Refugiums: Are they worth the extra time, money & work?

[revhtree]

First what is a Refugium?

The refugium is an auxiliary tank on your main, display tank. It serves as a sort of refuge for both primary producers and primary consumers (i.e. intermediaries) such as pods. There, desirable and beneficial macroalgae are cultivated out of the reach of large, gluttonous herbivores such as tangs. Pods proliferate there too, safe from the constant predatory pressure of small fishes like damsels, gobies, etc. Even so, as the pods reproduce, they drift out of the refugium into the main tank to continuously feed fishes, corals, and so on. As the macroalgal bed grows to maximal carrying capacity, it is harvested and either discarded or (better yet!) fed out as a nutritious live veggie for fish and invert herbivores in the main tank. - Thanks AlgaeBarn

So let's talk about your refugiums past, present and the future.


1. Are you currently running a refugium on your tank? Tell us why or why not.

2. What has been your experience with refugiums and are they worth the extra work, time and investment?


image via member @rmchoi from this thread.

 

[NHgoalstop]

I use to have a huge nitrate issue, easily over 100ppm. No matter how much or how often I did water changes I couldn't get it under control. No idea where the nitrates were coming from. Only had 1 fish that I hardly fed and a small cuc. I added a bunch of chaeto and in no time at all my nitrates got knocked down to about 5ppm.

 

[Billldg]

I got tired of growing nothing but GHA, so I took mine out. I will install a algae scrubber though.

 

[CNDReef]

I like them but not using one currently since I’m dosing nitrate and phosphate to my tank.

 

[vanpire]

There are extra costs for a sump for sure but not a lot of extra work. It might even save me work. For example, lost of detritus are flow to the sump and settle there where they are more easily removed. My sump has no sand bed while the display. Growing Chaeto is so easy and helps with nitrates. Having pods in the sump are good and involves little work....

 

[ReefGeezer]

I think a fuge can help manage excess nutrients in newer systems, but steals needed nutrients in mature tanks. I don't run a fuge, or much else for that matter, in my 2ish year old tank. N and P stay low with just a skimmer & 10-15% weekly water changes. That wasn't the case when it was newer. A fuge may have helped. I had limited space though. Not enough for a big enough fuge. Carbon dosing and GFO was used to manage them instead.

 

[krash7172]

Fuges are great but for me, it was just more stuff to dial in and I ultimately gave up. I got my chaeto to grow but I also grew other types and aiptasia moved in. I didn't see a major impact on the DT using a fuge and it's gone now. Algae scrubber ftw.

 

[JLynn]

I think the BRS TV Investigates series has pretty thoroughly proved how incredibly effective they can be. That's no longer in question. Whether they are more or less work than other methods is debatable, though, IMO.

 

[Javamahn]

I opted for a Cheato Reactor instead of a refugium. Same premise in a tighter space so my Bashsea sump stays somewhat "pretty"

 

[TVV]

Seemed like a great idea so I have one. Tank doing great so I suspect it helps but I am pretty sure it doesn't hurt anything. Good place for pods and theoretically helps mitigate micro algae growth by housing macro algae. I have no informed recommendation here as I myself do not have enough data or expertise to be of any value.

 

[RichReef]

I ran one for 2 years. It worked okay but was a constant headache. Siphoning detritus was a pita. Algae growth I didn't want in there. Cyano blooms.

I made a DIY ATS out of an old 15 high I had laying around. It killed off the fuge and I removed it. My ATS has about 3 inches of water in the bottom full of rubble. Mad pods grow in there and I have to feed heavy to keep up with the nutrients. I like that. It makes me the god of nutrients rather than the slave and the fish are thick and healthy.

The ATS didn't come without it it's own problems though. First was trying to get the flow right, then the drain right. Went through several types of bulbs until I found Expressions LTD. Water slot clogging with algae, had to figure out how to shade the top of the screen. Yellow tint in the water that adding a UV fixed but it's all dialed up and running well.

In my experience the fuge/chaeto thing works well but I needed something more efficient. I scrape one side of the screen once a week and that's it. It doesn't matter what grows on it. Cyano, dinos, hair, turf. It all gets thrown away.

I also have the benefit of having my sump in the basement. I couldn't imagine having to keep my ATS under my tank. That wouldn't work for me. Just like a fuge an ATS has to be large enough to work properly.

 

[Barnabie Mejia]

I see the point of a fuge, but I will never run one, my sump area is like a second display. I think the fuge will make it look dirty and unmaintained. now I know the benefits of the fuge, but I will just a scrubber instead and it will clean up the look of the sump area instead of having a nasty center section. I also have a fear of getting an aptasia outbreak because of it.

 

[drblakjak55]

Sump for socks/mesh and skimmer. That’s one chamber. Chaeto with Home Depot grow light in second chamber. Through egg crate covered in chaeto (I’ll call it algae scrubber) to the return pump. Very inexpensive and a great biological filter and pod growth. Nitrates run 10. Phosphate runs 0.2. I would rather the ecosystem take care of itself than test and dose with inherent risks.

 

[Ricky_Reef]

I don't have the room in my sump for a large enough refugium so I went with a CW-100 ATS from clear water scrubbers and it has been keeping No3 and Po4 in check for around 8 months now. I usually clean the screen once every 7 to 10 days and its loaded with pods. Easy to maintain and well built, run the lights 24/7 and feed the water off of my return manifold.

 

[seahorsemaster]

Have always (12+ years) had refugiums on my tanks (90 and 210 gal). Helps control algae in main tank, excess can be fed to herbivores, source of pods for live feeders (mandarin gobies).

 

[siggy]

How about HAD A fuge and removed it in the poll

 

[NanJ]

We WANT to run a refugium but have struggled to succeed and haven't figured out why. We finally were able to grow Dragon's Breath but due to a cyano outbreak and subsequent treatment we had to remove the macro algae but hope to try again soon.

 

[H3rm1tCr@b]

I don’t have a refugium but I want one in the future (bigger tank). I think they can be extremely beneficial with all of their macroalgae and stuff. Plus, if you’re into stuff like arrow crabs and decorator crabs like me, they can make the perfect time out zones for crazy critters. They provide the opportunity to have a bunch of organisms most people don’t come across in our hobby. So long story short I think they are awesome to have. Totally worth the maintenance and time.

 

[KleineVampir]

In my experience, they only work for systems that already have low nutrients. If your nutrients are too high then GHA will just grow over and in it. For that reason I prefer the algae scrubber.

 

[SkiCatTX]

Yes!

Custom LifeReef, front bypass fuge on my new 180 system.