Fuge for people with limited room

[LEOreefer]

hello all! I was wondering if anyone had an idea for those of use who dont have room to add a fuge to our systems? I would love to add one to my system as I think there benefits are great, but I cant hang it on the side of the tank as my wife would kill me and I have a mesh lid and my sump space is little to none. What do you guys recommend? As always thanks for your help ill attach a pic of my sump area for reference

 

[eric.battani]

You have two choices that I see.

One. add a macro algae reactor under your brs 2stage

Two. Add a rock reactor under your brs 2 stage

Just use a reactor and lay it on its side.

 

[LEOreefer]

You have two choices that I see.

One. add a macro algae reactor under your brs 2stage

Two. Add a rock reactor under your brs 2 stage

Just use a reactor and lay it on its side.

what is a rock reactor ?

 

[eric.battani]

Your wanting to run a refugium for pods right? Well this will give the pods a safe place to grow, and even have the extra benefit of growing sponges for filtration (that is if its left in the dark) plus you will never have to open it to clean it or harvest macro algae like you would in a algae reactor.

Here is a picture of one of my reactors.

 

[lacrosseboss18]

I agree an macro reactor would be a great option. DIY, skimz arid all are options.
If your do you have an ATO. Maybe you can setup a remote tank with it and put a piece of furniture over it. You could also get a hang on Fuge and put it on the right side of your sump. You would have to move the reactor though.

Another cool option depending on how much room you have you can put a trigger system ATO crystal series container or small rubber made on the side. depending on how tall you sump is add a pump to go into the Fuge and if the Fuge is taller you can drill a bulk head into the side top potion and then connect PVC so it does a 90 degree and dumps right into the return section. That’s how I would try doing it.

 

[LEOreefer]

Your wanting to run a refugium for pods right? Well this will give the pods a safe place to grow, and even have the extra benefit of growing sponges for filtration (that is if its left in the dark) plus you will never have to open it to clean it or harvest macro algae like you would in a algae reactor.

Here is a picture of one of my reactors.

Thats a brilliant idea ! Thats the biggest problem is what do I do with my reactor thats on the wall

 

[LEOreefer]

I agree an macro reactor would be a great option. DIY, skimz arid all are options.
If your do you have an ATO. Maybe you can setup a remote tank with it and put a piece of furniture over it. You could also get a hang on Fuge and put it on the right side of your sump. You would have to move the reactor though.

Another cool option depending on how much room you have you can put a trigger system ATO crystal series container or small rubber made on the side. depending on how tall you sump is add a pump to go into the Fuge and if the Fuge is taller you can drill a bulk head into the side top potion and then connect PVC so it does a 90 degree and dumps right into the return section. That’s how I would try doing it.

All good ideas.....the tank on the side hidden wont work as the wife would not be happy, I would have to move my reactor to fit an in stand one and im not sure what I would do with it

 

[eric.battani]

Thats a brilliant idea !

Thanks I got the idea from my all-in-one nano. I've had the best luck with it for years and never any real problems with it like most people who run nano reefs. Well in the back compartment it's full of live rock rubble. I did that so I could still have the proper amount of rock since I went with a "minimalist" look in the display portion. Well the rock in the back is covered with sponges from lack of light and after some research, I found out that the natural sponges are the best filter feeders for our reefs!
Well I wanted more, and started two more reactors full of rubble to give myself more filtration so i could feed more heavily in the future

 

[lacrosseboss18]

If that’s the route you want to go you can wrap it in black tape.
Check out this video at 2:33


I’ve been lucky enough to see Mikes tank in person. He has a window in this sump and you can see it filled with pods and sponges and tons of good stuff.

 

[eric.battani]

If that’s the route you want to go you can wrap it in black tape.
Check out this video at 2:33


I’ve been lucky enough to see Mikes tank in person. He has a window in this sump and you can see it filled with pods and sponges and tons of good stuff.

I've been toying with what to use. The two rock reactors are newly setup and haven't had proper time to fully work yet. For now I've just been keeping them in the dark, till I decide what to use. I still want the option to look inside when I want. That way when I notice a build up of detritus, I can turn the flow up and flush it out without having to open the reactors up. Yes it will flush out most of the pods, but they with return in no time.

 

[LEOreefer]

What do you think of something like this ?

 

[Orm Embar]

More options that come to mind - put some well behaved macro in the display (dragon's breath or gracilaria) and/or small piles of rubble ("pod piles"). I've gotten much better nutrient control with macroalgae than I did with skimming (I'm skimmerless currently) FWIW - I ended up removing my skimmer and just doing macro + light.

 

[LEOreefer]

More options that come to mind - put some well behaved macro in the display (dragon's breath or gracilaria) and/or small piles of rubble ("pod piles"). I've gotten much better nutrient control with macroalgae than I did with skimming (I'm skimmerless currently) FWIW - I ended up removing my skimmer and just doing macro + light.

Thats interesting.... I've thought about going skimmerless and just doing a fuge esp since my skimmer does not produce that much waste, how was the transition to skimmerless and what kind of tank do you run?

 

[eric.battani]

Ive been skimmerless for about 4 years on my 24g Cardiff nano. The only thing I did different was add a nano media reactor that I load with pillow stuffing. It not only polishes the water but also helps remove detritus when my sand sifter is looking for his next meal. I do have to change it once a week/sometimes more. For example, my glass top broke a few years ago and I hadn't been able to keep a sand sifter goby. (My tank has a full curve, not just a slight bow and I couldn't find anyone who would cut a new top to match) So other than a few large Nassarius snails I haven't had anything to sift my sand. Then right before Christmas I actually was able to find a place that would cut a new glass lid to go on top of my tank. So I quickly added a diamond goby and because my sand hadn't really been sifted for so long I was changing the filter floss every day for two weeks

 

[eric.battani]

Here is a picture of the one I use. I love it.

 

[LEOreefer]

Ive been skimmerless for about 4 years on my 24g Cardiff nano. The only thing I did different was add a nano media reactor that I load with pillow stuffing. It not only polishes the water but also helps remove detritus when my sand sifter is looking for his next meal. I do have to change it once a week/sometimes more. For example, my glass top broke a few years ago and I hadn't been able to keep a sand sifter goby. (My tank has a full curve, not just a slight bow and I couldn't find anyone who would cut a new top to match) So other than a few large Nassarius snails I haven't had anything to sift my sand. Then right before Christmas I actually was able to find a place that would cut a new glass lid to go on top of my tank. So I quickly added a diamond goby and because my sand hadn't really been sifted for so long I was changing the filter floss every day for two weeks

That’s awesome. I’ve been thinking about going skimmerless as my tank is in my living room and the skimmer is the loudest piece of equipment. I mostly run a lps tank with some easy to keep sps like birds nest which I love. I’ve decided that next week I will convert to skimmerless I’ve ordered ad kessil h380 and some miricle mud as well as a pod and clean cheato from alage barn. I will still run my carbon and gfo reactor along with my UV sterilizer. I’m religious with weekly water changes so that working for me. And my skimmer barely pulls anything

 

[eric.battani]

You may also try reef bugs for growing pods.

 

[Orm Embar]

Thats interesting.... I've thought about going skimmerless and just doing a fuge esp since my skimmer does not produce that much waste, how was the transition to skimmerless and what kind of tank do you run?

For me, my bioload was low so I simply took out the skimmer and added chaeto and a light. Truthfully, I don't know if going skimmerless really adds anything to this tank - in my last tank (decades ago!), going skimmerless led to tons of feather dusters appearing in the tank and even on the glass. Nitrate/phosphate are generally zero to the next lowest value on Salifert/Elos test kits at the LFS (I have API for nitrate, which I don't trust, and don't feel like buying kits which I really wouldn't use more than a few times or during emergencies). I do notice a bit of organic film in the refugium on the surface when I add enough food concentrate (Reef Chili), although that has gotten better with more chaeto.

I've found macroalgae with lighting (via refugium) to do a much better job at nitrate/phosphate reduction than when I was skimming/doing partial water changes/live rock and sand without macroalgae. When I had macro in the main tank, it still worked, but not to the same degree (dragon's breath, not as fast growing as chaeto). Now I have dragon's breath in the main tank (which really isn't growing much if at all), gracilaria in the main tank (growing), and chaeto in the refugium (growing).

I use a PAR38 grow bulb, so my lighting is under $100 including the mounting setup (the bulbs are really $12-30ish, and you can buy a simple clip on mount for $10), so it's also very cost effective.

Lastly, it's nearly maintenance free - sell/trade/give away/trash some chaeto every so often.

I sometimes wonder if a small skimmer for aeration and removing surface organics would really impact plankton levels . . . I may eventually add a small Tunze in-sump skimmer, as those are supposed to be more plankton friendly, but since things are filtered well and I like to keep things simple and maintenance free, I'll probably stick with what I have. My biggest challenge ATM is calcium/alkalinity supplementation - going to try Bettix bottles and manual dosing, although I may eventually try a pair of dosing pumps (not much room, tho) or a small calcium reactor.

I'm obviously a huge fan of chaeto/refugia filtering! The only drawback is needing a sump/space, although I do wonder if some gracilaria and dragon's breath under good tank lighting wouldn't accomplish the same thing. It's also cool to think that all of your tank needs can be solved with $20 of macroalgae.

I originally got the idea from having some sargassum in my old tank (as well as reading about algae scrubbers and using live rock/sand to reduce nitrates), which grew quickly enough to need harvesting but was otherwise well behaved and took care of microalgae problems.

 

[LEOreefer]

For me, my bioload was low so I simply took out the skimmer and added chaeto and a light. Truthfully, I don't know if going skimmerless really adds anything to this tank - in my last tank (decades ago!), going skimmerless led to tons of feather dusters appearing in the tank and even on the glass. Nitrate/phosphate are generally zero to the next lowest value on Salifert/Elos test kits at the LFS (I have API for nitrate, which I don't trust, and don't feel like buying kits which I really wouldn't use more than a few times or during emergencies). I do notice a bit of organic film in the refugium on the surface when I add enough food concentrate (Reef Chili), although that has gotten better with more chaeto.

I've found macroalgae with lighting (via refugium) to do a much better job at nitrate/phosphate reduction than when I was skimming/doing partial water changes/live rock and sand without macroalgae. When I had macro in the main tank, it still worked, but not to the same degree (dragon's breath, not as fast growing as chaeto). Now I have dragon's breath in the main tank (which really isn't growing much if at all), gracilaria in the main tank (growing), and chaeto in the refugium (growing).

I use a PAR38 grow bulb, so my lighting is under $100 including the mounting setup (the bulbs are really $12-30ish, and you can buy a simple clip on mount for $10), so it's also very cost effective.

Lastly, it's nearly maintenance free - sell/trade/give away/trash some chaeto every so often.

I sometimes wonder if a small skimmer for aeration and removing surface organics would really impact plankton levels . . . I may eventually add a small Tunze in-sump skimmer, as those are supposed to be more plankton friendly, but since things are filtered well and I like to keep things simple and maintenance free, I'll probably stick with what I have. My biggest challenge ATM is calcium/alkalinity supplementation - going to try Bettix bottles and manual dosing, although I may eventually try a pair of dosing pumps (not much room, tho) or a small calcium reactor.

I'm obviously a huge fan of chaeto/refugia filtering! The only drawback is needing a sump/space, although I do wonder if some gracilaria and dragon's breath under good tank lighting wouldn't accomplish the same thing. It's also cool to think that all of your tank needs can be solved with $20 of macroalgae.

I originally got the idea from having some sargassum in my old tank (as well as reading about algae scrubbers and using live rock/sand to reduce nitrates), which grew quickly enough to need harvesting but was otherwise well behaved and took care of microalgae problems.

That’s the thing, I need to decide skimmer or Fuge due to my space limitations. My skimmer barley pulls anything and I feel as though a Fuge is much better at and more natural at filtering what I need in my case. That’s prob not the case for everyone but for me who likes weekly water changes , small fish and soon to be filled with lps. I feel like this is a good move and worse to to worse I’ll add the skimmer back If things get out of hand. I’ve done extensive research and I’ve seen over and over again good husbandry along with a healthy Fuge often keep nitrate and phosphate lower than most skimmers / gfo carbon setup

 

[Tphill]

You might be able to fit an algae turf scrubber in there, maybe.