Powerhead in the Refugium... What?

[OffTopic]

Hello,

So I was scrolling through R2R and I saw that some people use Powerheads in their Refugiums. I assume they are used for additional circulation and cause surface disturbance. My question, are powerhead's truly beneficial for the refugium or is great Chaeto growth doable without having a powerhead in the Refugium.

Thanks

 

[Ebone]

I keep one in mine, it runs 15 min every hour... spins the chaeto and stirs up everything

 

[PDR]

Hello,

So I was scrolling through R2R and I saw that some people use Powerheads in their Refugiums. I assume they are used for additional circulation and cause surface disturbance. My question, are powerhead's truly beneficial for the refugium or is great Chaeto growth doable without having a powerhead in the Refugium.

Thanks

Imo it really depends on the individual fuge. I ran a successful fuge with and without extra powerheads. You should be able to grow chaeto just fine without one.

 

[cracker]

Hello, I run a power head in my refugium 24/7 . I think it's a Maxi jet 1200 with the foam filter over the intake . This keeps the bits & pieces of chaeto from clogging the pump. I have a nice big green ball of chaeto rolling . It also stirs up crud that wants to build up.

 

[Reefpuck]

My return pump just tees off and dumps water in my fuge (like most people's probably do). If you use a ball valve, and split the flow into different directions, you can adjust flow as needed and should be fine.

Always trying to avoid an extra plug if I can. :)

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

I don’t prefer or reccomend it.

A sump is a gravity filter. Organics have weight and in a low flow area they sink. The baffles also stop particles before they get to the return pump and sink as well.
IMO , a power head is going stir stuff up and send it back to the display or not let it settle and send it back to the display.
A higher return rate will do more for macros.(part of the triton method) Spinning chato is neat , but not a need.

 

[Ron Reefman]

I agree with saltyfilmfolks to a point. Having stuff settle out in a sump CAN be part of its usefulness.

But I go a different route. I use filter socks so not nearly as much 'stuff' gets into the sump. So I don't run a powerhead or wavemaker in my sump, I run a gyre and stir it up good. The skimmer will remove some of the stuff the filter socks and algae don't get. And some of it will even end up back in the DT. I don't think that's a problem. And based strictly on how my corals, fish and other invers are doing, I think they agree. In fact my rock flower anemones have spawned twice in the last year and I've gone from 5 to 17 to over 35.

 

[teller]

Depend on your water movement in the refugium. I have an open sump so I use a low power powerhead, 3w tunze 6015 to help with my chaeto.
Só IMO depends on the water flow in refugium. I believe all creatures like constant flow around them, no matter if is sponges, macro algae or others.

 

[vinsk]

My issue in my UNS R75 refugium is that the macroalgae ( atomic broccoli) follows the flow and gets hung up on the baffle leading to the return pump. After constant flow eventually pieces come off and get sucked into my return pump which is just on the other side of the baffle.
I placed a divider made of egg crate but that just makes the space smaller for the macroalgae and now the algae just gets hung up on the egg crate.
This is why I want to spin the algae but haven’t found a good way to do it.
I tried a Nero 3 set low in the compartment but it kept sucking the algae in to the back of it.

 

[UNS_Parker]

My issue in my UNS R75 refugium is that the macroalgae ( atomic broccoli) follows the flow and gets hung up on the baffle leading to the return pump. After constant flow eventually pieces come off and get sucked into my return pump which is just on the other side of the baffle.
I placed a divider made of egg crate but that just makes the space smaller for the macroalgae and now the algae just gets hung up on the egg crate.
This is why I want to spin the algae but haven’t found a good way to do it.
I tried a Nero 3 set low in the compartment but it kept sucking the algae in to the back of it.

Could you move the egg crate to the other side of the baffle? Inside the return pump chamber?

We are making a sponge attachment to prevent chaeto from moving between chambers.

 

[mfinn]

I've been using a small tunze powerhead in my refugium for a couple decades.
I guess it's all about the tumbling thing years ago. However once it grows to a certain point it just gets lodged into a corner, or friction stops it.
I did notice in my sump before using a powerhead the cheato turned into a huge detritus filter. Then if you went to harvest some, it would then create a storm in the tank.
Now the detritus settles out in the return area section and I can remove it during a water change. There is still some that remains in the refugium, but most flows to a slow spot in the return area.
It works for me.

 

[vinsk]

Could you move the egg crate to the other side of the baffle? Inside the return pump chamber?

We are making a sponge attachment to prevent chaeto from moving between chambers.

I believe that would interfere with the float valve for the ATO. I actually repositioned the float valve 90 degrees so it runs parallel to the divider. But I think the issue would still remain that as the algae is sucked to the baffle…eventually pieces are torn off. But the sponge idea has me thinking

 

[mfinn]

But the sponge idea has me thinking

I use sponge between the refugium and the return area in my sump. It is one more thing that has to be looked at occasionally.

 

[vinsk]

I think I’d rather monitor a sponge than to keep seeing chunks of my macro floating around the display tank…

 

[vinsk]

I use sponge between the refugium and the return area in my sump. It is one more thing that has to be looked at occasionally.

So by ‘looked at ‘ are you saying the macro can eventually just clog the sponge? I think I’m going to have to create some circulation because my macro continues to drift to the baffle wall and I’m again seeing pieces in my display.

I also don’t want the macro to clog the return pump so I can see the sponge preventing that at least.

 

[Kokanuty]

I have mine below my reefmat and acts as a settling tank for easy vacuuming. It’s where I vacuume for water changes.

 

[Seregus]

I believe that would interfere with the float valve for the ATO. I actually repositioned the float valve 90 degrees so it runs parallel to the divider. But I think the issue would still remain that as the algae is sucked to the baffle…eventually pieces are torn off. But the sponge idea has me thinking

If its working with 90 degree your flow is really low and i guess it explains why you cheato is slowly drifting … add some sponge with larger holes

 

[mfinn]

So by ‘looked at ‘ are you saying the macro can eventually just clog the sponge? I think I’m going to have to create some circulation because my macro continues to drift to the baffle wall and I’m again seeing pieces in my display.

I also don’t want the macro to clog the return pump so I can see the sponge preventing that at least.

Yes it does eventually clog with detritus and tiny bits of chaeto.
But I have not swapped out my sponge barrier and probably a year or more.
I use the difference in water height between the 2 chambers on the baffle wall to determine when it needs replacing or cleaning.
At first it might be a area you would want to look at fairly often to figure out what your schedule would be.
The density of the sponge is also another thing. I use probably the largest pore sponge I can find.
The Aquaclear back filter sponges have been a go to for years. I've also found large packages of sponge blocks on Amazo.n. Then just cut them to size.