Poll: Refugium - Sand or bare bottom?

[SashimiTurtle]

Not sand, Fiji mud.

 

[Da Ghost]

BB with Cheato, culerpa (red) and a lot of live rock.

 

[vlangel]

5" of fine oolite sand with a little live rock and lots of macro algaes.
Sump in operation. by Dawn Gilson, on Flickr

 

[Adele]

Need a rubble option.

 

[Jesterrace]

I have sand in mine, but with a Diamond Watchman Goby and a Melanurus Wrasse it's kind of hard not to.

 

[Crashjack]

I have pukani rubble in my refugium and also a little sand (just due to wear and tear of the rubble and what came out of it). This also works great for fragging corals... I just reach into my sump and grab whatever size rock I want to frag to.

 

[Erica-Renee]

My DSB.. DEEP SAND BEDS . In my sump are in 1.5 gallon buckets.. I every 4 months remove the oldest one and Refile it with new said.. I Think this will help SAND Bed issues in the long run.... I have shallow sand bottom in my tanks

 

[vic5hands]

Mud

 

[cracker]

Iv'e done done bare refugium for awhile nowbut getting interested in collecting live sand & or mud. The sump on my 180 is ready to go with a remote tank/refugium

 

[Volcmreefer]

BB with Marine pure. Don’t touch it!

 

[jimo12]

i removed my sand and couldn't be happier

 

[George Lopez]

My current one has sand and rock but it stops the macro from tumbling so my next is bare with an area for rock and sand

 

[Livinlocal]

bump TTT.

So I have recently been thinking about adding a deep sand bed to my refugium. The biggest reason why is because I am fighting to keep my phosphate and nitrate above zero, mainly because I have a bare bottom display. I noticed that when I used to have a sand bed and my display, I was always fighting to keep my nutrients low, being that it is now the complete opposite for me, my theory is that if I add a deep sand bed to my refugium, That might help add nutrients back into the system?

 

[cracker]

Iv'e found that dosing nutrients is a lot easier & controllable .
also I placed wild live sand in a large, short tupperware then put the sand in that. Not a "deep sandbed " at all. I did this to add more differing bacteria to the system.

 

[Livinlocal]

I have debated dosing nutrients, but with my system I try to go with more of a simplicity method; “less is more”, hoping that I can achieve similar results by adding dead sand to my sump and allowing the nutrients to brew in there

 

[Mark Gray]

I really don't have ether I have fiji mud in mine not really sure if it does much but I think it adds some trace elements and give the display a little more color

 

[Gareth elliott]

Bare bottom. I add my water change water to my sump instead of the display, stops me from stirring it up too much and getting sand going into my return or skimmer pump. Sure i could avoid this if i was just more careful or used a slower pump to add the water back in.

 

[dewy]

I have a bare bottom with chaeto and marine pure.

 

[West1]

Updates... considering MM or Fiji mud for a refugium.
My goal is something organic to add trace elements and a safe haven for pods.

I am thinking about dividing the front chamber of a reefer 525 sump in two (3 chambers total).
filter socks to chaeto to MM/Fiji Mud to skimmer chamber.

 

[vlangel]

I have a DSB in my refugium, along with shoal seagrass and macro algae for nutrient uptake. I have nassarius snails and a fighting conch to keep the sand aerated on the top.
Also I added organic garden dirt from my flower bed to provide organic material for the seagrass.