Refugium Questions - Please Help

[Apheoxx]

Hello! So I am planning on upgrading to a 55 gallon Waterbox tank (35 gallon display volume/18 gallon sump volume). The skimmer chamber of my sump has enough room for my protein skimmer and a media reactor or a refugium.
I have been leaning towards a refugium due to the apparent lower costs compared to running GFO. Also, I wish to have a refugium to maintain my pod population as well as give my anaerobic bacteria a place to live. The only issue that is have is the ability to execute this plan correctly. I have never done a refugium and it is quite daunting to me. At first glance, it seems like GFO is a foolproof and fail safe method to ensure nutrient control, and I worry of failure with a refugium and being left with a fuge like that I simply wouldn’t have a use for in worst case scenario.
The biggest confusion that I get with a refugium is that many people have described their chaeto has “melting away” and a lot of people touting that it is an iron deficiency. The lighting would not be an issue because I plan on going with an AI Fuge light. I also am confused as to if I need to dose and how much I would need to do. I feel like the whole point of having a fuge is so there is less work and a sure-fire way to control nutrients, not worry about it withering into the ether. I do not plan on having a large bio load - 2 clownfish, 1 diamond goby, 1 juvenile scooter blenny, 1 skunk cleaner shrimp, 2 peppermint shrimp, and several snails.
If someone could please help me, I’d greatly appreciate it. Although I am a year into reef keeping, I am still a newbie

 

[New&no clue]

I am only two and half years in, so newbie as well. I probably don't have all the answers, but I will share my experience with my refugium. I have two tanks, a 30-gallon and a 180-gallon. Both have a refugium, and both are reasonably successful, pictures below.

I have never dosed, but the goal is to ensure you have nutrients for the macroalgae to consume before you start. I have had my chaeto melt, but only when my nutrients bottomed out. You need to find the balance of how much light to give and when to harvest.

Another tip is maintenance when the hair algae starts. I don't remove all the GHA in my fuge, but I make sure it doesn't begin to grow over the chaeto. That is fine if it is on the side, but it will start to create a mat on top that smothers the macro and kills it. Once this starts, I cut the mats out.

I haven't found a refugium to be "set it and forget it," but I had found that I spend less time messing with it than when I had GFO, and it does a better job, in my opinion.

 

[Apheoxx]

Thank you very much for your opinions and additions to this thread. I want to do the refugium option but at this point there is no room for financial error and I don’t want this method to be a failure. I have heard people dosing “Chaeto Gro” and only fueling GHA and the Chaeto melts anyway. Are your tanks lightly stocked? Thank you again!

 

[\m/reefsnmetal\m/]

I have read a lot of people complain about GFO being too good at removing nutrients, to the point they start dosing nitrate and phosphate just to keep their levels right for their corals. With that being said, I took that as a warning and have never tried GFO. I have two tanks that I run refugiums in. The tank where my chaeto melted away was my FOWLR that wasn't quite established and I hardly fed since I didn't pack it with fish right away. You don't need a fancy refugium light either, both of mine are generic clip on lights from a feed store and have grow light bulbs from home depot. So far in my experience, as long as you have enough nutrients going into the tank without your other filtration stripping them bare, then keeping chaeto is doable.

 

[Apheoxx]

I have read a lot of people complain about GFO being too good at removing nutrients, to the point they start dosing nitrate and phosphate just to keep their levels right for their corals. With that being said, I took that as a warning and have never tried GFO. I have two tanks that I run refugiums in. The tank where my chaeto melted away was my FOWLR that wasn't quite established and I hardly fed since I didn't pack it with fish right away. You don't need a fancy refugium light either, both of mine are generic clip on lights from a feed store and have grow light bulbs from home depot. So far in my experience, as long as you have enough nutrients going into the tank without your other filtration stripping them bare, then keeping chaeto is doable.

Do you recommend putting my skimmer first or after the fuge? I am going to have to make a custom baffle because the waterbox 60.2 does not have a refugium section. Thank you for your input!

 

[watdachuck]

I mostly agree with @New&no clue. You shouldn't overthink a refugium but they definitely are not set it and forget it for the most part.

Since you are upgrading it sounds like you will have a reasonable bioload from the outset. I would recommend starting with a small amount of chaeto or sea lettuce (my preference) at a reduced photo period (6-8 hours) and watch how it grows.

 

[\m/reefsnmetal\m/]

Another issue that contributed to my chaeto melting was that I started it on a 24 hour light cycle. Once I bought a timer and kept it at 12 hours, added more fish and thus more food, my refugium started to bounce back.

 

[\m/reefsnmetal\m/]

Do you recommend putting my skimmer first or after the fuge? I am going to have to make a custom baffle because the waterbox 60.2 does not have a refugium section. Thank you for your input!

I would put the skimmer before the fuge.That way you don't have anything sucking up your pods. You want them to make it to the return pump so they get launched into the display tank as food.

 

[watdachuck]

Do you recommend putting my skimmer first or after the fuge? I am going to have to make a custom baffle because the waterbox 60.2 does not have a refugium section. Thank you for your input!

This wasn't directed at me but I always prefer the skimmer first to have a go at pulling organics out before they can get mucked up in the refugiums foliage.

 

[Andresnyc93]

+1 on the fuge, I started running my 85 gal with GFO and it was more expensive to culture pods and keep switching out the GFO instead of just farming the chaeto or whatever macro-algae you decide to go with.
I recommend waiting a bit to add your chaeto because at the beginning you won’t have enough nutrients to keep it alive so start with something small after your tanks been up and running with some fish in it.
I had better luck with sea lettuce and always so much easier to farm out than chaeto.

 

[\m/reefsnmetal\m/]

Last thing I can say about chaeto is that it does not do well if it doesn't get tossed around a bit. Detritus, other algae, or cyano can block out the light and the chaeto will die. Some people put a powerhead in there to toss it around. I just reach in there with my scraper stick and rotate it around every couple days.

 

[New&no clue]

Thank you very much for your opinions and additions to this thread. I want to do the refugium option but at this point there is no room for financial error and I don’t want this method to be a failure. I have heard people dosing “Chaeto Gro” and only fueling GHA and the Chaeto melts anyway. Are your tanks lightly stocked? Thank you again!

In the 30 I have 5 fish, in the 180 I have 21 fish.

Whatever way you go, GFO or Refugium, I wouldn't start it right away. You have a greater chance of failure if the nutrients are too low. Add the skimmer and test weekly. Once you see them starting to increase, add one or the other in. I've seen many people try to start day one (me included) and had issues because there weren't enough nutrients. This leads to problems with corals, and if a total bottom out, Dino shows up.