To Refugium or not

Hi,

Well, I'm struggling to find a 30L on the link you added that will fit - the width of my stand won't accommodate 18".

I think the 29 gallon will be the biggest I can fit (30" x 12" x 18") but I'm a little concerned about the height of it.

Can anyone advise on how much working room do I need above a sump???
 
Okay I have to chime in becasue I just ditched my fuge and went back to a nice simple wet/dry.

I've had them for years, all kinds, and I'm done. The goal is to keep nitrates and phosphates low right? So get yourself a good skimmer, get a nice GFO/Carbon reactor, change your filter pads weekly (takes about 30 seconds), do your water changes and keep a nice low maintenance clean tank. Fuges are way overated.
 
I just added one on my last tank upgrade. I don't know how beneficial it is, but I actually enjoy seeing what's going on it. There have been a couple of people on this forum that have shown their refuguims and I think they can be as interesting as the DT.
 
jerseygurl said:
Okay I have to chime in becasue I just ditched my fuge and went back to a nice simple wet/dry.

I've had them for years, all kinds, and I'm done. The goal is to keep nitrates and phosphates low right? So get yourself a good skimmer, get a nice GFO/Carbon reactor, change your filter pads weekly (takes about 30 seconds), do your water changes and keep a nice low maintenance clean tank. Fuges are way overated.
Click to expand...

Very interesting. It's all a bit overwhelming for a newbie!

When you say you went back to a simple wet/dry that's with bio balls?
 
I think the 29 gallon would be too tall under your stand. The 20L would allow you add whatever contraptions you find a need for while giving you some room to reach them. I currently have one of each under a 36" stand, and I have just enough room above the 29 to hang a CFL bulb and plumbing. I wouldn't be able to keep much water in the 29 and have my skimmer at the recommended height, so it's in the 20.
 
For all those that are all about those refugiums, do you think you can get by without one?

Specific feeders are one thing, but the majority is another IMO. (no mandarin)

KISS.
 
cloak said:
For all those that are all about those refugiums, do you think you can get by without one?

Specific feeders are one thing, but the majority is another IMO. (no mandarin)

KISS.
Click to expand...

Yes I could get by w/out one, I mean I did for many years.
I don't rely on a fuge for nutrient export, just pods, but PH balance is nice.
Even if I didn't have mandarins I would still have one though as long as you have room, other fish do benefit.
A smaller tank w/ limited space and no plans of pod needy fish may be better off w/ reactors of some kind if looking solely for nutrient export.
 
cloak said:
For all those that are all about those refugiums, do you think you can get by without one?

Specific feeders are one thing, but the majority is another IMO. (no mandarin)

KISS.
Click to expand...
I could not keep my wild caught pipefish without it. I could keep the rest of my DT I believe, but the costs of artificial nutrient exporters make my RDSB/macro algae grow out tank/refugium a no brainer for me. My fuge allows me to run a protein skimmer (up line of course) and no other means of mechanical filtration or reactors. I really do enjoy it as much as the DT.
http://i1008.photobucket.com/albums/af201/secondsbest/20140415_195909_zps32qkygik.jpg
http://i1008.photobucket.com/albums/af201/secondsbest/20140408_223639_zpsddea9195.jpg
http://i1008.photobucket.com/albums/af201/secondsbest/20140408_225947_8_bestshot_zpsc67ef768.jpg
 
cloak said:
For all those that are all about those refugiums, do you think you can get by without one?

Specific feeders are one thing, but the majority is another IMO. (no mandarin)

KISS.
Click to expand...

That is like asking if you could get by without a skimmer. Yes I did it for years.
But why not take advantage of a natural means of nutrient export and live food?
At this point I would give up my skimmer before I would stop using my refugia.
 
redcoatd said:
Very interesting. It's all a bit overwhelming for a newbie!

When you say you went back to a simple wet/dry that's with bio balls?
Click to expand...

Oh I know, I've made every mistake at least twice. The thing is, there's no one way to do something, everyone's got an opinion based on their specific experience. A fuge is the perfect example, I've worked on a ton of them (I work part time doing maintenance on rich people's tanks for a LFS) and to me they're just more work. I do enough work keeping the tank pristine, I don't need to spend extra time bent down under the tank cleaning the fuge, forget it.

Anyway, yes, a wet/dry is typically with the bio-balls. But once you get your live rock and sand working you can ditch them. A simple three-stage wet/dry is all you need. First stage the tank water goes through mechanical filtration (think three layors of filter fabric 50/100/200), then into the middle chamber with the protein skimmer and GFO/carbon reactor, then through an air bubble sponge into chamber three with your return pump. Empty the protein skimmer every couple of days, change the filter fabric every couple of weeks, and replace the GFO/carbon every couple of months.

I run basically this exact system on like 30 tanks and they are all crystal clean and easy to maintain and hardly ever have issues.
 
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