Sump/Refugium Suggestions

[Fireworm]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12251918#post12251918 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by kaotic1121
. In my experience, the best denitrifiers are big clams. When I added four in my 90gal it dropped my nitrates from 120ppm (embarrassingly high) to 40ppm in a week. Fireworm can attest to that too. I also made a RDSB (remote deep sand bed) per Anthony Calfo’s recommendation. That’s another effective and cheap method to denitrate a system.

As for phosphates, just grow xenia. Excellent phosphate exporter, cheap to obtain, easy to grow, LFS love to take it.

Amen brother

 

[JCR's Reef]

My refugium is just for that, Fauna life for food, Macro algae to help with (Some) nutrient export and food, and a deepsand bed to help support the life that grows within it. With a big refugium OR big sump your still increasing your water system, and have an Equipment tank so your supplies are out of sight.

 

[NATIVEVAMAN]

I have been reading articles by Charles Raabe(charles1958)about tanks that contain grass beds and other shoreline plants and an article that I cant find find by a female who's name I dont remember and they both are saying that a totaly natural approach to reef keeping both expand the numbers of critters we keep and eliminate the need for a skimmer.the woman even said that by using grass bed tanks we may have to add nitrates and phosphates.
http://home2.pacific.net.ph/~sweetyummy42/The Natural Reef Aquarium.html
http://home2.pacific.net.ph/~sweetyummy42/The Natural Reef Aquarium Part Two.html
I found the third article.
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-04/sl/index.php

 

[JCR's Reef]

Are you thinking of Julia Sprung? It's true but some of them are very invasive, and even ruin a tank if the fish dont eat them, or if the go sexual, even if you grow in a refugium they have a chance to accidently get into your main display. That's why alot of people elect not to go this route, especially if you have high priced corals. I run both a skimmer and also grow tea cup caulpera, raceromara caulpera, chaetomorpha, and some red type of plant. My skimmer still pulls out alot of gunk even with this stuff in there.

 

[NATIVEVAMAN]

No I wasnt thinking of Julian Sprung I was thinking of Sarah Lardizabal the author of the the third article above.While I dont think the small under tank fuges are a bad thing they are no where near close to what I was talking about.I am talking about a tank that is large enought and nice enough looking that it is actually a second dt.On my 65 I would use a 40 breeder or the garden variety 55.I wouldnt even consider caulurpa or cheato for the green bio mass.I would use one or more of the four sea grass's listed on the bottom of this page.
http://live-plants.com/

 

[JCR's Reef]

I see what your saying and if the volume is large enough it plays a very big role on your actual D.T.. The small ones like I have dont do much, but it is functional. I just use it to keep the pod life up. I need a bigger one just for what your talking about. If your fuge is close to the same size as your main display I say its very functional. When you start dwindelling its size, it becomes less fuctional and more of a nutrient storage. I would still run a skimmer whether or not I was growing any type of plant.

 

[NATIVEVAMAN]

Well should I find myself in the position of being rich and famous I am going to build this thing and hope I can run the skimmer without the collection cup........I will need an aerator lol.

 

[kaotic1121]

I too have looked at the use of seagrass in aquaria. What I found to be a deterant is the need to add CO2 like in freshwater planted tanks. This scares me because it doesn't take much to crash a system due to low pH from too much CO2. Just ask any person with a calcium reactor. The seagrass would be fine, but it would shock maybe kill off the coral. It also needs high light to run the system. After factoring in having to run yet another MH on my system, I felt it would be more cost effective to run a skimmer instead.

NATIVEVAMAN- Great links and info. They were all good reads. I'd still be willing to setup a shoal grass tank, but I'll wait until more information becomes available and I understand it better.

 

[JCR's Reef]

You so need money in this hobby so I hear you on that one.

You could run a more shallow tank, that would eleminate the need for metal halides. I dont think you would need them. I grow mine under a 65 watt Home Depot light. These lights work great and are said to be equivlant to 500watts.

 

[kaotic1121]

Macro algaes don't need much light at all to thrive. That's why you can get away with a cheap grow bulb over your caluerpa. If you read the third link in NATIVE's post, Sarah Lardizabal states they need a lighting PAR value upto 700. Shoal grass is found in as little as 6" inches of water. We try to replicate sunlight at 30 meters deep for our corals. I can't imagine trying to mimic the sun at 6".

 

[NATIVEVAMAN]

A friend of mine that has a grass bed tank in a 40 gallon breeder and has two outdoor flood lights that are the equivelent to 2 250 watt fixtures.He just recently planted it so the jury is still out.The depth of the tank is very importand since most grass's require deep sand and grow to 12 inch's tall.I think a better tank choice would have been a standard 55.Part 3 of those articles should be out in about 2 weeks.If you click on the third picture at the top of the page it will come up if its out.

 

[kaotic1121]

I'm interested to see how that works for your friend. Do you know how hw setup his sand bed? Also, is it a stand alone system or tied in with other tanks?

 

[NATIVEVAMAN]

My friend used a 6 inch sand bed mixed with reef mud.He is running the tanks in tandum with one skimmer currently.When the bed gets a little growth and is stable he will turn the skimmer off.Testing for nitrates and phosphates will be a daily thing for a while.

 

[kaotic1121]

Sounds like a good start. What grass did he choose?

 

[NATIVEVAMAN]

I sent him an e mail and asked him to come answer his own questions lol.