How important is a refugium???????

Steelerfan747 · Jun 10, 2012

Hey all. I have recently been looking into getting my self a new custom sump so I could go with a larger skimmer and possibly a refugium. My current tank is a 46g 22" cube made by Reefsavvy. I love the tank but if I had to do it all over again, I would have gone with a 24" cube or bigger.

It seems the majority of all sumps are 24" or larger except for a couple I have seen including my current Aqueon model 1 but they seem to be very difficult to work with so I decided to look into a custom sump.

I was thinking of doing one that would be 21"l x 16" d x 17"h. I was thinking of making it a 3 chamber sump (inlet, fuge & return) with both the inlet & return being about 5" wide which would leave me about a 10" x 16" fuge or if I add a 2" sponge for reduction of micro bubbles a 8" x 16".

In doing so, I would be limited in having to use a Tunze skimmer within the inlet (probably a 9011) as I would not be able to fit anything else. I do not have the possibility of going larger as I only have the stand available to house all equipment and still have to place two dosing cylinders and an ato container.

My question is, how important is a fuge? Does this seem like something that would work? or should I just skip the fuge and go with a simpler set up with a larger skimmer? :squigglemouth:

What do you guys think?

Reef Breeders · Jun 10, 2012

You need either a large fuge, or a large skimmer. Or medium fuge, and medium skimmer. Really, all you need is a place for a) Live rock rubble, and b) chaeto. These provide filtration and a home for all sorts of pods and bristle worms, so a fuge is very important. I ran a 90 gallon reef for a year with nothing but a fuge, so yes, they do work, and they work quite well. On the other hand, you could go with just an oversized skimmer, especially on a tank that small.

SeahorseKeeper · Jun 10, 2012

Honestly, I think that a fuge is very beneficial. I think that your setup is doable.

Young Frankenstein · Jun 10, 2012

I would definitely go for a large refugium. I have tried almost everything, nitrate hoses, mangroves, pellets, etc, and the most effective way to reduce nitrates is large skimming and combo algae scrubber and chaeto.