First refugium tips

[Gone Reefin’]

Hey all, need some advice (basic advice) for my first refugium. I have a UNS R150. The sump has a small chamber for a refugium. The chamber is after skimmer chamber and before return pump chamber.

First question is what do you recommend for the fuge contents? Saw a starter kit from algae barn that looked interesting.

Second question, should I be concerned with fuge contents and detritus flowing into return chamber? There are slits in the partition wall that will allow most things to flow through. My return pump has a strainer, but it’s not the easiest to get to and don’t want to frequently clean.

Third, how often should I expect to have to access fuge for maintenance? UNS has an “interesting” design where the ATO reservoir sits right on top of the fuge chamber. Thus, it will not be accessible outside of once a week when the reservoir runs low. Reservoir cannot be moved, as it gravity feeds into the sump.

Thanks for the feedback.

 

[Subsea]

I suggest a cryptic refugium. Use reef rubble and seed with amphipods and copepods. No maintenance required.

 

[jonelder68]

Get a plant grow light off Amazon. Several recommendations through the forum here on what people are using.

Get some Pom Pom algae as I’m a big fan of it over the typical chaeto. It grows in a ball form and doesn’t shed strands like chaeto. Pom Pom grows just as good and is much easier to deal with. Need to remove some? Just grab a cluster and remove. No need to tear it apart like chaeto.

 

[UNS_Parker]

We sell a reef light that clips to the bottom of the refugium lid. It looks pretty seamless and works great. I am pulling out a few gallons of chaeto every month. I added some AquaForest Life Source and a few pieces of rock rubble to the chamber as well.

 

[toothybugs]

I grew heaps of Caulerpa prolifera in mine. Rip out half of it and throw it away every other weekend, the stuff sucks up nutrients like mad.

Now if you want a fuge that grows pods and other bugs, that's a different thing altogether. What do you want your fuge's purpose to be?

Detritus? Not really, unless you have good water movement in the chamber. A filter sock prior to the fuge should get 99% of the junk you see. Once in a great while it will be beneficial to clean out the crud you trap in the fuge but that's not very common.

Last, periodics of maintenance - that's up to you. Were it mine I'd give it a stir once a month to loosen stuff up, knock some bugs in to the water column, etc. Otherwise it's fine to leave it untouched.

 

[Gone Reefin’]

Thanks for the responses all. @toothybugs , good question on purpose. Mostly concerned about nutrient removal on what plans to be a heavily fed tank. Pods would be a pleasant benefit. My concern was the algae breaking off, passing into the return pump chamber, and clogging its intake or increasing cleaning reqs.

@UNS_Parker , I do plan on getting the fuge light! Nice offering by UNS.

@jonelder68 , thanks for the Pom Pom suggestion. Leaning towards this but would tangs/ fox face enjoy this also? Looking for a macro I can harvest and feed to go full circle.

 

[jonelder68]

Thanks for the responses all. @toothybugs , good question on purpose. Mostly concerned about nutrient removal on what plans to be a heavily fed tank. Pods would be a pleasant benefit. My concern was the algae breaking off, passing into the return pump chamber, and clogging its intake or increasing cleaning reqs.

@UNS_Parker , I do plan on getting the fuge light! Nice offering by UNS.

@jonelder68 , thanks for the Pom Pom suggestion. Leaning towards this but would tangs/ fox face enjoy this also? Looking for a macro I can harvest and feed to go full circle.

Unsure on tangs eating Pom Pom. I know my biota yellow tang won’t. But he barely eats nori. I would think a fox face would devour it along with some other tangs. I’ll soon be adding a whitetail bristletooth or yellow eyed Kole which I’m pretty sure both would eat it.

 

[areefer01]

I suggest a cryptic refugium. Use reef rubble and seed with amphipods and copepods. No maintenance required.

This was going to be my suggestion. Rock and rubble in there for now.

 

[Gone Reefin’]

This was going to be my suggestion. Rock and rubble in there for now.

What kind of rubble? Does it have to be seeded, or can I use some dry Marco rubble to get it started?

 

[areefer01]

What kind of rubble? Does it have to be seeded, or can I use some dry Marco rubble to get it started?

I do not know the age of the display but to be honest it doesn't matter. It will come down to goals. Short term vs long term.

Don't get me wrong, I like refugiums. In fact, I love them. The challenge is they mean different things to different hobbyist and everyone is right more or less. In my opinion it comes down to what we want to do. I treat them like the original name implies, a refuge. Nothing more, nothing less. It has, over time, become more of a junk drawer of sorts and captive bred fish grow out area. The installation does not mean pods or microfauna will find a migration path let alone want to. Yours I believe is part of the sump but they still have to navigate baffles :D

Anyway I am rambling a bit and let me get to your question. Dry rock is fine. It will age like a bottle of wine using nutrients and things from the display making their way down. Mini stars, pods, snails, etc. It will just be a matter of time. Sort of fun in my opinion.

You can also buy a treasure chest box, or rubble, from Tampa Bay Saltwater (TBS). Nothing like spiking the tank, refugium, refuge, or sump area, with oceanic rock and rubble. Indo Pacific Sea Farms (IPSF) is also a hidden gem. You can buy micro mini stars, macro algae, snails, and rubble from them. Perfect for seeding a refugium.

LFS or fellow hobbyist - cup of sand, rubble, coral skeleton. Same thing.

For reference, here is mine. Installation does not make pod migration that easy. I've removed a bunch of macro algae recently to feed my tang and rabbit fish while I was on vacation. Great source of food be it pods, worms, or Aiptaisa.

I guess the long and short of it to me is that a sump area is better suited for rubble and rocks than it is macro algae. I know it is done, or can be done, but I do not run socks or filter pads so your concern of debris getting into the return pumps is a valid concern. In my case it is an independent area that I can take off line to isolate animals if needed. In fact I have my 14 year old Pajama Cardinal in there as it is blind and not really able to get food from the faster fish in my display. Here I can hand feed it.

Sea Grapes, (Caulerpa lentillifera)