Stand Alone Refugium?

pdiehm · Dec 28, 2015

Wife and I are cleaning out the office, which is where my QT tank is...anyhow, long story short, I have a DIY 40 breeder sump with the common Skimmer>Return>Fuge. Been battling dinoflagellates, and got them cleaned up in the display tank, however the Fuge area is littered with them. Really freakin ugly.

Took my chaeto out, and put it in the 20 gallon long I have set up, just to get it out of that dino filth. Got to thinking when the wife said, about doing something with the office...Moving my tank and stand downstairs, and using the 20 gallon long as a stand alone refugium, fed into the sump and fed from a separate pump other than my return.

I would guess the best way would be to drill the 20, and run hard pvc into the sump and have it exit near the main return pump. Would I/should I put an elbow or just have the water drain through the bulkhead without the elbow? Upturn/Downturn or neither?

Would I also need to drill a hole for the feed line to the refugium, or can I just have it hang over the other end?

Also, I have a good amount of Reef Flakes left over...should I go barebottom or use the leftover reef flakes in the refugium tank? Do I need to stock the refugium with any kind of inverts?

Reefing Madness · Dec 29, 2015

saltyfilmfolks · Dec 29, 2015

Not sure about the plumbing. would have to look. both would work.
Consider a dsb in the fuge. superfine capped with sugar or reef flake.(keeps the dust down) or sugar reef lake. good sandbugs are recommended. IMO depending in where you place the sump in the system you may or may not need to stock it.
If theres no meaty food,(after the skimmer) theres nothing for inverts to eat. So if its a fuge for dissolved nutrient export only no need for livestock. macros pods and sandbugs to keep the DSB healthy.

Although after rereading, not sure why you current setup isnt working.