that risk though, if you do touch it you can really mess things up.

[Sunar357]

Personally I keep it simple...no sand in my Fuge makes it easier to clean. I could never do no sand in my display but in the Fuge it works.

[GHill762]

unless your fuge is huge a deep sand bed won't be worth putting in.. go bb, keeps maintenance in the fuge easy..

[grmoore]

Denitrifying bacteria, a place for junk to collect, biological filtration, ph buffer, home for critters.

 

You would have to have a massive amount of sand to provide any noticeable pH buffering capacity, so that shouldn't even be a consideration. The macroalgae will have a considerable amount of bacteria on it for additional biological filtration, and will provide significant places for pods and such to call home.

 

 

A sand bed in a refugium should really only be considered if a) it is going to be a true deep sea bed (6" or more) or you are keeping plants with rhizomes. Otherwise the sand bed will simply be a detritus trap.

[nemonlizzy]

You would have to have a massive amount of sand to provide any noticeable pH buffering capacity, so that shouldn't even be a consideration. The macroalgae will have a considerable amount of bacteria on it for additional biological filtration, and will provide significant places for pods and such to call home. A sand bed in a refugium should really only be considered if a) it is going to be a true deep sea bed (6" or more) or you are keeping plants with rhizomes. Otherwise the sand bed will simply be a detritus trap.

 

Really? 6"? That's a lot. I am shooting for a DSB in my 29, but I was thinking more along the lines of 3-4 inches. I have 2-3 in there now and it's cycling, will it hurt to put in 40 more lbs at any point in time?

[grmoore]

Three to four may be fine - i'm certainly not an expert on deep sea beds, so I would recommend researching it thoroughly. I've read in many journals that 6 inches constitutes a deep sea bed and have used that as a rule of thumb.

[Subsea]

Grain size determines oxygen gradient. The express purpose of DSB is to produce de-nitrification chemistry in a reduced oxygen environment. The end product is nitrate reduced to nitrogen gas and exported as a gas from the aquarium. Oolite sand will produce denitrification with a 1" depth. CaribSea Special Reef Grad with a grain size 1mm-2mm will produce denitrification chemistry with a 4" depth.

 

On my oldest tank at 12 years, I use 6" of CaribSea Florida Crushed Coral in my 75G display tank. It is set up with a Jaubert plenum. On the bottom is a mud/macro filter for a refugium.

Patrick

[dottybackss]

I think i just gonna put live rock rubble and cheato not gonna add sand. what kinda light is the best for the cheato? i bought a used fuge and it came with a light but is a T8 daytime light bulb.

[nemonlizzy]

How many watts is that T8? Those can be REALLY good for chaeto, you want some high light for that stuff. The more ability it is given to grow, the more Nitrates its gunna take outta the tank. Good idea on the LR rubble, and Chaeto as a filtration/fuge. I have the same thing in both my 10 gal and 29 gal. Can anyone answer my question though, can I add 40 lbs of LS in the middle of a cycle or do I have to wait for the tank to stop cycling?

[dottybackss]

is a single blue strip light and the blub is 15W