Canister or Refugium?

[daveydavedog]

Getting the Aquarium Bug Back!!! I am getting ready to set my aquarium back up after a long transition between houses, and I wanted to get some opinions on possibly changing my setup. I have a 125 Gallon Quarter Cylinder, with about 100 pounds of live rock and a fine sand/crushed coral substrate. Previously I had it set up as a swim tank, equipped with a nuclear canister, chiller, UV sterilizer and plenty of nano tunzies for water movement. The fish all stayed very healthy, but my only complaint was the build up of Algea on the sand bed and along the acrylic. Do you think it would be beneficial to replace the canister with a refugium? I intend on keeping it a fish only tank, and don't necessarily intend on having a total (live) sand bed.

 

[Jason Donohoe]

I think it will depend on how dilligent you are at cleaning your cannister filter. I was terrible and all the cannister filter did was add to the flow and skim the surface. A refugium with macroalgae will help remove nutrients from your system which should help with any algae problems in the display tank.

 

[dble_g2k]

rturtry

rturtry

Refugium hands down.