Refugium or not in SPS tank?

[jarrett shark]

I am building a dominate 400gal SPS tank with few chalice only(no LPS)
Wanted to know is it worth to run one or not?
I know some guys run them in mixed reef but sps dominate I never asked
I know when I back in the day I had Sps garden I had hard time growing chetto
So maybe with good water I might of answered my own question..........
My issue if more people say to do it the trick is to make room to add a separate fuge tank due to high flow in my sump but if beneficial then no problem!!

 

[djkms]

I have heard macro algaes can stunt the growth of corals but have never seen any studies proving this theory.

I run a refugium to export no3/po4 but honestly I struggle with Sps (it grows fine just not coloring up well) not sure if the fuge is the culprit or not....

I would love to see others opinions on fuges with Sps dominant systems.

 

[brett7768]

any way to reduce po4 is good imo.

 

[MammothReefer]

i'm running one this time around. my frag tank is to big for my current needs so I sectioned off a 3rd of it that i'm using for macro algea. I'm going to block it off with egg crate to keep things split. If I get to a place where nutrient levels drop low enough the macro dies off i'm ok with that but for now I'll use it to help the good fight.

 

[ERIKATHORNBURG]

I run chaeto in my fuge and a reactor with carbon & Gfo with an sps dominate tank...curious to see what others are doing. I think you need to run a fuge or do something else to bring nutrients down like bio pellets.

 

[Reef Frog]

I'm no SPS expert as evidenced by a recent post here but I will chime in. Are you planning to keep fish or large inverts and do you feed your SPS? If the answer is no, then the fuge might be optional.

I'm learning that I have undetectable nutrients that may be causing RTN in a mixed reef, light fish, regular feeding with no fuge. So if you're doing all SPS with few or no fish you might find you don't need the macro algae to remove nutrients. But then again it can't hurt to give it a try.

 

[animalkingdom]

I'd vote no...its more to maintain and as many have had great success with the simple berlin method I see no reason to overly complicate a reef...skimmer, lights, flow, and water chemistry and your sps will flourish.

that being said if it seems fun to you and you enjoy it I can't think of a reason not to do a fuge either

 

[jarrett shark]

Great reply's
Any more Sps guys

 

[MammothReefer]

@ animalkingdom It depends on how you set it up. For me I just have some egg crate dividing my frag where I toss in some macro algae. I'm not running a sand bed or anything special so there isn't really any extra maintenance outside of pruning some algae now and then.

 

[Jcreefer1]

I'm no SPS expert as evidenced by a recent post here but I will chime in. Are you planning to keep fish or large inverts and do you feed your SPS? If the answer is no, then the fuge might be optional.

I'm learning that I have undetectable nutrients that may be causing RTN in a mixed reef, light fish, regular feeding with no fuge. So if you're doing all SPS with few or no fish you might find you don't need the macro algae to remove nutrients. But then again it can't hurt to give it a try.

I totally agree with reef frog if you plan on keeping a heavy fish load a fuge is not needed.....

 

[Ssteve]

I totally agree with reef frog if you plan on keeping a heavy fish load a fuge is not needed.....

Why is this?

 

[MammothReefer]

I have a fuge this time aroudn because of my fish load. I'm hoping it will help with my escalated nutrients

 

[Jfannin]

I fallowing this. Ive been using a Refugi with Cheato Algae since i started my first tank. What i will say about it, is that it is very easy. a little office light in my sump and it grows. tear some of it out from time to time and your done. I actually trade it off at the LFS for in store credit

with that said I wonder about the POSSIBLE downsides. The Algae growing light (5500K - 7K lite) in the sump causes algae to grow. I do have a little nuance algae in my sump that i rather not have. Im guess its from the Sump light but not positive. So i wonder would it be in the DT if i didnt have a sump or would it not be their at all if not for the extra light in the sump IDK.

I will also add i have never had issues with Nitrates, Nitrites or Amo.

Know my PO4 allways looked good and low but i have never had the best of luck with SPS. Ive always had Equipment issues or Salt Mix issues so yah.

But for me Cheato is supper easy. Its actually so easy i wonder if it is good enough it grows fine for me except when i used GFO. During that time my cheato didnt look all that well but nether did anything else


DID i say its the one thing in this hobby that FREE or a minimal money maker (well LFS in store credit) about once a month

 

[Jfannin]

I actually like my high flow sump/Cheato Refugi. It causes the Cheato to tumble all the time. so it gets to growing in a good ball and the light hits every part of the cheato because its rolling around. Plus I have very little Diatom in my sump.

 

[Allmost]

what goes in, must come out.

fuge is one of the ways of exporting . there are other methods too, perhaps alot more efficient, and would be able to lower nutrients lower than what a fuge can do.

ones above saying nothing is needed ... nutrients have to come out somehow ... if you have no other way but algae growth, then it will grow in your DT ... unless you have an area where u encourage algae to grow, and call it a fuge.

now if algae growth is the best filtration method for a SPS tank or not is a whole different question. ...