New refugium media

[Peter Brescia]

Hi everyone, I almost finished with the plumbing on my 160+ rimless, (dori's new home), and now confused with what to use as my sump bottom.

Should I go with live sand, or mud, or a combination of both

 

[JLUR_]

I recommend going bare bottom. it makes it much easier to clean later on. Other options include broken rock chunks to provide some extra filtration and pod homes or a deep sand bed (DSB). DSB is worth reading into to see if the benefits it provides would be beneficial for your particular system.

 

[Peter Brescia]

What I forgot to mention, I'm going with a bare bottom tank, so I need some kind of sand bed in the sump

 

[Peter Brescia]

What I forgot to mention, I'm going with a bare bottom tank, so I need some kind of sand bed in the sump

Here's a pic of the tank with diy rock

 

[JLUR_]

What I forgot to mention, I'm going with a bare bottom tank, so I need some kind of sand bed in the sump

Ah, gotcha. I'd throw some marinepure blocks in the sump then. Its relatively easy to cut to shape it to the bottom of your sump and will provide a ton of surface area for nitrifying bacteria.

Welcome to Reef2Reef by the way!

 

[Peter Brescia]

Thanks for the welcome

 

[FragileReefer]

Personally ived used Marinepure and the stuff crumbles over time. I also don't care for what it's made of. But I do love Brightwell bio block. Been a year in the back of my nano and have not broken down. So I would recommend that. Or I have been throwing the idea of a mud/mangrove refuge but keeping the mud in trays for easier removal, but I feel like that might be an extreme option.

On BRS live stream today they pointed out how barebottom tanks are a little tougher the first year and get easier over time. I'm going into my second year in my reef and starting to see why people rip out their sand bed. I love my sand critters so I'll stick it out a while longer. But the debate of sandbed/barebottom is evolving. I would search out some new and old info and remember, surface area is key. I don't think bare bottoms have enough out right and sand traps too much. Good luck. I hope I helped more than confused.

 

[Peter Brescia]

Thanks,
The space dedicated to the refugium is 12"x36" and I'm thinking of keeping the water level hight at around 18" to 20", for the media bed I'm thinking to have it at 7" to 8" in depth, with all my old live rock from my current 30g.
I would like to keep a few kinds of macro algae, feather dusters, and other critters that would do well in that enviroment.
I can ad some of those bloks Into the return or the intake chambers.