Friday Topic: Refugium!

[Europhyllia]

Discussion topic for today is REFUGIA

Do you have one? Do you want one? Do you hate them? Why?
What's your experience with refugia? Any interesting observations, experiences or surprises?

Any unusual approaches (I remember Troy's article and he says: keep the refugium UGLY)

[alton]

I am running a deep sand bed, but I am thinking of cleaning it out and just insert chaeto and razor calerpa

[FireWater]

Mine is definitely ugly.

I do regular maintenance as far as trimming down the algae.

I have noticed that I am not running an efficient fuge. I have also added to some problems in my tank by not having a deep enough sand bed in fuge. I plan to make my fuge smaller and remove all sand in it. Still keep algae and add more rocks to it.

I have also ran a cryptic fuge in the old tank an liked where that was heading.

[Europhyllia]

I am going to clean my seahorse fuge now. it's so ugly it has no space for anything to grow left

[350gt]

In my personal experience..

i was running no sand in my fuge for over a year and never cleaned it with no issues.... For some reason I wanted to add sand and make it look nicer... Well it looks a little nicer and then I had little blooms up in the display... Don't know if it was the cause but started a little after I made the changes......

Might start all over on the fuge..... Idk..

[Europhyllia]

oh yikes. good timing. While cleaning the fuge I noticed my skimmer pump is dead. :(
Luckily had a second one I could borrow from my seahorse fry set up...

[rrasco]

Mine was ugly until I started running an ATS. The interesting thing is, right when the fuge light comes on, there is barely a hint of cyano. Less than an hour later, the sand and rocks in there are covered in it. Yeah, it grows that fast.

One thing I will never do, pull chaeto out of a fuge without gloves.

I still want a xenia fuge like Troy's though.

[Europhyllia]

One thing I will never do, pull chaeto out of a fuge without gloves.

Why? what's up with chaeto?

[Flyride95]

I'm glad this has been brought up. I too am getting cyano in my fuge. I'm not getting any in my tank just down where it is lit up. I have a good bit of chaeto down there which I cut back every month but no sand bed. I currently have a 5k bulb lighting it up which is where I think I'm getting the problems. Anyone have any thoughts? Because right now it is my turbo snails holding off the red algae invasion lol.

[rrasco]

Why? what's up with chaeto?

Mine is full of bristleworms. Big ones.


I'm glad this has been brought up. I too am getting cyano in my fuge. I'm not getting any in my tank just down where it is lit up. I have a good bit of chaeto down there which I cut back every month but no sand bed. I currently have a 5k bulb lighting it up which is where I think I'm getting the problems. Anyone have any thoughts? Because right now it is my turbo snails holding off the red algae invasion lol.

I switched to a 2700K bulb and I get better chaeto growth. Also went from 13w to 23w. 5000K is supposed to be more red than green wavelengths, thus promoting cyano over other algae. Having said that, I still get cyano, but it comes and goes on a daily basis. I tried to get pics last night, but I have to get one right at 9pm when the fuge light comes on. By 9:30pm the cyano is taking over. The ATS is what keeps nutrients down, but I've read after starting one, you can get cyano for a while. Doesn't bother me cuz it's only in the fuge, nowhere to be found in the DT.

[polarbear]

I have a 55 gallon refugium. I use to have sand in it but realized that there was not enough in there to do good and it was trapping a lot of gunk. So I removed it and now just have rock and macro in there. It’s a lot easier to clean when it needs it. I just use my shop vac (for tank use only) to suck all the gunk out. I love having a refugium for my tank. It helps to grow pods and allows me to house fish and inverts in there if needed for a short period of time. I have my 2 brittle stars in there now. I’m waiting to redo my sand bed and rock work before I add them to the display. It easier to remove them and find them while in the refugium.

[allan]

I have a large one with rocks and sandbed in it.

I want to pull all the rubble rock out of my first chamber, suspend a light, and put the chaeto in there.

The big portion I want to raise the razor culerpra. In the sand bed. Maybe put in some small shrimps or grass fish to live down there.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Zen Reef]

I currently drain into a Xenia fuge then a fuge with cheato. I have a dsb in the cheato fuge that's about 6" deep. I'm hearing a lot about the "usefulness" of a dsb in the fuge so I'm wondering if I should even keep it anymore. Thoughts?

[koa25]

I have a 40b under my 40b that has a large refugium with a DSB, lots of rock and cheato and dragons breath and a ton of critters. I want to yank my DSB and toss some of that miracle mud in there. I have been reading a lot of reviews on it. Sounds legit. Other than replacing 50% every so often. I will wait until i have to move anyways. Going to have to break it down. No use tearing up the sand band until then anyways.

[rrasco]

I currently drain into a Xenia fuge then a fuge with cheato. I have a dsb in the cheato fuge that's about 6" deep. I'm hearing a lot about the "usefulness" of a dsb in the fuge so I'm wondering if I should even keep it anymore. Thoughts?

From what I have gathered, this is based on the fact that a small fuge area doesn't offer the benefits of a DSB. I believe the surface area of the sand (and maybe volume) has a direct relation to the nutrients. Essentially, I believe most fuge DSBs are too small of an area to be effective. Having said that, I have about 4 inches of sand in my fuge. It's about 10"x14".

[Zen Reef]

How deep should you go with miracle mud?

[Zen Reef]

My fuge is 12x17. I want to try miracle mud as well depending on how deep it needs to be. The stuff is expensive!

[koa25]

What i've been reading is you can go as thin as an inch cause it does not work the same way as a DSB. It will be used up more frequently. But allows more top space for macro. Appreantly people get explosions in their pod populations. Both Cope and Amphipods. The mud releases perfect planktonic foods for them and also is a more suitable substrate for them to live and reproduce in.

[BBQHILLBILLY]

Mine is koool.:bigsmile:

[RayAllen]

I am running a sump with a large fuge area. Fuge alone probably holds 15-20gallons. Thats a large fuge considering the display itself is 40gs.

I have Caulerpa that grows fast, full of feather dusters, sponges, worms and pods. Just removed the rock yesterday and it will stay this way.
I've always ran my fuges this way and am going to stick with the Macro only with no sand. Have great results.

[CoryDude]

I'm of the School of Troy. The uglier the better. My sump is full of cyano, detritus, and cheato. I stole Karin's idea and added a LED grow bulb from Home Depot for cheato growth. I keep the light on 24/7. I haven't cleaned the sump out in over a year. But the pod growth is amazing. It looks like a moving carpet in there with all the little bugs.

[Troy Valentine]

I'm of the School of Troy. The uglier the better. My sump is full of cyano, detritus, and cheato. I stole Karin's idea and added a LED grow bulb from Home Depot for cheato growth. I keep the light on 24/7. I haven't cleaned the sump out in over a year. But the pod growth is amazing. It looks like a moving carpet in there with all the little bugs.

I think it is just a modified algae turf scrubber.

Let the nutrient ebb and flow create its own refugium with different types of algae.. Whenever I get away from this is when I run into problems and tons of nuisance algae.. It seems like I always screw things up when I try. So now I just let it grow, even in the dispay, eventually it will get back to beautiful. Unless you've done something really stupid like add a 20" Engineer Goby to a well established sandbed.... Thats just plain stupid.

[FireWater]

You say that like a pro Troy. Lol

I follow a modified version of yours. A long time ago when we talked about my 120 set up we agreed on several points. I still adhere to as easy and natural as possible with my set up.

[Troy Valentine]

RIP

[ramsey]

Is anyone running an actual algae scrubber? I'm thinking about setting one up along with a traditional fuge on an EPIC build I'm starting. BTW, hello everyone! Long time, no read!

[Troy Valentine]

You say that like a pro Troy. Lol

I follow a modified version of yours. A long time ago when we talked about my 120 set up we agreed on several points. I still adhere to as easy and natural as possible with my set up.

Definately not a pro... I just like my tanks like my women... Natural and low maintenance... We wouldn't want the tank to get spoiled now;)

[FireWater]

Ya no kidding. Where ya been?

there are a couple of people that run them. I believe kkiel is. There is also some santamonica person that pops on here every once in a while.

[Europhyllia]

hey ramsey! you are still alive!

[rrasco]

Is anyone running an actual algae scrubber? I'm thinking about setting one up along with a traditional fuge on an EPIC build I'm starting. BTW, hello everyone! Long time, no read!

I'm running one on the reef and the FOWLR. I'm fairly convinced an ATS and a skimmer is the way to go.

[ramsey]

Yes, I'm alive, but with even less hair! I started a new hobby called "child rearing". It's a ton of fun but expensive and time consuming, sometimes frustrating but also rewarding (that sounds a lot like this hobby!). It's time to start reefing again though. :) I still have my 185 up, barely. I plan on starting a thread to welcome myself back soon and renewing my membership. Have I missed anything exciting?

[Troy Valentine]

I'm running one on the reef and the FOWLR. I'm fairly convinced an ATS and a skimmer is the way to go.

How often are you cleaning off excess algae from the ATS? Do you notice a big difference in algae production when you feed heavily?

[rrasco]

How often are you cleaning off excess algae from the ATS? Do you notice a big difference in algae production when you feed heavily?

Guidelines say to clean every 7 days. I have only been running them for about 6 weeks, so I can't tell too much about the growth habits. I also maintain a pretty consistent feeding regime so the food going into the tank doesn't fluctuate much. I have noticed a difference in algae in the tank though. The red velvet stuff disappeared from my rocks. The little GHA that was there is nonexistent as well. I do still keep some chaeto in the fuge under the ATS as well.

[CoryDude]

RIP

The Goby? Did you at least try to make it look like an accident?

[Troy Valentine]

LOL!!!! Yea but he got the last laugh..... He clogged the **** toilet.

[Troy Valentine]

Guidelines say to clean every 7 days. I have only been running them for about 6 weeks, so I can't tell too much about the growth habits. I also maintain a pretty consistent feeding regime so the food going into the tank doesn't fluctuate much. I have noticed a difference in algae in the tank though. The red velvet stuff disappeared from my rocks. The little GHA that was there is nonexistent as well. I do still keep some chaeto in the fuge under the ATS as well.

Very neat... I know the ATS isn't very old but do you see the nuisence algae grow on the turf scrubber before its removed from the system?

[rrasco]

Do I see algae on the ATS when I clean it? Oh yeah...

18004

[Europhyllia]

nasty!

actually my poly pad looks the same. maybe i have an ats and don't know it.

[Troy Valentine]

Yup I would say that pulling out some goodies;)

[rrasco]

The key is cleaning. That's when the export actually occurs.

[Europhyllia]

The key is cleaning. That's when the export actually occurs.

right. that's not happening with mine. got to get better about that. Thanks for the reminder

[kkiel02]

I run an ATS and a clove polyp/xenia fuge. With the ATS though the cloves and xenia havent really grown much at all. Once an ATS is established I dont think any fuge would really make to much sense. Maybe a cryptic(sponges) but any macro will more than likely start to starve out.

[Troy Valentine]

I run an ATS and a clove polyp/xenia fuge. With the ATS though the cloves and xenia havent really grown much at all. Once an ATS is established I dont think any fuge would really make to much sense. Maybe a cryptic(sponges) but any macro will more than likely start to starve out.

+1
Do you still run a skimmer, and if not did you slowly ween you system off it?

[Jeff]

I used to run a 40 gl tub refugium on a 50 gl tank. I threw in every type of macro I could get my hands on, add in some xenia and some rubble for things to attach to and hide in and ran lights on it 24 hrs. I believe if you actually ran a larger fuge than aquarium that enough flora and fauna will grow for you to never have to feed your tank again. Towards the end I started to enjoy the refugium more than the tank itself.

[Europhyllia]

Jeff that sounds really nice. Do you have a pic thread on this?

[FireWater]

That is cool. I remember when Texreefer had his in wall set up I used to love to check out his fuge in the garage.

The turf scrubbers are something that interests me now.

[allan]

Mikes fuge was the first one I saw on the first tank tour. He even had a couple chromis living in there. Very cool.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[jvene1]

I've always wanted a display refugium like the one in this thread http://www.nano-reef.com/featured/?tank=67

[Jeff]

No I don't have a picture and photobucket won't let me in to find them. My true dream set up would have been a 100gl display that feed into a 100 gl refugium with a surge device that goes into a 100 gl tub with a mangrove forest with seahorses. I don't have the room or time for saltwater set up anymore but I can always dream.

[kkiel02]

+1
Do you still run a skimmer, and if not did you slowly ween you system off it?

I still have a skimmer although it is under rated for my system. I empty it once every week or two at this point. It usually has about an inch in the collection cup at that point.

[rrasco]

I'm also still running a skimmer with my ats. Its way overrated for my tank though.

[reefreak]

I find my Refugium interesting than my tank sometimes

[rrasco]

I wanted to post these pictures because when I was posting growth pics in another thread earlier this month, I noticed something else. If you look at the first picture on the rocks, you will see coralline along with a red velvety algae. I installed my ATS shortly after the first picture and in the second picture you can see what an impact it had on that red algae. The rocks are now just corraline and white where the other algae was. I thought it was a pretty good indicator of how well the ATS worked.

1802418025

[koa25]

I find my Refugium interesting than my tank sometimes

Last time I saw a pic of your tank it looked like a refugium with all that algae growing all over it ha ha.

[SinisterLou]

Last time I saw a pic of your tank it looked like a refugium with all that algae growing all over it ha ha.
you killin' me koa:rofl:

[FireWater]

That's funny. It's called a display fuge. My fuge likes to display itself in my main tank every once in a while too.

[350gt]

Lol......

maybe cause the fuge was cleaner than the display? Lol


Jk Jeremy...

[Big_Pun]

I am running a sump with a large fuge area. Fuge alone probably holds 15-20gallons. Thats a large fuge considering the display itself is 40gs.

I have Caulerpa that grows fast, full of feather dusters, sponges, worms and pods. Just removed the rock yesterday and it will stay this way.
I've always ran my fuges this way and am going to stick with the Macro only with no sand. Have great results.

i got this idea from you years ago and thats how all my tanks have been since my 65g. when i need to clean up i toss all the culerpa in a bucket and syphon out the junk and just add it all back. a good light helps keep algae growing, i also have some rock for the culerpa to anchor to.

[Big_Pun]

That's funny. It's called a display fuge. My fuge likes to display itself in my main tank every once in a while too.


oh how i know the feeling!

[Louis-210]

That's funny. It's called a display fuge. My fuge likes to display itself in my main tank every once in a while too.


:ph34r:......lol me too