What to put in refugium?
- Thread starter malt02
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Thanks for the welcome Dominga! I have about 70 or so lbs of live sand and about the same of live rock in the main tank. Put another 20 lbs of live sand in the refugium and have what I think is a small clump of cheto macroalgea in there. Looks a little sparce in there. More live rock? I can move some snails into the fuge once there is something for them to eat in there. Any more specifics?
Thanks,
Mark
Thanks,
Mark
Fredfish, my objectives for the fuge is to rid the water of nitrate, phosphate, etc so as to fully complete the cycle as nature would do. Would love to see this as close to a natural cycle as one can get. A little food for the tang and angel would be a nice side benifit. Are there other objectives for a fuge that I don't know about?
Thanks,
Mark
Thanks,
Mark
andydavis141
New member
hello i am also researching refugium types for my tank and have a similar objective but does anyone have any experience with mud and or mangroves vs. sand and algea. also what is the best light cycle 24/7, opposite the tank, or same cycle as tank? thanks for any info in advanced, and have a good day!
andrew
andrew
stevedola
Master of my domain
I keep cheato, sand and LR in my refuge with a few snails and a hermit. I have a cheapy grow bulb and clip on light from HD to light it. I run the light on a opposite light cycle to help with Ph shift.
I know people that keep mangroves but they definately arent as easy as cheato and I truthfully dont see any advantage over the macro algea. There are daily misting with supplements that need to be done (from what Ive been told) and they can be picky. Do more research on the subject and you'll see the care and problems associated with mangroves. I think cheato is easier and you can obtain the same results.
I know people that keep mangroves but they definately arent as easy as cheato and I truthfully dont see any advantage over the macro algea. There are daily misting with supplements that need to be done (from what Ive been told) and they can be picky. Do more research on the subject and you'll see the care and problems associated with mangroves. I think cheato is easier and you can obtain the same results.
Mark, those are the two main reasons for a refugium. Sometimes people want ot keep other animal in the refugium that wouldn't do well in the main tank.
If nutrient export is your main goal, add more algae. What you want is good algae growth and weekly harvests of algae to export nutrients. give your algae in the refugium some water flow for better nutrient exchange and growth.
You will get a nice pod population in the refugium as well.
Steve, mangroves grow too slowly in our systems to be usefull for nutrient export.
Fred
If nutrient export is your main goal, add more algae. What you want is good algae growth and weekly harvests of algae to export nutrients. give your algae in the refugium some water flow for better nutrient exchange and growth.
You will get a nice pod population in the refugium as well.
Steve, mangroves grow too slowly in our systems to be usefull for nutrient export.
Fred
andydavis141
New member
so is it important to brake some algea(harvest) out every week or two. And can't it rerelease nitrate back out? and how do you keep overgrowth or spontanious growth out of your main display? and what about mud instead of sand any disadvantages or advantages to using one or the other? thanks again
I was also looking at miracle mud in the fuge as it sounds great from what I have read about it. The LFS guy didn't really seem too hip to the idea when I mentioned it to him and it does sound weird putting mud in your marine system. Would like to hear from some who use it also as it is still early in the stage for me and can change if it is that true. From what I have read it also sounds like Cheato (sp?), is the algea to have in your fuge. Any backers there? Let me know.
Thanks,
Mark
Thanks,
Mark
wan 2 B reef'in
New member
Hello all, I posted a reply in another thread about "fuge mud". If you can find a copy of last years (06) "Marine Fish USA And Reef" magazine, there is an entire article about the benefits of a fuge, it has alot of info about muds, plenums, algea and such. It should have the info you're looking for. One thing that stands out to me is that mud should last about 18 mnths. before needing to be replaced. Hope this helps...
In the early days of miracle mud, someone actually did an analysis of the stuff. It is a mix of high organic content dirt and quartz gravel. No miracle, but, as DrBegalke mentioned, a slow release fertilizer and a good substrait for a lot of little critters.
Want miracle mud, mix a little muck in with your sand.
On keeping macro algae out of your main tank, the best way is a good herbivour. This is a hard thing to find for smaller tanks as most of the really good herbivour fish are quite large.
I don't care about algae in the main display because my seahorses like it.
Fred
Want miracle mud, mix a little muck in with your sand.
On keeping macro algae out of your main tank, the best way is a good herbivour. This is a hard thing to find for smaller tanks as most of the really good herbivour fish are quite large.
I don't care about algae in the main display because my seahorses like it.
Fred
marcsmith73
In Memoriam
Questions?
At what point would you add a fuge to your system? Looking for answers...Example: Would it be a week old tank? 1 month old? 1 year old?
Also what do you think about t5's on the fuge? Ample lighting?
At what point would you add a fuge to your system? Looking for answers...Example: Would it be a week old tank? 1 month old? 1 year old?
Also what do you think about t5's on the fuge? Ample lighting?
Marcsmith73, My tank is a 55 gal with 70lbs live sand and approximately the same of live rock. It really never seemed to cycle per se as the ammonia, nitrite, nitrate never spiked at all. I had 4 green chromas in there to cycle it. With the live sand/rock, I had an Ehime wet/dry canaster filter. For the macro algea to survive it needs its food which would be the nitrate and a few other things. So with that in mind, you can put a refugium on at any time and have your skimmer/heater/? going but would most likely be best to add the macro algea a few months down the road in order for its nutrients to build up. This is new to me but that seems to be the most logical way to do it. I now have an ASM G1 protein skimmer and the heater in the fuge and everything seems to be working well! 
You can add your refugium any time. If you add it in the beginning, it cycles with the tank.
I also think that you can add macro algae early on. It dosn't take long for nitrates to show up in your system. I would add it at the same time you add the first animals to your tank, be they snails or whatever.
If you are adding live rock during cycling, you will get macro algae anyway.
T5 is overkill for your refugium unlesss you are going to keep corals in it. I grew macro in my tank for 3 years using NO fluorescent. Much less expensive than T5.
Fred
I also think that you can add macro algae early on. It dosn't take long for nitrates to show up in your system. I would add it at the same time you add the first animals to your tank, be they snails or whatever.
If you are adding live rock during cycling, you will get macro algae anyway.
T5 is overkill for your refugium unlesss you are going to keep corals in it. I grew macro in my tank for 3 years using NO fluorescent. Much less expensive than T5.
Fred
marcsmith73
In Memoriam
Thanks Fred! I have an extra tank with a retro t5 unit on it so I figuered I just put the setup to use.
Great points! thanks!
Great points! thanks!
lakehorse61
New member
i used 50 lbs of miracle mud & 100 lbs of live sand with approx 100 lbs of live rock. 1/2 of the fuge has calupera with a 36 inch light that stays on 24/7. the other 1/2 has just sand,mud,rock & two very large tube anemones that get plenty to eat. the lfs couldnt sell them to anyone so i bought them.
i also have cleanup crew of various types.
we keep 4 power heads running on the calupera side to keep the cyno at bay.
with the addition of a nitrate reactor, this natural filtration took about a year to kick in----my nitrates stay around 10 finally. of course the 2 large protein skimmers in the sump help too. i dont use any uv on the system.
i also have cleanup crew of various types.
we keep 4 power heads running on the calupera side to keep the cyno at bay.
with the addition of a nitrate reactor, this natural filtration took about a year to kick in----my nitrates stay around 10 finally. of course the 2 large protein skimmers in the sump help too. i dont use any uv on the system.
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