Bye-Bye Fuge

[reefgeezer]

My fuge is now an empty space in the sump. The contents of the fuge had dwindled over the last six months or so as I tried to resolve the detritus build-up issues. The last iteration was a bare bottom, lighted fuge with just a ball of Cheato in it. It was fed with water from the skimmer. I still had some detritus build-up although admittedly much less than earlier fuge configurations. It actually worked well, but I was still carbon dosing and using GFO to keep nitrate and phosphates low. I finally decided that if I had to carbon dose anyway, why run lights and harvest Cheato if I could just add a little more of the carbon source and be done with it.

So, my system is now bare bottom, has only 40 lbs of live rock in an open aquascape with lots of random flow in the DT, has no mechanical filtration, uses a big skimmer and a little GFO, and is carbon dosed.

We'll see how it works.

 

[Mikelush78]

Nice, that is what I am doing with my 180 build... Hope it works out for the both of us...
Did you have trouble setting up a drip for the vodka? I have an Iv line from hospital that I am trying to get to work just like melv's reef but have not had great success... curious how you are dripping it...

 

[reefgeezer]

I ended going with a dosing pump. I think it is one of the best things I ever did. No more hassles. I got a used Aquamedic Triple Doser for cheap here at RC. I think there are better units and it's a hassle to learn to program, but it works great once you figure it out... and did I mention it was cheap. I dose ca, alk, and vinegar with it. I also use a BRS dosing pump and a Home Depot digital timer for top-off. No more drips or float switches for me.