Help with the perfect Refugium setup!

[d2mini]

I've got a 24x22x22 LifeReef fuge that I'm going to be setting up and a little undecided on how I want to do it.

MY GOAL: To grow nutrient hungry macros (like chaeto) and have a place for pods to reproduce.

I'm not looking for a place to put a DSB, fish or other critters banished from the display, etc.
My only focus is nailing my goal above.

So how would you set it up?

I have an MP40 for flow and I have this light that I may use...
HTG Supply - FLORALUX 150w HPS Mini Grow Light

The flow of the tank is the water enters from the top right through a spray bar and leaves the refugium on the left where it flows over a baffle and then out the bottom right on its way back to the sump.

What else would you have in the tank?
BB or substrate?
Rock or anything else?

 

[143MPCo]

Just curious, why not use something like a Hydroponic Plant Grow Light Panel, they work very well for growing plants and produce less heat and at $30 seems like a more cost effective alternative, no?

HQRP 14W 225 LED Blue + Red Spectrum Hydroponic Plant Grow Light Panel / Lamp + UV Meter

 

[d2mini]

Totally open to it.
I looked at some LED fixtures and wasn't thrilled with what I saw. Most are overpriced like most LED fixtures.
This one looks interesting but the reviews seem so-so on growth?
I'm also open to T5 or CFL fixtures too.
The one i grabbed in my OP was only 60 bucks and gets great reviews from the ummm.... "recreational" plant growing industry.

I have this fixture over my Mangrove tank.... it works very well.
System Comp Fluorescent 200W Day | 50% Off Discount Hydroponic Supplies
The bulb is the size of a small watermelon. lol

 

[143MPCo]

great reviews from the ummm.... "recreational" plant growing industry.

:hat::hat::hat: You don't say... lol

 

[SeeingGreen]

Keithcorals put a thread on what he is running. Looks like a good place to start.

 

[143MPCo]

Keithcorals put a thread on what he is running. Looks like a good place to start.

this thread: https://www.reef2reef.com/forums/eq...m-filtration/179426-keithcorals-refugium.html

 

[d2mini]

Nice!
Looks like Keith and I are on the same page.

 

[TJ's Reef]

Wow! Very cool concept in refugiums, not sure how I missed this thread for so long. I've been a long time believer in the uses of refugiums in Reeftanks and in high flow ones at that. I'm building a new sump/fuge to go with new tank build/upgrade and may very well incorporate this idea into a section. I am also going further towards the DSR Method with new system, and like you will be basically running a 'Modified DSR Method' with the addition of a functional refugium.


Cheers, Todd

 

[feh]

I run my fuge BB with rock, chaeto, and two types of gracilaria. I have read some people dose iron to help with macro algae growth with no ill effects. The best practice for plant growth is eliminating limiting factors - providing right amount of light, nutrients, flow, etc. Even CO2 can be a limiting factor in plant growth. I would think some where between 50 to 100 PAR with light would be plenty to grow just about any weed, macro algae or micro algae. 5500k to 6500k should work for spectrum...

 

[Damon]

Lol, as I read these threads about lighting the fuge, I have said over and over again to myself "they're not quite getting it abd need to look at the established hydroponic industry".

We focus so much on technical, that, the simple escapes is with aquariums. With fuge lighting and the fuge in general, your trying to simply grow a plant. And in simple terms, more light =more growth. You don't need to add any more chemicals, and really, shouldn't, as the goal is for extraction and not addition. Light is the limiting factor.. Throw more light, get more growth and nutrient pull..

My fuge is lit my a 150 watt HPS horticulture "fixture". I don't concern myself with par or anything else. It doesn't heat my water, because the bulb is so small and the water flow through the system. I have done this on multiple tanks with the same, exact results. My tank now is 50 gallons with a "tiny" fuge area. Total sump volume is about 10 gallons. I have enclosed pictures to show the growth of 10 days from adding the new light to the fuge..

As can be(or maybe not) seen, when i first added it, the cheato, it was almost dead. It was stringy and light on the 9th of this month. 10 days later, in now ready to take the divider eggcrate off and pretty much, along with extraction, have a natural bubble trap.

It's not nutrients that are lacking in our systems for the growth, it's light power.. That's all, no more, no less..

 

[d2mini]

Lol, as I read these threads about lighting the fuge, I have said over and over again to myself "they're not quite getting it abd need to look at the established hydroponic industry".

We focus so much on technical, that, the simple escapes is with aquariums. With fuge lighting and the fuge in general, your trying to simply grow a plant. And in simple terms, more light =more growth. You don't need to add any more chemicals, and really, shouldn't, as the goal is for extraction and not addition. Light is the limiting factor.. Throw more light, get more growth and nutrient pull..

My fuge is lit my a 150 watt HPS horticulture "fixture". I don't concern myself with par or anything else. It doesn't heat my water, because the bulb is so small and the water flow through the system. I have done this on multiple tanks with the same, exact results. My tank now is 50 gallons with a "tiny" fuge area. Total sump volume is about 10 gallons. I have enclosed pictures to show the growth of 10 days from adding the new light to the fuge..

As can be(or maybe not) seen, when i first added it, the cheato, it was almost dead. It was stringy and light on the 9th of this month. 10 days later, in now ready to take the divider eggcrate off and pretty much, along with extraction, have a natural bubble trap.

It's not nutrients that are lacking in our systems for the growth, it's light power.. That's all, no more, no less..

Cool... again... I think we are on the same page. Lots of light from a good old fashioned horticulture fixture. Good to hear.

So the cheato should be enough shelter for pods to grow, no?
Can I do without the rock rubble?

 

[woochi]

I have a tank inline with my system, 40 breeder that is bare bottom, no rocks and no macro algae. It's completely bare except for a pump and there's plenty of pods all over that tank so I think you're going to be fine for pod growth

 

[d2mini]

Cool, thanks woochi.


Here's what I'm working with!
Coke can is for scale.
And the image is color corrected... that's pretty close to the color of the light.

 

[Damon]

As woochi said and i can first hand attest to, yes, pod growth and shelter is more than sufficient without rock. I don't think I can macro that well with my phone, but all the white "spots" on the picture from the 19th are pods..

Rock and some sand, as i found in my last system, honestly, just gets in the way and makes things more complicated when it's time to harvest. That stuff gets so dense, that it honestly clings to anything, pulling out rock, gravel, etc..